The tourist industry generates 2.8% of Belgium's gross domestic product and employs 3.3% of the working population (142,000 people).
[2] Two-thirds of them come from the larger nearby countries - France, The Netherlands, the United Kingdom, and Germany; there are also many tourists from Spain and Italy.
Belgium was ranked 21st on the World Economic Forum's 2017 Travel and Tourism Competitiveness report.
[5] The country was placed 4th for "health and hygiene" and 6th for "ground and port infrastructure", but only 105th in the world for "price competitiveness" and 122nd for "natural resources".
In recent years, the number of international tourists has exponentially grown as key figures shown by Tourisme Vlaanderen.