Warm weather and successive heatwaves did little to keep tourists and shoppers away from Antwerp this summer, with retailers, hotels and attractions all reporting solid business during July. However, business organisations warn that the city must urgently adapt its shopping streets to rising temperatures by adding more trees, shade and water features.
According to Beleef Antwerpen, which represents retail, hospitality and adjacent businesses in the city centre, the prolonged heatwave in the second half of June temporarily emptied the shopping streets, but this was followed by particularly strong summer sales as consumers caught up on purchases they had postponed during the hot spell.
Chair Carole Thewissen told Gazet van Antwerpen warm weather generally benefits the city centre. Visitors spend more time on café terraces, while air-conditioned shops offer a welcome escape from the heat, often encouraging customers to stay inside longer. She added that any revenue lost during exceptionally hot days is usually recovered afterwards, as shoppers tend to postpone rather than cancel their purchases.
The Neutraal Syndicaat voor Zelfstandigen (NSZ) or Neutral Syndicate of the Self-Employed also described July as a successful month. The organisation said the summer sales performed well despite extremely quiet shopping streets during the hottest afternoons, with many customers instead arriving after 17:00 once temperatures eased.
Call for more trees and shade
Despite the positive figures, NSZ warned that increasingly frequent heatwaves pose a growing challenge for Antwerp’s retail district.
The organisation pointed to the noticeable temperature difference between the largely paved Kammenstraat and the tree-lined Nationalestraat, where it said conditions can be up to 10°C cooler. It argued that Antwerp urgently needs to green its shopping streets by planting more trees and creating shaded areas and water features to ensure the city centre remains attractive for visitors. Without such measures, it warned, the commercial heart of Antwerp risks becoming a “grey desert”.
Zoo and hotels also report solid month
Antwerp Zoo has not yet released visitor figures for July, but spokesperson Ilse Segers said the park remains well suited to hot weather thanks to its 365 trees, numerous shaded buildings and cooler areas, including the penguin enclosure. She noted that many Antwerp residents and annual pass holders treat the zoo as their own garden and often visit even more frequently during warm weather, while the summer bar has also proved popular.
At the same time, Segers acknowledged that prolonged high temperatures generally have a negative impact on visitor numbers overall, adding that the zoo would prefer a more typical Belgian summer.
The city’s hotel sector also enjoyed a strong July. Didier Boehlen of the Antwerp Hotel Association said Antwerp’s tourism market, which relies heavily on short-break visitors from nearby countries such as the Netherlands, Germany, and France, is naturally sensitive to weather conditions. Travellers are more likely to book or cancel city trips depending on the forecast.
Nevertheless, July’s heat did not affect hotel performance. Average occupancy reached 76%, up 2.6% compared with the same month last year, while occupancy during the final week of July was 4% higher than a year earlier.
Fashion retailers report mixed sales
Across Flanders and Brussels, however, fashion retailers experienced a more mixed summer sales season.
A survey by Mode Unie (Fashion Union) and Unizo found that one-third (33.3%) of independent fashion retailers sold more than during last year’s summer sales, while 27.5% reported similar sales and 39.1% recorded lower turnover. Overall, the sector posted an average decline of 1% compared with 2025.
According to Unizo, the weaker overall performance was largely caused by July’s second heatwave. While the sales season began strongly, the organisation said the extreme temperatures during the opening weeks significantly reduced footfall. Although many shoppers returned during the final fortnight of the sales, this was not enough to fully offset the earlier losses.
