Tourism in Belgium
Template:Short description 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).<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> 6.7 million people travelled to Belgium in 2005.<ref name="Travel and Tourism in Belgium">Travel and Tourism in Belgium - euromonitor.com</ref> 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.<ref>Tourism Services - World Trade Organization</ref> Much of the tourism industry is located either on the heavily developed coastline or in the Ardennes.<ref>Belgium - The tertiary sector from diplomatie.be</ref> Brussels and the Flemish cities of Bruges, Ghent, Antwerp, Leuven, and Mechelen, the Flemish Cities of Art, attract many cultural tourists.<ref name="Travel and Tourism in Belgium"/> Much tourism in Brussels is business tourism.
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pos:(50,37) textcolor:gray fontsize:M text:Tourist arrivals in 2024 (k)
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Belgium was ranked 21st on the World Economic Forum's 2017 Travel and Tourism Competitiveness report.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> 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 | 2014<ref>Tourisme selon pays de provenance 2014</ref> | 2015<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> | 2016<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Template:Flag | 1,705,537 | 1,919,413 | 1,854,486 |
| 2 | Template:Flag | 1,264,291 | 1,285,610 | 1,202,041 |
| 3 | Template:Flag | 1,026,003 | 1,043,613 | 868,173 |
| 4 | Template:Flag | 868,250 | 945,974 | 865,031 |
| 5 | Template:Flag | 366,474 | 360,220 | 304,598 |
| 6 | Template:Flag | 366,061 | 388,423 | 299,907 |
| 7 | Template:Flag | 299,864 | 294,945 | 224,762 |
| 8 | Template:Flag | 169,075 | 209,045 | 147,654 |
| 9 | Template:Flag | 100,002 | 114,899 | 110,953 |
| 10 | Template:Flag | 108,031 | 118,796 | 91,308 |
| 11 | Template:Flag | 87,698 | 94,937 | 90,914 |
| 12 | Template:Flag | 69,994 | 68,021 | 65,117 |
| 13 | Template:Flag | 60,330 | 61,927 | 63,415 |
| 14 | Template:Flag | 97,183 | 72,630 | 60,386 |
| 15 | Template:Flag | N/A | N/A | 57,266 |
| 16 | Template:Flag | 49,475 | 61,538 | 55,410 |
| 17 | Template:Flag | N/A | N/A | 54,221 |
| 18 | Template:Flag | 59,289 | 61,357 | 50,521 |
| 19 | Template:Flag | 111,939 | 96,444 | 50,253 |
| 20 | Template:Flag | N/A | N/A | 45,077 |
| Total foreign | 7,887,426 | 8,354,753 | 7,481,422 |