Felicity Long
Last June I participated in a press trip to Belgium at the invitation of Belgian Tourist Office – Brussels/Wallonia, and while I’d been to the destination several times before, this trip was especially appealing, as it focused on living the high life in Brussels and beyond.
Less than a year later, that lighthearted view of the city seems like ancient history.
Even before the most recent attacks at the airport and metro in Brussels, Belgium was struggling to rebound from the grim image of the lockdown in Brussels following the attacks in Paris in November.
Understandably, tourism suffered.
To reassure would-be visitors, VisitBelgium launched its #CallBrussels campaign, which promoted the city via the installation of phone booths at three locations, including Place Communale in Molenbeek, where the alleged Paris terrorist mastermind was later arrested amid a widely televised police shootout.
In light of the subsequent, March 22 attacks, the campaign is now regarded as premature, at best, and to some, an embarrassment.
A few weeks ago a fellow travel journalist admitted to me that, even though he’s not an alarmist, he and his family had canceled a recent Belgium trip in favor of Amsterdam -- and this was before the March attacks. At the time, he thought it would have been fine to go, but “try telling that to the mother of a 4-year-old,” he said, referring to his wife.
All that said, the resilience of the human spirit prevails, and Belgium is too special a destination to fall off the tourist map long-term.
Brussels is doing all it can to reassure both travelers and residents that extra safety measures are being put in place throughout the city. Francoise Haffreingue, executive manager for the Belgian Tourist Office – Brussels/Wallonia, said that “extraordinary police and military reinforcement” are being deployed in Brussels and greater Belgium, including at tourism venues.
Here is a rundown of what is happening with the city's security and transportation infrastructure:
• Token passenger service began at the airport on Sunday, April 3, with about 20% service restored by the next day. For now, the airport is expected to handle about 800 passengers an hour, with full capacity -- about 5,000 an hour -- predicted to be restored by July. Up-to-date information is available on a newly created airport website.
• There is no rail or metro service to and from the airport, however, and no expectation that it will be restored anytime soon.
• New security measures are being implemented at the airport, including controls at the entrances and the presence of dogs for the detection of explosives.
• Random controls have been set up at the entrance of all train stations in the country, and there is a military presence at the entrance of all open metro stations, as well as a police presence in the subway.
• Museums, restaurants, transportation, shopping malls are open in Brussels, and the hop-on/hop-off buses are operating.