Since the change to calenders of French-speaking schools, Belgium's pupils no longer share the spring holiday and the country's tourism sector saw the absence of French-speaking Belgians reflected in their bottom line.
Alongside the change in school holidays, those in the tourism sector also cited poor weather as a reason for their worse results, with many avoiding outdoor attractions as well as the coast, which saw a record low number of overnight visitors.
Although figures from the Provincial Tourism Office confirmed that the Easter weekend had offered some relief – with saw many last-minute bookings to the Belgian coast – this did not make up the shortfall.
Banking on May bookings
It is hoped that the French-speaking Belgians' will offset the "disappointing statistics", Le Soir reports. According to Westtoer, the West Flanders Tourist Boar, there are already "more bookings for the month of May from French-speaking Belgians."
While the Ardennes recorded less of a shortfall than the coast, the region still saw "a decrease of 2 to 3% of the arrivals", said Philippe Neumann, the director of Ardennes-Étape, one of the main rental companies for the Ardennes region. So far bookings for May are set to increase 2 to 3%.
Pierre Coenegrachts, spokesperson for Visit Wallonia believes that "May could be a good month for the sector even if we anticipate more day trips than overnight stays during the holidays of French-speaking Belgians. But we are waiting for a good weather forecast to boost last-minute bookings".
Fortunes could be further restored by Dutch tourists – whose holidays now overlap with French-speaking Belgians. Industry experts hope that these foreign visitors could restore the balance.
Amusement parks also impacted
Several amusement parks noted a lower number of French-speaking visitors to the locations.
"Despite there being Flemish visitors and increased activity at weekends, we saw the overall number of tourists was lower than expected for this period," lamented the spokesperson for Walibi amusement park. Fortunes were exacerbated by "particularly unfavourable weather".
French speakers in Belgium can also enjoy the park during their holidays from 1 to 14 May.
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Plopsaland also noted a difference but said that "it makes sense that we are lagging behind", referring to the numbers the parks saw last year.
For Bobbejaanland, the weather was the main issue: "If the rain stays away, visitors will come. When it rains, it is disappointing, but that is compensated on sunny days." Belga News Agency reports that the park is back to the level it was before the Covid-19 pandemic.
