Experience

Belgium travels, but not everyone can: 73% of Flemish residents took a holiday

Posted by Timothy on

Belgian residents made 5.3 million trips involving at least one overnight stay in the first quarter of 2026, a 0.9% increase on the same period a year earlier. But new figures also show a clear divide in who gets to travel, with financial constraints keeping many people at home.

Of those 5.3 million trips, 1.5 million, or 28.9%, had a destination in Belgium. The Belgian Coast and the Ardennes were among the main domestic destinations, according to provisional figures from Statbel, Belgium’s statistical office.

The remaining 3.8 million trips were abroad. Most of these, 3.1 million, were to another European Union country, while 300,000 were to a European country outside the EU and 400,000 were outside Europe.

Travel was overwhelmingly for personal rather than professional reasons. Some 4.8 million trips, or 90.8%, were made for holidays, leisure, visiting family or friends and other private purposes. Business and professional travel accounted for 500,000 trips.

In addition to overnight trips, Belgian residents made 2.3 million day trips abroad during the first three months of 2026.

Travelling is not equally accessible

The latest figures from Statistiek Vlaanderen (Statistics Flanders), the Flemish statistical office, provide a broader picture of who actually gets to travel.

In 2025, 73% of residents of the Flemish Region made at least one trip involving an overnight stay. Looking only at international travel, 65% took at least one trip abroad.

But the overall figures hide substantial differences between households and social groups.

Holiday participation was lowest among people living in households without an employed person: just 46% travelled at least once. Among single people the figure was 50%, while it stood at 54% among people with a low level of education and 58% among people aged 55 and over.

The contrast with households with two employed people is considerable. There, 91% of residents made at least one overnight trip in 2025. Among people living in households with children, the figure was 87%.

Highly educated people, young people and people in single-parent households also recorded above-average participation in travel.

The same broad pattern applies when only foreign travel is considered: the groups with the lowest overall holiday participation also recorded the lowest participation in international travel.

Money is the biggest barrier

Among Flemish residents who did not travel in 2025, financial reasons were the most commonly cited obstacle.

Some 37% said they had not travelled because of financial constraints. A further 30% said they had no interest in travelling, while 16% said their health prevented them from doing so.

Lack of free time was another factor: 10% cited work or study commitments and 9% cited family obligations.

The figures suggest that the ability to take a holiday is closely linked not only to income and employment, but also to household circumstances and age.

Brussels residents travel most

There were also significant geographical differences within Belgium.

In 2025, 77% of residents of the Brussels-Capital Region made at least one trip with an overnight stay, compared with 73% in the Flemish Region and 66% in the Walloon Region.

Foreign travel showed a similar pattern. Some 73% of Brussels residents made at least one trip abroad, compared with 65% in Flanders and 61% in Wallonia.

The Flemish Region nevertheless recorded a relatively high level of holiday participation by European standards.

In 2024, 73% of people aged 15 and over in Flanders made at least one trip involving an overnight stay, compared with 69% in Brussels and 64% in Wallonia. The EU average was 65%.

France, Sweden, Finland, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands all recorded holiday participation above 80% in 2024. At the other end of the scale, fewer than 40% of residents travelled in Bulgaria, Romania, and Italy.

More trips are being recorded, but the figures need a health warning

There is an important methodological change behind the latest Belgian travel figures.

Since 2025, Statbel has collected data for its Holiday and Travel Survey monthly rather than quarterly. The change is intended to reduce the impact of respondents forgetting shorter trips when answering the survey and has resulted in more trips being recorded, particularly short stays.

This creates a break in the statistical series. As a result, the 2025 figures cannot be directly compared with figures from earlier years.

The 5.3 million trips recorded in the first quarter of 2026 can therefore be compared with the first quarter of 2025 under the new methodology, but the figures should not simply be placed alongside older pre-2025 data to establish a long-term trend.

Still, taken together, the latest figures paint a picture of a country where travel is widespread, predominantly recreational and increasingly international – but far from universal.

For millions of Belgians, a holiday remains dependent on whether there is enough money, time and opportunity to leave home in the first place.

Some tourism statistics

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