Tourism Law in Europe

BELGIUM | OLIVIER DUGARDYN AND CARLA GHISLAIN 69 As can be understood from the above data, tourism in Belgium, during the pre-COVID period was doing well with especially record numbers in 2018 and 2019 throughout the country. Whether in the south or the north of the country, each regional government has invested in tourism by building on the strengths of each region. In Wallonia, measures have been taken to develop the tourism offer related particularly to natural areas, historical heritage and gastronomy. In Flanders, the policy implemented aims to strengthen the positive influence of tourism to make the region an innovative, inspiring and high-quality destination for the benefit of its residents, businesses and visitors. As for Brussels, it relies on its historical heritage and its culinary specialties to attract tourists. Based on these intrinsic assets, Brussels is striving to develop a sustainable and qualitative tourism, respectful of the city and its inhabitants. Given this encouraging growth during 2018 and 2019, we would have thought that the COVID-19 crisis would have a very negative impact on tourism in Belgium. Especially when we know that the world tourism organisation announced a regression between 60% and 80% of world tourism compared to the year 2019. However, the impact of COVID-19 in Belgium is very contrasted. Indeed, although Belgium, like many other countries, closed its borders at the most critical moments of the health crisis, preventing international tourism from continuing, many Belgians decided to travel in the flat country for their vacations, allowing the tourism sector to keep its head above water. During a typical summer, only 10% of Belgians take their summer vacations in Wallonia, this figure has risen to 40% for this year 2020. Accommodation in terroirs, cottages, farms, have been particularly popular and have seen a growth in their activity4. As we can see from these numbers, tourism in Belgium seems to have been relatively spared by the COVID-19 crisis. However, this has to be mitigated. Indeed, if Wallonia has been able to pull its weight, this is not the case for Brussels. Tourism in Brussels is much more focused on business tourism and an international clientele, which is absent throughout the crisis due to the restrictions imposed by neighboring countries and Belgium. Flanders, like Brussels, has suffered enormously from the health crisis, with a 64% drop in tourists between 2019 and 2020. As can be seen, the impact of COVID-19 was very different depending on the region in Belgium. While the south of the country was able to limit the damage thanks to the influx of Belgian tourists, the north and center were strongly impacted. 4 CCI FRANCE BELGIQUE, “Le tourisme belge dans la tourmente du Covid-19”, 2020, available in https://www.ccifrancebelgique.be.

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