6 June 2008

BELGIUM – Over 9.5 million people visited Flanders in 2007, making it the best tourism year in the region, announced the Flemish Tourism Minister Geert Bourgeois on Thursday morning.

The number of holidays being booked at destinations in Flanders was up by 3 percent on 2006.

Tourists spent a record 23 million nights in the region's hotels, guesthouses and self-catering accommodation.

Tourist accommodation was high with a total turnover of EUR 2.2 billion in 2007, up from EUR 69 million in 2006.

Flanders' six so-called "art cities” - Antwerp, Bruges, Brussels, Ghent, Leuven and Mechelen - did especially well with a 5.7 percent increase in bookings.

The Flemish countryside is also proving ever more popular with a 2.1 percent increase in the number of hotel, guesthouse and self-catering bookings being recorded during 2007.

However, 2007 summer's poor weather saw a 2.7 percent fall in the number of tourists spending the night at the Flemish Coast.

The Flemish Tourism Minister Geert Bourgeois says that he is delighted with the figures.

"The systematic growth in turnover is very important as a flourishing tourist industry leads to a buoyant economy and provides work close to home."

The majority of the tourists come from the Netherlands, United Kingdom and Germany. Tourists from all around the world also visit Flanders. The number of tourists visiting Flanders from India was up by 32% last year.

[flandersnews.be / Expatica]

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