The City Council has withdrawn advertising from Brussels Airport to not encourage more visits. No more tourist apartments or hotels will be authorized in the historic center.
Witches is a Belgian UNESCO World Heritage city, prized for its cobbled streets, picturesque canals and medieval buildings.
But its postcard landscape has also made it victim of excessive tourism as has happened in Venice or in Mallorca. A record of more than 8.3 million people visited Brugesa city of less than 120,000 inhabitants, in 2023.
Neighbors more than fed up
“People have started to point out that there are too many tourists,” declared the mayor of Bruges, Dirk De Fauwto the newspaper ‘The Brussels Times‘ in August. “If we let everyone do what they want, things will go wrong quickly.“.
As part of the solution, the City Council has prohibited the construction of new hotels in its historic center. It has also stopped authorizing new tourist apartments throughout the city.
Why is Bruges taking strong measures against tourist apartments?
From living off tourism to living with tourism
Although Bruges’ plans are not as extreme as those of Barcelonawhich at the beginning of summer announced a ban on tourist apartments throughout the city by 2029, are a step towards controlling excessive tourism.
It is hoped that the new restrictions will help restore the balance between tourists and residents in the beautiful and charming but crowded city. In Budapest they have come to vote What path do the tourist neighborhoods follow? However, some experts say a crackdown on Airbnb-style accommodations won’t solve the city’s day-tripper problem.
“Bruges, like Venice, is a city closely linked to its puertowhich attracts a large number of hikers,” says Bart-Jan Leytsfounder and CEO of property rating platform Otamiser, who grew up in the city.
Bruges limits cruises
De Fauw ruled out the possibility of introducing fees or limits on the number of visitors in Bruges: “We cannot and do not want to control access to the city, as in Dubrovnik o Venice“where a tax for day hikers was recently introduced to reduce overcrowding,” he said.
But attempts have been made to reduce the number of day-trippers in the city. In 2019, they imposed limits on cruises, to a maximum of two per day that can now dock nearby Zeebruggeinstead of five.
They remove the advertisements from Brussels airport so that they are not remembered
Although the tourist crowds They have expelled the residents of the center historic Bruges, the rest of the city remains relatively intact and the authorities plan to keep it that way. The municipal authorities also they removed the ads of the medieval city at Brussels airport so as not to encourage more visitors.
“The influx of tourists brings economic benefits, but also exerts a enormous pressure on the city’s infrastructure and community. By managing tourism sustainably, Bruges can protect its heritage and remain a vibrant and welcoming destination,” explains Bart-Jan Leyts.
