II. OECD COUNTRIES PROFILES – BELGIUM Belgium Tourism in the economy In Belgium, tourism is an exclusive competency of the three regions: Flanders, Wallonia and Brussels. This section provides a national overview of tourism in the country, as does the statistical annex, followed by presentations of the governance and policy initiatives of the Flanders Region and Wallonia. In 2012, the direct contribution of travel and tourism to GDP and employment for Belgium was estimated to be respectively 2.3% and 2.5%. At the level of the regions the economic contribution of tourism represented around 2.8% for Flanders, 6.1% for Wallonia, and 4.2% for Brussels. In 2014, Belgium received a record 6.4 million international visitors in hotels and similar establishments, of whom 48% (3.1 million) visited Flanders, 40% (2.5 million) the city of Brussels and 12% (0.8 million) Wallonia. The number of foreign tourists to Belgium in 2014 increased by 2.6% overall on 2013. The leading foreign markets for Belgium are the Netherlands, France, the United Kingdom and Germany. Belgium domestic visitors totalled 4.2 million in 2014, of whom 58% visited Flanders, 25% Wallonia and 17% Brussels. Outbound overnight trips from Belgium increased by 5.8% to 13.3 million in 2014. Of these trips, 55% originated in Flanders, 29% in Wallonia and 16% in Brussels. FLANDERS REGION Tourism governance and funding In Flanders, tourism is the responsibility of the Minister for Public Works, Mobility, the Vlaamse Rand, Tourism and Animal Protection. The tourism unit of the Flemish Department of Foreign Affairs is responsible for tourism policy, international tourism relations and the licensing of tourism accommodation in the Flanders region. VisitFlanders has the following objectives and functions: ● Investing in the sustainable development and promotion of Flanders and Brussels as a top tourist destination, ● Making specific investments and supplying support to make the Flanders tourism offer more attractive, ● Promoting Flanders as a tourist destination to attract more visitors, OECD TOURISM TRENDS AND POLICIES 2016 © OECD 2016 133 II. OECD COUNTRIES PROFILES – BELGIUM ● Making sure that everyone can enjoy and participate in a holiday, including people with disabilities or limited economic means, linking accessibility and quality, ● Stimulating professionalism in the tourist sector in order to guarantee all visitors a quality offer and experience. Local authorities invest in the domestic promotion of Flanders. In 2015 the overall budget for VisitFlanders was EUR 80 million. Belgium, Flanders region: Organisational chart of tourism bodies Flemish Minister for Public Works, Mobility, the Vlaamse Rand, Tourism and Animal Protection VisitFlanders Flemish Department of Foreign Affairs (Departement internationaal Vlaanderen) Marketing Office Project Funding Quality Management Foreign Affairs division Product Management (Policy) Product Management (Inclusive Tourism) Operating Office Diplomatic Network Division Business Development Content Focus Markets Future Markets Global Challenges Division Offices Abroad Information Office Holiday Participation Centre Touristic Entrepreneurship and Strategic Goods Division Source: OECD, adapted from the Flemish Department of Foreign Affairs, 2016. Tourism policies and programmes Tourism policy in Flanders has three overall priorities: ● Increase the attractiveness and promote Flanders as a destination. The approach is to focus on distinctive features of Flanders, including treasures such as the Flemish Masters and local gastronomy. Individual destinations including the Brussels region are supported and investments made in promotion, events, infrastructure and accessibility. ● Support businesses and a vibrant tourism sector. Priorities include a streamlined quality policy, addressing competitiveness in the accommodation sector and implementing a hotel and catering industry policy plan; product development such as cycling, walking networks and family-friendly heritage destinations; and financial support provided by the Government. Since 2013, specific attention has been given to tourism as a main driver of economic growth for the province of Limburg, with public support provided for tourism projects, such as those creating value from coal mining heritage. ● Make tourism available to all Flemings. This includes work in three areas: making Flanders a leading family-friendly heritage destination; expanding the Holiday Participation Centre (Steunpunt Vakantieparticipatie) as a leading reference point for people with budgetary and care needs; and providing a range of high quality accommodation for a range of disadvantaged groups. 134 OECD TOURISM TRENDS AND POLICIES 2016 © OECD 2016 II. OECD COUNTRIES PROFILES – BELGIUM WALLONIA Tourism governance and funding In Wallonia, tourism is the responsibility of the Minister of Agriculture, Nature, Rural Development, Tourism and Sport Infrastructure. There are three main institutional players in Wallonia. The General Tourism Commission (CGT) is the agency responsible for implementing the tourism policy of the Walloon Government. Its mission is to execute tourism policy, manage publicly owned tourism infrastructure and organise and promote tourism in Wallonia. The Wallonia-Brussels Tourism Bureau (WBT) is primarily responsible for the promotion of Wallonia and Brussels as tourism destinations in Flanders and abroad. The CGT and WBT work closely with professional associations in the sector to develop creative and innovative tourism policies. The objective is to: focus investment on source markets with high potential; improve the image and reputation of Wallonia as a destination; develop innovation and improve the balance between supply and demand in the various markets; and bring public and private investment together to promote Wallonia and its products as a destination for tourism. The Centre for Tourism Engineering of Wallonia (CITW) is a joint economic and tourism development undertaking between Walloon municipalities active in the sector. In liaison with the CGT and with support from European Regional Development Funding, it organises and implements tourism engineering policies that pool responsibilities and co-ordinate actions at the Walloon territorial level, as well as co-ordinating more generally the studies performed by specialist consultants. In 2014 the budget of the CGT was EUR 59 million. The budget does not include funding for projects co-financed by the European Commission (EUR 97 million for the period 2007-13). The main budget of the WBT (including promotion of Brussels Region) was EUR 12 million (2/3 of this amount being financed by the CGT). Specific promotion actions for Wallonia, including public-private promotion clubs, were also financed for EUR 3 million. Belgium, Wallonia: Organisational chart of tourism bodies Minister of Agriculture, Nature, Rural Development, Tourism and Sport Infrastructure General Tourism Commission Centre for Tourism Wallonia – Brussels Tourism (Commissariat Général au Tourisme) Engineering of Wallonia General and Tourism Tourism Tourist Attraction Tourism Inspection and Organisations and Infrastructure Accommodation Tourism Product Tourism Strategy FEDER Co-ordination Division Division Division Division Division Services Source: OECD, adapted from the General Tourism Commission of Wallonia, 2016. OECD TOURISM TRENDS AND POLICIES 2016 © OECD 2016 135 II. OECD COUNTRIES PROFILES – BELGIUM Tourism policies and programmes The 2014-19 Regional Policy Declaration recommends focusing on two tourism objectives: ● Make Wallonia a leading tourist destination. The approach involves building on the region’s key strengths, including heritage sites, gastronomy and major events (such as the anniversaries of the Battle of Waterloo and First and Second World War battles). Priorities also include reviewing the tourism strategy, commercialising packages for specific markets, improving the customer welcome, and addressing the accessibility of the main tourist sites. ● Maximise capacity and resources to support tourism. Priorities include: involving professional associations in implementing tourism policy; improving the training of operators; improving financial tools; adopting a more cohesive regional development policy; creating two or three new resorts using public-private partnerships to develop and enhance government-owned assets; developing high performance statistical tools; simplifying standards for tourist establishments, redirected towards quality, accessibility and security; simplifying the institutional organisation of tourism; restructuring and streamlining the Wallonia-Brussels Tourism Bureau (through the sixth State reform which confers more responsibility for tourism to the regions). Before the above objectives can be achieved, the Minister for Tourism has requested an objective and comprehensive overview of the economic impact of tourism in Wallonia in order to make informed decisions when adapting key policies. To this end, the CGT is working with other actors to improve and update the socio-economic data available and develop new instruments, such as sectoral analysis of accommodation and visitor attractions, and customer surveys. Particular attention is being paid to accommodation and the hotel sector in this project, as it is the main source of tourism income. This complements work on tourist attractions. Promoting good practices in tourist attractions in Wallonia, Belgium Research undertaken in 2013 by the “Attractions et Tourisme” Association