The mayors of the Belgian coast have opted for a gradual return to tourism, said Monday the governor of West Flanders, Carl Decaluwé, after a meeting with all the mayors. Access to the coast will first be allowed to secondary residents, then apartment tenants will be welcome and finally day tourists.
These decisions are aligned with the recommendations of the National Security Council. No specific date has yet been set for these wave returns. The mayors of seaside resorts have reached an agreement on the organization of tourism by the sea this summer. The process will be done in stages.
“We will follow the recommendations of the National Security Council, and we will allow people to return to the Coast, but in waves, and not all at the same time,” said Carl Decaluwé. “First there will be the secondary residents. Then we will open access to hotels, bed and breakfast, campsites and holiday apartments. And finally, we will welcome tourists for a day. They will be welcome when restaurants and cafes reopen. “
A general framework has been drawn but which authorizes local measures. This framework includes the following points: a traffic plan for cars and people, a “beach” plan focused on access to it, supervised bathing areas (from June 27) and a traffic plan and terraces for the breakwater, shopping streets and other public spaces.
Each municipality may adapt the instructions according to the number of visitors. “It is important that we can permanently map the number of people. This is the only way to intervene if necessary,” insists Carl Decaluwé. Coastal cities will therefore have to constantly monitor the flow of visitors. We have already calculated, for example, the capacity of beaches by municipality. The municipalities will develop a “beach” plan around this. Knowing that Nieuport and Blankenberge will face the greatest challenge, since they lack the space to accommodate the number of tourists expected “.
In addition, the Coast needs 140 additional police officers for the proper execution of these plans. Forty of them will come from a solidarity platoon from West Flanders and 100 other police officers will be drawn from the federal reserve.
No event until the end of August
The mayors of the coastal municipalities have also decided to cancel all the events scheduled until the end of August, they said Monday evening after a consultation meeting. “We really want to avoid population regroupings. As mayors, we do not want to be held responsible for a new breakthrough of the virus,” they said.
Both major events and minor gatherings have been canceled. “We made no distinction according to the scale or the nature of the events,” they said.
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