Brussels Tourism Agency Facing 64% Funding Cut

The Brussels-Capital Region government proposed slashing the destination marketing organization's annual subsidy from $25.3 million to $9.2 million (€22 million to €8 million) by 2029 — a cut of roughly 64%. In response, staff at visit.brussels, the umbrella organization that houses the convention bureau, have launched an online petition and called a public rally for today to coincide with the time of the final regional budget vote.

"I am still incredulous," said Thierry van Eyll, head of international development at visit.brussels, in a French language LinkedIn post sounding the alarm. “After nearly 15 years attracting congresses, breaking attendance records, helping tourism-dependent sectors recover from successive crises, and supporting the launch of new rail and air links, he said, it was hard to believe it was all being swept aside.”

According to the petition, the government plans to cut $6.6 million (€5.7 million) from the organization’s budget this year alone, and at least 90 of its 160 jobs are expected to go. The convention and association bureau would be among those affected. A spokesperson for Boris Dilliès, leader of the Brussels-Capital region, cited a deficit of $1.4 billion (€1.2 billion) in 2025, saying the regional government chose to limit expenditure rather than raise taxes, according to local English-language media site The Bulletin.

Staff say the cuts are disproportionate. The petition — which drew more than 1,400 signatures in its first day — notes that the organization has already complied with a budget moratorium since 2020, delivering millions of euros in savings in advance.

The Event Confederation, the umbrella body representing Belgium's broad events sector, has warned that the cuts amount to sawing off the branch Brussels is sitting on. Congress visitors spend around $1152 (€1,000) in a host city, the confederation argues, versus $576 (€500) for a typical tourist — meaning that cutting the promotional budget will reduce tax revenues and employment, making the short-term saving self-defeating.

According to a visit.brussels report, the city recorded nearly 10 million overnight stays in 2024 — more than half (52%) coming from business tourism, with an overall hotel occupancy rate of 72.7%.

Brussels is a popular destination for international meetings, aided by its status as the de facto capital of the European Union by hosting several major EU councils and committees. Last year Brussels topped the Union of International Associations (UIA) rankings for the fourth consecutive year, hosting 388 international meetings in 2024. The International Congress and Convention Association (ICCA) ranked the city 14th worldwide, counting 100 rotating international association meetings for 2024. 

An Industry-Wide Funding Challenge

The Brussels situation is unusual but not unprecedented. Pressure on public funding for Destination Marketing Organizations (DMO) is becoming a global pattern.

Brand USA, the U.S. national destination marketing organization, saw its federal matching funds slashed 80% last year — from $100 million to $20 million — as part of the Congressional budget reconciliation process. CEO Fred Dixon said the cut would require "a significant recalibration of our resources and programming." A bipartisan bill, the Visit USA Act, was introduced in November 2025 to restore funding ahead of the FIFA 2026 World Cup and LA 2028 Olympics, but as of publication it has not passed.

The pattern reveals a structural weakness in how some convention bureaus are funded. In the U.S., hotel occupancy taxes provide a dedicated revenue stream for city-level tourism promotion and convention marketing. Some U.S. states take extreme measures to ensure these funds are only used for destination promotion. According to HVS's annual lodging tax study, Florida and Texas go further, legally prohibiting municipalities from depositing hotel tax revenue into their general funds at all. Meanwhile in Europe, most convention bureaus depend primarily on public subsidy, which — as Destination Think has documented — leaves them exposed whenever governments tighten belts, with "tourism often caught in the crossfire."

This crisis in Brussels makes that vulnerability vivid. The region already levies a tourist tax of €5 per room per night, raised from €4 at the start of 2026. This tax generates more than €20 million annually, but the revenue is not ring-fenced for destination promotion.

Edinburgh is one European city testing a model, similar to U.S. DMOs. Scotland's capital will become the first UK city to fund its convention bureau through a statutory visitor levy — a 5% surcharge on overnight accommodation taking effect July 24, 2026, ahead of the city’s busy August festival season. It is projected to raise up to $66.6 million (£50 million) a year with a share of those proceeds explicitly earmarked for destination marketing and management.