Are there too many hotels in Antwerp?

At the start of December 2024, Antwerp welcomed a brand new hotel: a Motel One at Oever, in the city centre near St. Anne’s Pedestrian Tunnel (Sint-Annavoetgangerstunnel). And a new Van der Valk Hotel is readying a space near City Park (Stadspark). But the Antwerp Hotel Association believes that too many hotels are being added,…

Spain demands personal data from all tourists

As of today, Monday 2 December 2024, tourists in Spain will be required to provide more personal information under a new regulation. According to the Ministry of the Interior, the measure is “justified in the public interest for the security of citizens”. The measure applies to foreign visitors and domestic – i.e. Spanish – tourists…

2024: rising prices affect travel plans and vacation activities

On 1 January 2023, we wrote 2023 would be a year of coping with staff shortages and industrial action. While both themes were present in 2023 – and still will be in 2024 – they felt less pressing. Perhaps we learned to live with staff shortages and strikes and not dramatize them (anymore). But it…