France remained Belgians’ favourite holiday destination in 2025, far ahead of the Netherlands, Spain and Italy, according to final statistics published by Statbel.
The Belgian statistical office reported that Belgians took 31.2 million trips involving at least one overnight stay last year.
The vast majority of these trips were taken for personal reasons, such as leisure and holidays, or to visit family and friends.
A surprisingly small 6% only were for business purposes. Compared with pre-Covid figures, it seems that business travel has recovered far more slowly than leisure travel, suggesting that Zoom and remote working may have permanently changed the way some international business is conducted.
Of the 1.9 million business trips made by Belgians in 2025, 18% were within the country’s borders. France was the leading destination for business trips abroad, with 366,000 trips to the neighbouring country. This was followed by Germany with 229,000 trips and the Netherlands with 207,000.
Between 44,000 and 79,000 business trips were made to Italy and Spain, as well as to destinations beyond Europe, including Africa, Asia and North America.
Overall, almost a third of all trips, or 9.4 million, were made within Belgium. The Ardennes and the Belgian coast were the most popular destinations, accounting for 2.9 million trips each.
Art cities attracted 1.1 million visits.
When Belgians did venture abroad, France was the undisputed favourite, with 6.86 million trips, compared with 2.63 million to the Netherlands and 2.22 million to Spain.
Beyond the top three destinations, numbers dropped considerably. Italy and Germany recorded 1.45 and 1.44 million trips, respectively, followed by Morocco (around 700,000), the UK (660,000) and Portugal (558,000).
The report found that city breaks (35%) were as popular with Belgians as seaside holidays (32%) or trips to the countryside (31%). Mountains were less popular, accounting for only 12% of trips, a figure that some might say is hardly surprising for travellers from the Plat Pays.
With a large share of trips either domestic or to neighbouring countries, it is perhaps to be expected that almost two-thirds (19.1 million) were made by car, motorbike or camper. Air travel came second, accounting for 7.8 million trips.
Within Belgium, the car is by far the favourite mode of transport, accounting for 83% of trips. Belgians appear less enthralled by their public transport system when travelling within their own country: 12% took the train, and only 3% took the bus.
Interestingly, however, the train was the main means of transport for 39% of trips to Belgium’s “art cities”.
By contrast, it was used for just 5% of trips to the Ardennes and 12% of trips to the coast.
