A large share of the increase comes from the much-promoted Museum aan de Stroom (MAS), which opened in May and drew 1.7 million visitors during the year. Other Antwerp museums also did well: The Silver Museum attracted 64,400 visitors, an increase of 44%, and the open-air Middelheim Museum saw 250,000 visitors, a huge increase of 59%.

Total overnight stays were up by just 5%, but the number of cruise ship passengers visiting the Scheldt city rose by 13,000 to reach 40,000, delivered by 30 sea-going cruise ships. River cruise passengers increased by 18% to 111,000.

Only camping tourists experienced a fall in numbers in 2011, as a result of the poor summer weather.