Brussels tourism rebounding: "Back on its feet this summer"

The prospects are encouraging, says Rodolphe Van Weyenbergh of BHA: "We will be close to the occupancy figures from July and August 2015." Two years ago, the hospitality sector enjoyed an occupancy rate of 72.1 percent. In the summer of 2016, just months after the terror attacks at Brussels Airport and the metro station Maalbeek, this dropped to 53.6 percent.

However, preliminary figures for this year are encouraging, with occupancy rates of about 71 percent for April, still a little below the 2015 threshold of 76. "We clearly left the poor results of 2016 behind us", says Geert Cochez of visit.brussels. "By the way, we don't expect the failed attack at the station - last Tuesday - to have an impact."

The Brussels government set up an international campaign to restore the capital's dented image, named "Where Will Brussels Take You". This campaign will be running until October. 

Visit.brussels launched "Summer will be MIXITY.brussels", a promotion campaign aimed at boosting city trips to Brussels. BHA also expects a positive effect from Tomorrowland, the renowned international dance festival in Boom, between Antwerp and Brussels, as this is now taking place in two different weekends, a first since 2014.