The Belgian coast welcomed 50,000 day-trippers and 525,000 overnight visitors over the long and sunny weekend, when temperatures climbed to 30°C. Many of the capital’s residents were among them, crowding station platforms at Brussels-Midi station despite Belgian railway company SNCB running extra trains and scheduling additional security personnel to help spread out passengers. An extra 24 trains per day were deployed to the coast – 12 in each direction – over the three-day Pentecost weekend. Nevertheless, passengers had to queue to gain access to packed
platforms. The massive visitor numbers were regarded as a promising start to the summer holidays. “During long weekends and holiday periods, many visitors always head to the seaside, but the beautiful weather over the past Whitsun weekend made it a truly fantastic weekend,” said Jurgen Vanlerberghe, chairman of Westtoer, the tourism authority for West Flanders. “The figures are reminiscent of a peak period in the middle of the summer holidays. This was the best Pentecost weekend of the past five years.” The night from Saturday
to Sunday had the most overnight stays, meaning tourists staying in hotels, guest rooms or holiday homes, on campsites, in holiday parks or holiday accommodation, or in their second homes on the coast. The number of overnight stays during the same weekend was a third lower last year. Over the three days, hotels recorded an average occupancy rate of 85%, with peaks of more than 90% on Saturday and Sunday night. Many hotels were fully booked. This occupancy rate reflects the average for the entire
coast, with local differences between seaside resorts. Many hotels attribute the high occupancy to numerous last-minute bookings prompted by the forecast of fine weather. Beach temperatures of 26.7°C were recorded on Saturday, compared to 31.2°C in Uccle.
Belgian coast, Pentecost weekend, tourism, SNCB, Brussels-Midi, Westtoer, overnight stays, hotel occupancy, day-trippers