Flanders’ autumn half-term brought fewer overnight stays but more day-trippers to the Belgian coast than a year earlier, while visitor numbers rose overall across the three-week holiday period, Westtoer said on Sunday.
During the Flemish school holiday, the coast recorded an estimated 715,000 overnight stays, about 8% fewer than last year. The total includes hotels, holiday homes, second homes, holiday accommodation, campsites and guesthouses.
At coastal hotels, the number of rooms booked during the Flemish autumn break was around 12% lower than a year earlier.
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Day tourism, however, increased by 5% during the same period, with an estimated 600,000 visitors. Westtoer said the coast benefited from several pleasant, sunny days.
The figures are partly explained by the school holiday calendar. This year, the autumn breaks in Dutch-speaking and French-speaking education did not coincide, whereas last year they overlapped.
It is the first time since the French-speaking system introduced new holiday dates that the autumn breaks on either side of the language border have fallen at different times.
When both the Flemish and Walloon autumn holidays are included, Westtoer reported growth. Between 17 October and 8 November, the coast recorded 1.45 million overnight stays, up 4% on the same period last year.
The number of day-trippers over that three-week period also rose by 4% to 1.2 million. Hotel occupancy, however, was 5% lower.
“Across the whole period, the overall picture is slightly positive,” said Jurgen Vanlerberghe, West Flanders’ deputy for tourism and chairman of Westtoer.
Earlier this weekend, Westtoer launched its “100 days of winter experiences by the sea” campaign. The initiative is intended to help the 10 coastal municipalities attract visitors during the winter months through a wide range of activities.
