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Bugger Bruges

by | 7th, January 2005

‘NAMING three famous Belgians is like naming all the lead actors in The Magnificent Seven – everyone starts off strongly but gets stuck with a couple left.

The other famous Belgian…and his dog

Even this morning’s Telegraph can only come up with two headline-grabbing Belges – one of whom is a cartoon character while the other is English.

But it also comes up with a reason why most of us can’t get past Tintin and Audrey Hepburn.

Apparently, British tourists spend less time per visit – just two days – in Belgium than in any other country, including Luxembourg.

So boring is Belgium, it seems, that we do nothing but shop when we’re there, spending more per day (£103) than in any other place in the world.

Of course, this might be partly explained by the fact that Brussels is the terminus for the European gravy train.

Business travellers spend on average £155 a day, while holidaymakers fork out just £72. And most of that, we suspect, is on a train ticket to France.

The information is part of an annual Travel Trends report, which also reveals that Spain is our favourite holiday destination, followed by France.

In contrast to Belgium, the average trip to New Zealand lasts 44 days, one day more than a trip to Australia – although, while there, we spend only a third as much a day.

Belgians will no doubt insist this has something to do with the relative distances of the country, not their attractiveness to visitors.

In fact, so attractive is Belgium to foreigners that last century the Germans invaded it twice.

And little wonder when it is home to such famous figures as Jean-Claude Van Damme, Edward de Smedt, the inventor of asphalt, and, er, Jean-Claude Van Damme’s mum…’



Posted: 7th, January 2005 | In: Uncategorized Comment | TrackBack | Permalink