Tourism in Belgium is one of Belgium's industries. Its accessibility from elsewhere in Europe makes it a popular tourist destination. The tourist industry generates 2.8% of Belgium's gross domestic product and employs 3.3% of the working population (142,000 people). 6.7 million people travelled to Belgium in 2005.Travel and Tourism in Belgium - euromonitor.com Two-thirds of them come from the larger nearby countries - France, The Netherlands, the United Kingdom, and Germany; there are also many tourists from Spain and Italy.
Like many national institutions in Belgium, the national tourist agencies are split along regional lines with two tourist agencies. They are the Belgian Tourist Office Brussels & Wallonia for the regions of Wallonia and Brussels Capital-Region, and Toerisme Vlaanderen covering Flanders, although it covers Brussels as well.
In 1993, 2% of the total workforce was employed in tourism, less than in many neighbouring countries.Tourism Services - World Trade Organization Much of the tourism industry is located either on the heavily developed coastline or in the Ardennes.Belgium - The tertiary sector from diplomatie.be Brussels and the Flemish cities of Bruges, Ghent, Antwerp, Leuven, and Mechelen, the Flemish Cities of Art, attract many cultural tourists. Much tourism in Brussels is business tourism.
+Yearly tourist arrivals in millions
Belgium was ranked 21st on the World Economic Forum's 2017 Travel and Tourism Competitiveness report. 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 by Tourisme Vlaanderen.
Arrivals by country
Most visitors arriving to Belgium on short-term basis in come from the following countries of nationality: Rank Country 2014Tourisme selon pays de provenance 2014 2015 20161 1,705,537 1,919,413 1,854,4862 1,264,291 1,285,610 1,202,0413 1,026,003 1,043,613 868,1734 868,250 945,974 865,0315 366,474 360,220 304,5986 366,061 388,423 299,9077 299,864 294,945 224,7628 169,075 209,045 147,6549 100,002 114,899 110,95310 108,031 118,796 91,30811 87,698 94,937 90,91412 69,994 68,021 65,11713 60,330 61,927 63,41514 97,183 72,630 60,38615 N/A N/A 57,26616 49,475 61,538 55,41017 N/A N/A 54,22118 59,289 61,357 50,52119 111,939 96,444 50,25320 N/A N/A 45,077Total foreign 7,887,426 8,354,753 7,481,422
See also List of museums in Belgium Europalia
References
External links
Official English-language tourism website of Brussels Official English-language tourism website of Flanders Official English-language tourism website of Wallonia Virtual Tour of Bruges