Growth in tourism in 2008 was only 0.7% as a result of the fall in bookings in November and December, holding the number of overnight stays down to 23 million for the year, Toerisme Vlaanderen (TV) said. The number of arrivals was in fact up 2.3%, pointing to a trend in which visitors come for shorter stays. However, among visitors from within Belgium, overnight stays were up just 1%. And TV pointed out that other destinations, such as Italy, France and Spain, performed much less well.

For the first 10 months of the year, there were 1.2 million nights booked in Flanders – 240,000 more than in the same period in 2007. In November and December, however, much of that gain was wiped out, with a fall of 85,000 overnight stays compared to 2007. As well as Belgians themselves, the countries which supply the most tourists are the Netherlands (1.37 million), Britain (926,000) and Germany (659,000).

The coast suffered worst, with a fall of 6% in the number of hotel and camping nights booked. Apartment and house rentals are not included in TV’s figures, but other sources suggest a decrease of around 6% in that sector. The number of people coming to the coast is falling less quickly than the number staying overnight, once again suggesting that habits are changing: people are coming just for the day more often, which may be bad for the hotel sector, but not so bad for the catering trade.

At the same time, cultural tourism taking in the Flemish “art cities” is holding its own. Contrary to the trends elsewhere, growth in overnight stays has been relatively strong in Antwerp, Ghent and Bruges, at 3.3%. The number of day visitors to those cities has also increased.

For 2009, Toerisme Vlaanderen foresees a continuation of the trends. The UN World Tourism Organisation has predicted negative growth for 2009 in Europe of between 2% and 3%, and TV confirms that forecast. “The first signals we are receiving are in line with expectations,” a TV spokesperson said. “Business tourism looks like moving strongly backwards. Business hotels are having to work harder to stay afloat while leisure tourism is doing better.”