Staying indoors and eating mussels, there wasn’t much more to it during the autumn holidays on the coast. — © Dirk Vertommen
The autumn holidays were poor for tourism on the Belgian coast. Rain and storm threw a spanner in the works.
The coast looks back on a changeable autumn holiday. Provincial company Westtoer recorded approximately 1.1 million tourist overnight stays. That is 12 percent less than during last year’s sunny autumn holidays.
The autumn holidays were very rainy and this is reflected in the mediocre figures for the tourist sector on the coast. Westtoer recorded 1.1 million tourist overnight stays spread over the two weeks: 250,000 during the first holiday week for French-speaking Belgians and 850,000 in the second holiday week. All together this represents a decrease of 12 percent compared to 2022.
For hotels, the average occupancy during the past two weeks was 40 percent, nine percent less than last year. The situation varies from seaside resort to seaside resort. The moderate weather also resulted in fewer last minute bookings. “Despite the changeable weather, the coast remains a favorite holiday destination for Flemish and French-speaking Belgians during the autumn holidays,” says Sabien Lahaye-Battheu, deputy (Open VLD) and chairman of Westtoer. ‘Spreading the holiday period further broadens the tourist season. Distribution in time and space is an important aspect in contemporary tourism.’
