Brussels hotels recorded an average occupancy rate of 68.7% in July, the Brussels Hotels Association (BHA) said on Thursday, confirming a report in Le Soir.
This was 1.5% more than in 2022 (67.2%) and not all that far from 2019's record rate of 74.7%., fuelling hopes for a recovery in a sector that has been at half-mast since the pandemic.
The Brussels Region now has 600 more hotel rooms than three years ago. Taking these into account when comparing with other years, it would appear that July's gloomy weather has not had a significant impact on tourism in the Belgian capital.
The relatively high attendance rate can be explained by the organisation of several major events in Belgium during July, such as the EU-Latin America summit, the Tomorrowland festival, several concerts at the Roi Baudouin Stadium and the Belgian Formula 1 Grand Prix.
More than 30 foreign delegations were present in Brussels at the summit between EU, Latin American and Caribbean leaders, in addition to 26 European ones. Tomorrowland, which took place over two weekends at the end of July, generated more than 60,000 overnight stays in the capital’s hotels.
By way of example, the occupancy rate reached 89.6% on the weekend of 22 July, when the opening act for Tomorrowland and the Mylène Farmer concert were held at the Roi Baudouin stadium. The following weekend, during the Grand Prix and the second half of the festival, occupancy stood at 89.4%.
The BHA is more cautious about its August forecast, due to the absence of events as big as July's. “However, this should not affect the number of tourists, who have come, for example, to discover the traditional Flowertime event, which will take place from 11 to 15 August in the capital,” says BHA General Secretary Rodolphe Van Weyenbergh.
