In 2022 Belgians still prefer to travel in their own country… yet more and more Belgians are booking holidays abroad. This is what the booking numbers of Belvilla show, the international booking platform for holiday homes. What is more, due to the COVID-19 crisis, we are booking later than usual and holiday homes are more popular than ever. A proper look at 5 travel trends of Belgians for 2022.
1. Belgian travellers prefer to travel in their home country
Call it striking: just like in 2021, Belgium remains the favourite holiday destination for the Belgians with 83.5% of the total bookings for 2022. Especially in the short term, most compatriots travel within our borders. In January and February, Belgium is the clear winner with 87% of all bookings. For spring, Belgium accounts for 78.3% of all bookings. For the summer of 2022, Belgium and France currently share the first place with 37% of all bookings. These figures prove that there is clearly more demand for accommodation in Belgium than before the pandemic.
2. Italy may expect a lot of Belgian travellers as well this year
On the other hand Belvilla also sees that more than in 2020 travellers show more confidence to book a holiday home abroad. The first provisional figures: Austria attracts more winter sports enthusiasts in January and February. For the time being, Italy sees the number of Belgian tourists increase by 26% for the entire year. In Austria, there is an increase of 20% for the whole of 2022. Germany, Croatia and Spain also show an increase of 27%, 28% and 18% respectively. Neighbouring country France also remains popular and shows an increase of 7% and can thus count on stable Belgian visitor numbers.
Belgians still mainly travel in their own country, although foreign countries are on the rise.
3. During the school holidays Belgians will travel to the Netherlands and France
For those who are still unsure where to go in 2022: Belvilla made a prediction of the foreign travel behaviour of Belgians based on the reservation figures. During the Carnival holidays the Belgian travellers mainly opt for the Netherlands and France. Our northern neighbours even see the number of Belgian tourists increase by 330 percent compared to the Carnival holidays of 2021. For the Easter holidays, the Belgians have their eyes set on Spain (+ 100%), the Netherlands (+ 300%), France (+ 467%) and Germany (+ 900%). The Whitsun weekend provides good figures in France (+189%) and the Netherlands (+200%). France (+89%) also records more Belgian bookings during the Ascension weekend than in 2021.
4. Short term bookings are very popular
The summer holidays of 2022 are currently not causing an increase in the number of Belgian tourists. But that could still change. Belvilla notes that, for the time being, Belgians mainly have travel plans for the first half of the year. Because of the pandemic, there is a lot of uncertainty. As a result, our compatriots are now booking mainly for the short term. Although we do this en masse. January and February record 105% more reservations than the same period last year. This means that we are definitely on the way to return to the level of 2020.
5. Holiday homes are more popular than ever
Another well-known consequence of COVID-19 is that we are more often exchanging the classic hotel room for a holiday home. Those who travel with their ‘bubble’ prefer holiday homes. This trend will continue in 2022. Holiday homes attract families, families and groups of friends in particular. They stay there safely and comfortably , often in a quiet environment, away from the hustle and bustle, as well. However, other types of travelers, such as couples, are now also attracted to holiday homes.
Apart from dozens of more standard holiday homes Belvilla currently offers 23 unique holiday homes, but this is not the end of it. It is their strong desire and goal to add even more unique addresses to the current unique offering of ‘Unique Homes’.
For more information on Belvilla’s Unique Homes go to: nl.belvilla.be/uniekehuizen
