Tourism in Belgium

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Tourism in Belgium is one of Belgium's smaller industries; however the country's easy accessibility from elsewhere in Europe still makes it a popular tourist destination.

6.7 million people travelled to Belgium in 2005. ^[1] Two thirds of them come from the larger nearby countries - France, The Netherlands, the United Kingdom and Germany.

The tourist industry generates 2.8% of Belgium's Gross Domestic Product and employs 3.3% of the working population (142,000 people).^[2]

In 1993, 2% of the total workforce was employed in tourism, less than in many neighbouring countries.^[3] Much of the tourism industry is located either at the heavily developed coastline or in the Ardennes.^[4] Brussels and the Flemish cities of Bruges, Ghent and Antwerp attract many cultural tourists.^[5]

Belgium ranked 21st on the World Economic Forum's 2007 Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Index, lower than all the neighbouring countries.^[6] Although the country scored highly for 'natural and cultural resources', it was ranked only 114th in the world for both 'price competitiveness' and 'availability of qualified labor'.^[7] In recent years the number of international tourists has stayed relatively stable, but the income they generate has increased to 9.863 billion US Dollars in 2005.

Contents 1 Transport 2 Cities 2.1 Brussels 2.2 Flanders 2.3 Wallonia 3 Bicycle Racing 4 Food and drinks 5 Relaxation and special events 6 Nature and Natural History 7 References 8 See also 9 External links

[edit] Transport

Because it is such a small country, much can be done in a short time. The highway network is one of densest of the world (comparable to the city of Los Angeles) but big cities are often packed, therefore, the use of train is highly encouraged since the rail network is comprehensive and efficient. Although the country is small, using a bike to travel (like in The Netherlands) is discouraged at some places, as traffic can be overwhelming.

[edit] Cities

Every large city has its own Gothic cathedral, church, belfry or town hall.

[edit] Brussels

The capital Brussels (French Bruxelles, Dutch Brussel) is renowned for its architecture (mediaeval, Gothic, Art Nouveau and Art Déco), the Grand Place (an old market square surrounded by buildings from 16th - 18th centuries), the royal palace, its pubs, gallerias with expensive boutiques (some say the oldest covered shopping arcades in the world) and its lifestyle. The Atomium is built on the Expo '58 site. The heart of Brussels has only a few old buildings, mostly around the Grand Place; the rest of the city was the result of modern architecture, mostly erected in the 1960s when the city's inner ring-road was built using cut and cover.

[edit] Flanders

The historic cities of Antwerp, Bruges, Ghent, Leuven, Ypres and Mechelen are a must.

Antwerp is the second largest city of Belgium, and the second largest port of Europe. It has a world renowned diamond stock exchange, a zoo, and holds yearly naval festivities. It's a very important cultural city, reaching its height in the 17th century. A fashion museum in Antwerp, MOMU (Mode Museum), houses the prestigious fashion design department of the Royal Academy of Fine Arts.

Ghent and Bruges (the "Venice of the North") are well known for their medieval cultural heritage. Both cities are criss-crossed by canals, and have retained much of their original medieval architecture and city layout. Ghent is somewhat more trendy than Bruges, which keeps its raw and original atmosphere. Ghent has the SMAK (City Museum for Contemporary Art), a modern art museum while Bruges' Groeningemuseum focuses more on the low countries' art in general: works include Paul Delvaux, René Magritte, James Ensor, Hieronymus Bosch, Jan van Eyck and many more.

Leuven is most famous for its impressive Town Hall and the university, which is one of the oldest in Europe. The Begijnhof (béguinage), a medieval hostel for nuns, is also worth a visit, and presents an island of calm in the centre of this bustling small city.

Night life centers on campuses in student cities like Leuven, Hasselt, Ghent or Antwerp. Antwerp and Hasselt are a focus for fashion clothing; Hasselt has a Fashion Museum.

[edit] Wallonia

• Liège

The old capital of an independent bishopric for more than eight centuries, Liège is now a centre of prestigious art, cultural life and an important student community.

Like Brussels, Liège was a victim of modern architecture and the remaining architectural interest is in the city's heart. Today, Liège is the largest Walloon metropolis and the third urban centre of Belgium. Thanks to its past, Liège has many impressive churches and a lot of architecture from previous centuries. There are also several unique museums, such as the world's most important museum of weapons and firearms.

Liège and its inhabitants are known to be very welcoming. One can find many shops in the centre of the city, numerous restaurants, a night life in the bars of "the square" (Le carré), and the biggest market in Europe every Sunday on the river's bank.

• Namur

Namur, the capital of Wallonia, is increasingly attracting attention. A medium sized city, Namur has many small fully pedestrian streets where you can find bars and restaurants. The city is dominated by the Citadel, a fortress built on a hill overlooking the city. The site has been used defensively for more than two millennia and the limestone hill is riddled with tunnels. The citadel can be visited and contains small museums of military history.

• Mons

Mons is also a small city like Namur but with a totally different heart and architecture. The town is dominated by tall spoil heaps from the area's coal mining history. The coal industry in Belgium is now finished but one of the large mining buildings near Mons has now been converted into a museum of science and technology (PASS).

• Charleroi

Charleroi is another mining town, near Mons. Since the decline of the mining industry it has managed to attract other industry, but the main reason to visit is to fly in or out of the airport - Brussels South - which is home to low cost airlines.

• Durbuy

Durbuy is known as the smallest city in the world. The medieval atmosphere of the narrow streets and the castle are enough to bring thousand of tourists every year. Durbuy is one of the major tourist places in the Ardennes and home to several outdoor adventure companies, offering canoeing, caving, climbing, mountain biking and other activities.

• Spa

Spa is the city of water that gives its name to the word spa. A small town in the middle of the Ardennes, surrounded by forest and rivers, Spa is famous for the mineral springs which have fed the hydro-therapy industry for centuries, and which now fill the well-known Spa mineral water bottles. The town has several hydrotherapy centres around it, although the original baths are now closed, replaced by a modern centre on the hill overlooking the town, accessible by funicular.

• Bastogne

Bastogne played a major role during the Battle of the Bulge in World War II. You can now visit many museums about that battle, American war cemeteries or just enjoy the beauty of this small city in the middle of the Ardennes.

Other touristic towns in the Ardennes include La Roche En Ardenne (outdoor activities, castle), Rochefort (caves), Han Sur Lesse (caves, wild park) and Bouillon (castle and museum of Crusades).

[edit] Bicycle Racing

Belgium has many internationally famous bicycle races, such as:

• Ronde van Vlaanderen
• Liège-Bastogne-Liège
• La Flèche Wallonne
• Gent-Wevelgem
• Het Volk

For cycling enthusiasts, a visit to Belgium should be combined with watching a cycling race. A famous place to spot cyclists is The Wall of Geraardsbergen (De Muur van Geraardsbergen in Dutch) and the Wall of Huy (Le mur de Huy in French). Belgium is undoubtedly the number one country in cyclo-cross.

[edit] Food and drinks

Belgium is well-known for its food and drink - including chocolate, especially pralines, fries, waffles and beer.

Belgium is a top visit for beer fanatics from all over the world. For more info, see the list of Belgian beers. Belgian "national dishes" are fries with mussels, rabbit with plums, eel in green sauce (Paling in't Groen in Dutch) and meatballs with "rabbit sauce" - also called "hunter sauce" - (literal translation of respectively Boulets sauce lapin and Boulets sauce chasseur in French).

Hasselt, the capital of the province Limburg, is famous for its jenever and speculaas. Liège is also very famous for its jenever, called peket, but also for its waffle (Gaufre de Liège - Luikse waffel).

Prestigious chocolate houses (Neuhaus for example) can be found in Brussels or Galler near Liège.

[edit] Relaxation and special events

Hydrotherapy and relaxation are available in the natural spas of Spa and Chaudfontaine.

Towards the year end, Christmas markets are held in many cities and towns in Belgium. The two most important places for Christmas markets, special food, concerts and other seasonal events are Brussels and Liège, which have both about 200 decorated wooden cottages and a big skating ring.

[edit] Nature and Natural History

Belgium is one of the most densely populated countries of the world, especially Flanders. Many Dutchmen call Belgium a "planological disaster". But the nature is unique, resembling that of the Netherlands and northern France for Flanders, but very different for Wallonia.

Belgium has 67 km of coastline along the North Sea, in the province of West Flanders. Places to visit here include De Panne, Ostend, De Haan and Knokke-Heist. Accommodation is very good, and there is plenty of choice, as the whole coastline is one big city, so to speak. Knokke-Heist has the natural reserve The Zwin, an estuary. The Zwin is a must see for bird watching. There is one nude beach, in Bredene, and it is one of the most crowded in Europe.

The part of Wallonia south of the river Meuse and Samber is generally known as the Ardennes. It is an ancient mountain range, comparable to the German Eifel and the most natural region of Belgium with the highest peak at 694 m (Signal de Botrange). The Ardennes attracts a lot of tourist in all seasons. In the summer, people from all over Europe like to enjoy the calm and the nature, the forest and rivers. In the winter, it is possible to do some winter sport like skiing, especially in the Haute Fagnes (high fens), in the east of the country, near the German border.

The Ardennes region is rich with caves offering spectacular shows of stalactites, stalagmites, underground rivers, etc. Many of them can be visited, with the sophistication ranging from sound and light shows, via boat trips on underground rivers, to exploring caves with a candle.

The Ardennes also contains many castles in varying states of repair, many of which can be visited. During the summer many of them offer exhibitions of falconry or host special events. Several offer hotel facilities, usually with a special gastronomic theme.

Belgium is famous to paleontology fanatics for its Iguanodon collection. The Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences in Brussels houses 30 skeletons of Iguanodon bernissartensis. Also of interest is the Walloon town of Spy, where in 1879 the remains of a Neanderthal were found, at the Grotte de Spy.

[edit] References

1. ^ Travel and Tourism in Belgium - euromonitor.com
2. ^ "More support for tourism". flandersnews.be (2007-03-02). Retrieved on 2007-03-02.
3. ^ Tourism Services - World Trade Organization
4. ^ Belgium - The tertiary sector from diplomatie.be
5. ^ Travel and Tourism in Belgium - euromonitor.com
6. ^ Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Index. World Economic Forum (2007-03-01). Retrieved on 2007-03-02.
7. ^ Belgium Country/Economy Profile (PDF). Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Index. World Economic Forum (2007-03-01). Retrieved on 2007-03-02.

[edit] See also

• List of Belgian museums
• Europalia

[edit] External links

• Official Flanders tourism site
• Belgian Tourist Office in the U.S.
• Official Brussels & Wallonia tourism site
• Official Wallonia-Brussels tourism site
• Trabel
• Virtual Tour of Bruges
• Concise tourist guide to cities in Belgium
• Portal to the Belgian Ardennes