More Belgians take summer holidays, but on smaller budget

Six out of 10 Belgians have holiday plans this summer, an increase on last year when only half took summer holidays. The travel budget is slightly lower than last year and the holiday period is also shorter, according to the annual holiday barometer by travel insurer Europ Assistance.

For the survey, leading market research firm Ipsos interviewed 10,000 people in Europe, the US and Brazil. In Belgium 1,000 people were interviewed between 28 March and 21 April 2017.

The results show that 60% of Belgians will go on holiday this summer, 13% more than in 2016. The reduced impact of last year's terror attacks provides a possible explanation for the increase, according to Europ Assistance spokesman Xavier Van Caneghem.

While more Belgians are travelling this summer, they will spend less time on holiday: an average of 1.8 weeks, the survey reveals. The holiday budget also shrunk slightly this year, to an average of about €2,179 per family, compared to €2,412 per family last year. The decline is explained by the larger number of Belgians travelling for shorter periods.

The average European summer holiday budget amounts to €1,989 per family.