Tourism in Belgium
Tourism in Belgiumis one ofBelgium's industries. Its accessibility from elsewhere inEuropemakes it a populartouristdestination. The tourist industry generates 2.8% of Belgium'sgross domestic productand employs 3.3% of the working population (142,000 people).[1]6.7 million people travelled to Belgium in 2005.[2]Two-thirds of them come from the larger nearby countries -France,TheNetherlands,theUnited Kingdom,andGermany;there are also many tourists fromSpainandItaly.
Like many national institutions in Belgium, the national tourist agencies are split along regional lines with two tourist agencies. They are theBelgian Tourist Office Brussels & Walloniafor the regions ofWalloniaandBrussels Capital-Region,andToerisme VlaanderencoveringFlanders,although it covers Brussels as well.
In 1993, 2% of the total workforce was employed in tourism, less than in many neighbouring countries.[3]Much of the tourism industry is located either on the heavily developed coastline or in theArdennes.[4]Brusselsand theFlemishcities ofBruges,Ghent,Antwerp,Leuven,andMechelen,the FlemishCities of Art,attract many cultural tourists.[2]Much tourism in Brussels is business tourism.
Belgium was ranked 21st on the World Economic Forum's 2017Travel and Tourism Competitiveness report.[5]The country was placed 4th for "health and hygiene" and 6th for "ground and port infrastructure", but only 105th in the world for "price competitiveness" and 122nd for "natural resources". In recent years, the number of international tourists has exponentially grown as key figures shown byTourisme Vlaanderen.
Arrivals by country
[edit]Most visitors arriving to Belgium on short-term basis in come from the following countries of nationality:
| Rank | Country | 2014[6] | 2015[7] | 2016[8] |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Netherlands |
1,705,537 | 1,919,413 | 1,854,486 |
| 2 |  France |
1,264,291 | 1,285,610 | 1,202,041 |
| 3 |  United Kingdom |
1,026,003 | 1,043,613 | 868,173 |
| 4 |  Germany |
868,250 | 945,974 | 865,031 |
| 5 |  Spain |
366,474 | 360,220 | 304,598 |
| 6 |  United States |
366,061 | 388,423 | 299,907 |
| 7 |  Italy |
299,864 | 294,945 | 224,762 |
| 8 |  China |
169,075 | 209,045 | 147,654 |
| 9 |  Luxembourg |
100,002 | 114,899 | 110,953 |
| 10 |  Switzerland |
108,031 | 118,796 | 91,308 |
| 11 |  Poland |
87,698 | 94,937 | 90,914 |
| 12 |  Sweden |
69,994 | 68,021 | 65,117 |
| 13 |  Denmark |
60,330 | 61,927 | 63,415 |
| 14 |  Russia |
97,183 | 72,630 | 60,386 |
| 15 |  Ireland |
N/A | N/A | 57,266 |
| 16 |  Turkey |
49,475 | 61,538 | 55,410 |
| 17 |  Portugal |
N/A | N/A | 54,221 |
| 18 |  Canada |
59,289 | 61,357 | 50,521 |
| 19 |  Japan |
111,939 | 96,444 | 50,253 |
| 20 |  Romania |
N/A | N/A | 45,077 |
| Total foreign | 7,887,426 | 8,354,753 | 7,481,422 |
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^"More support for tourism".flandersnews.be. 2007-03-02. Archived fromthe originalon 2007-03-05.Retrieved2007-03-02.
- ^abTravel and Tourism in Belgium- euromonitor
- ^Tourism Services- World Trade Organization
- ^Belgium - The tertiary sectorfrom diplomatie.be
- ^"Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Report 2017"(PDF).World Economic Forum. 2017-04-05.Retrieved2018-04-13.
- ^Tourisme selon pays de provenance 2014
- ^"Archived copy".Archived fromthe originalon 2016-11-15.Retrieved2017-06-11.
{{cite web}}:CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) - ^"Archived copy".Archived fromthe originalon 2017-08-20.Retrieved2017-08-20.
{{cite web}}:CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
External links
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