2022 was a good year for the Brussels hotel sector. This is mainly due to recreational tourists from our own country or our neighboring countries. Business tourism is lagging behind for the time being.
After two corona years, the Brussels hotel sector seems to be recovering well. In the first nine months of 2022, Brussels hotels recorded more than 4.6 million overnight stays. This is what La Libre writes, based on figures from Visit Brussels and Brussels Hotel Association (BHA).
In reference year 2019, there were 9.4 million. In relative terms, there are still more. “But you should not forget that corona measures were still in place in January and February,” says Visit Brussels spokesperson Jeroen Roppe to La Libre. These tourists mainly come from the Netherlands, followed by neighboring countries, the United Kingdom, Spain and the United States. The tourists from Asia are not yet finding their way back to Brussels.
Reasonable Occupation
If we look at the occupancy rate, 2022 will perform less well than in 2019 (74.6 percent), with an occupancy rate of 58.6 percent, but a third better than in 2021. The hotels in the central districts and around Louise in particular have a high occupancy rate.
“The recovery is particularly visible in the recreational tourism segment,” said Rodophe Van Weyenbergh, BHA Secretary General. On some weekends, especially in the second half of the year, the occupancy rate was the same as in 2019, which is considered a top year. “Business tourism, on the other hand, is still well below the pre-coronavirus figures.”
Mice
That business tourism, or Mice (Meetings, Incentives, Conventions and Events) in the jargon, is nevertheless very important for a city like Brussels. “It is the business tourists who spend the most in restaurants and shops,” says Roppe. It is a good thing that recreational tourism now fills the proverbial gap, and even ensures a better spread of overnight stays over the year and across the different districts of Brussels.
“But we cannot rest on our laurels. It is not the intention that one segment replaces the other. Fortunately, the coming months look promising, as we have been able to attract quite a lot of conferences for the following months,” says Roppe.
Investors Enough
“Investors who put their project on hold are also returning,” says Van Weyenberg. In this category, think of the former Sheraton hotel, which is now being fully renovated, or the iconic hotel Métropole, which was taken over by Lone Sater Fund and will open in 2025. And then there are the mixed projects with hotel, such as Brouck’R and Oxy, both on De Brouckèreplein.
Finally, the price of a hotel room went up considerably in 2022. If you still paid an average of 101 euros for a room in 2021, it was already 130 euros in 2022.
This article is originally published on bruzz.be
