Antwerp hotels too empty during the week: ‘We need to attract more tourists’

Two years ago, luxury residential care centre Park Lane on Antwerp's City Park saw its licence revoked due to staff shortages and defects to the building. It stood empty for a while, but eventually Dutch hotel chain Van der Valk bought the former residential care centre.

It has been completely renovated and converted into a luxury hotel, which opened this week. Soon, a new hotel will open on the site of the former Zillion discotheque, and the Hilton hotel on the Groenplaats also plans to expand substantially. Hundreds of rooms are being added to Antwerp’s hotel offerings. In 2019, there were 65 hotels in Antwerp with 4,946 rooms; by May 2024, their number had grown to 75 hotels with 5,823 rooms.

But is demand for a hotel room in Antwerp so high that more hotels are needed? ‘No, currently there are too few tourists to fill all hotel rooms completely,’ says Didier Boehlen of the Antwerp Hotel Association. ‘Too many rooms have been added in recent years.’

Low occupancy rate

According to Mr Boehlen, the increase in the number of hotel rooms has been very rapid, especially since the pandemic. ‘During weekends, rooms are often full and hotels are doing better and better, but during the week it is more difficult to get those rooms filled. There are lots of quality hotels, but they have to make money.’

The Antwerp hotel federation is concerned. ‘We are not worried that all hotels will suddenly start to go bankrupt, but the value and yield of hotels is a concern,’ Mr Boehlen continues. ‘Occupancy rates are now below 70 per cent and we really need to increase that.’

More conferences needed

A few years ago, the city of Antwerp and the hotel sector together worked out a plan to attract more conferences to Antwerp. ‘Business events like that attract large groups of tourists to our city,’ says Koen Kennis, alderman for tourism. ‘In this way, we also try to fill the hotels during the week.’

Last year Ghent decided not to allow any more new hotels within the city ring road. ‘In Antwerp, we have no such plans,’ says alderman Kennis. ‘What we as a city do want to focus on more is getting the Airbnbs under control. We don't want their number to explode to ensure they don't become more important than hotels. We need to avoid them becoming a plague.’

These sentiments are music to the ears of the hotel sector. ‘Far too little is being done against the increase in Airbnbs at the moment and we think they are unfair competition,’ says Didier Boehlen. ‘It is urgent.  It is time to tackle that because Airbnbs and the nuisance they sometimes cause, means local residents often have a negative attitude towards tourism.’

Interesting projects

As far as the hotel federation is concerned, new hotels should definitely not be added at the moment. ‘Now we should focus on the quality of existing hotels and make sure they are full’.

Alderman Koen Kennis is not working to bring new hotels to the city. ‘But if interesting projects present themselves that can fill a gap in the market, we won’t say 'no' to them in advance. Besides, when someone has a building licence, I can't stop them. Unless we take urban planning measures to stop it, but without any renewal, we usually end up with squalor.’

The new Van der Valk and the five-star Botanic Sanctuary, add rooms in the more expensive segment of the market. ‘At the moment, we are very happy with that,’ concludes Koen Kennis. ‘If Madonna plays a show at the Sportpaleis, she no longer has to take a taxi to a hotel in Brussels but can sleep in Antwerp. In that market segment, we don't feel there is oversupply at the moment.’