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Belgium

Belgium

Visitor characteristics

  • There are more than three times more male than female business visitors but leisure visitors have a more even gender distribution
  • Four-in-five Belgian holiday visitors are making a repeat visit to Britain
  • Far more visitors come from Brussels than any other part of Belgium
  • 95% from Belgium are ‘likely’ or ‘extremely likely’ to recommend Britain for a holiday or short-break

Popular activities

Sightseeing of Famous Buildings/ Monuments

Visited a Pub

Went Shopping

Global context

Measure2016
International tourism expenditure (US$bn)19.5
Global rank for international tourism expenditure13
Number of outbound visits (m)23.0
Most visited destinationFrance

Key demographic and economic data

Measure2017
Population (m)11.4
GDP per capita PPP (US$)41,466
Annual average GDP growth over past decade (%)0.9
Annual average GDP growth over the past year (%)1.7

Resources

Belgium Market Profile

visitbritain_marketprofile_belgium.pdf

Belgium market snapshot

belgium_snapshot_sep17.pdf

Read about the preferences of Europeans towards tourism. Published March 2015

2015-3 Preferences of Europeans towards tourism_18.pdf

More resources

Find out where visitors from Belgium to the UK reside in their own country. Published 2015

annual_states_of_residence_2016_for_web.xlsx

Exchange rate

1 GBP = 1.1475 EUR

As of 9 April 2018

Retrieved from the Bank of England

Inbound visits to Britain

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Seasonality (Share of visits)

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Regional spread (Share of visits)

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Journey purpose (Share of visits)

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What Belgians think about Britain

  • Museums and films are the cultural products that Belgians most closely associate with Britain
  • 44% say a potential trip to Britain would be 'exciting'
  • 46% associate the statement 'has a rich and interesting history' with Britain but a greater number associate it with both France and Italy
  • 42% reckon that Britain 'is good for high street shopping'
  • One-in-three associate Britain with the statement 'is rich in natural scenic beauty' but competitor destinations are much more strongly associated with the attribute

Caring for visitors

  • 3 or 4 star hotels tend to be the favoured form of holiday accommodation, with an eagerness for value for money and a warm personal welcome
  • Belgians like to take time over their meals and take pride in their cuisine
  • Belgians are comfortable paying for goods and services with a credit card when on holiday

The leisure & travel trade

  • Group operators, especially those providing school and youth travel, are an important sector of the travel trade selling Britain
  • Most Belgians book a holiday to Britain directly on the internet
  • It is wise to be on time for meetings

Access to Britain from Belgium

Measure2017
Weekly aircraft departures185
Weekly seat capacity21,122
Airports with direct routes in Belgium3
Airports with direct routes in Britain11
Eurostar trains per day from Brussels10
Weekly ferry crossings7
  • The majority of Belgians reach Britain by means of the Channel Tunnel
  • Airline seat capacity has grown again in the last few years
  • The bulk of seat capacity serves the Brussels to Heathrow corridor
  • Those who fly back to Belgium from Britain pay £13 in Air Passenger Duty if flying economy

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