Intra-European travel mostly for fun and / or family

In the COVID-19 pandemic related travel restrictions stricken year 2021, residents of the European Union made 873 million trips with overnight stays – regardless of destination and duration. Of these, 8.0% were trips for professional purposes, while the remaining 92.0% were trips made for personal purposes.

Europeans visit other European countries over 7 nights on average

In the COVID-19 pandemic stricken year of 2021, tourism trips made by residents of the European Union to another EU Member State had an average duration longer than one week – 7.9 nights – ranging from 4.3 nights for trips to Czechia and Luxembourg to 11.3 nights for trips to Romania. 

Will Belgium win the Eurovision Song Contest ever again?

In the aftermath of the 2023 Eurovision Song Contest in Liverpool I wrote an op-ed for Songfestival.be, a Flemish fan medium. This is a translation and slight adaptation, as the original was written fit for the Songfestival.be audience. Belgium won the ESC only once, in 1986 with Sandra Kim singing ‘J’aime la vie’.