Extended Ascension Weekend attracts almost a fifth fewer day tourists to the coast (Blankenberge)
Among other things, the harbor parties in Blankenberge were a crowd puller. – © DV
Striking: According to Provinciebedrijf Westtoer, the Ascension Weekend on the Coast lured fewer tourists compared to last year. The number of day trippers was up to 19 percent lower. « There are several reasons for that, » said Westtoer.
The extended Ascension weekend will of course remain a good period for the tourism sector on the coast. With 600,000 tourist overnight stays and 450,000 day tourists, a lot of people came to the sea again. And yet those numbers are sensitively lower compared to last year.
14 percent fewer tourist nights were noted compared to 2024. 12 percent fewer bookings were made in the hotels. The average occupancy rate in hotels was 80 percent last nights. Especially the nights from Thursday to Friday, and Friday on Saturday scored well, with an average occupancy rate of 90 percent. The situation differs from seaside resort.
« Last year, the extended weekend coincided with the end of the May holiday of our French -speaking countrymen, » said Michelle Martens, spokeswoman for Westtoer. « The Walloons then spent a longer stay by the sea. The weather was also less beautiful last weekend than predicted in the last days prior to the extended weekend. As a result, fewer last minute bookings were noted and fewer second -dosing people dropped to their place by the sea. »
A successful fashion fair went on in Ostend. – © If
More sun
But the number of day trippers also fell by 19 percent. The top days were on Friday and Saturday. A number of events attracted extra tourists to the sea. In Blankenberge, for example, there were the harbor parties, Ostend unpacked with the Fashion Fair. Striking: however, the sun was shining more by the sea than in the interior. On average, the coast could count on 9 hours and 6 minutes of sunshine a day, while the station in Uccle received an average of 6 hours and 24 minutes of sunshine. So the sea was 2 hours and 42 minutes extra. The number of hours of sun was considerably lower than in 2024.
