Renting out a holiday home in Wallonia: how to arrange your BELWAL registration
If you rent out a gîte, holiday home or B&B in Wallonia, you must register that accommodation with Tourisme Wallonie before it is offered for let. That duty has applied since 1 July 2025. Below you will find who has to register, how the application works, and where to retrieve your number if you have been renting out for years.
Every tourist accommodation in Wallonia needs a registration number with the BELWAL prefix, and it must exist before you let the property. The duty comes from the Walloon tourism code and has applied since 1 July 2025. You apply free of charge with Tourisme Wallonie. If you already let under an old authorisation or notification, your number is already in the public register, usually converted to the BELWAL format.
What exactly is changing?
The registration duty is set out in the renewed Code wallon du Tourisme, the decree of 8 February 2024 that entered into force on 1 July 2025. It is Walloon legislation, not European. Every new registration receives a unique number starting with BELWAL, followed by a series of digits. An older recognition number may look different and still be valid. Tourisme Wallonie publishes all validly registered accommodations in a public register, and that register is what decides.
Important for anyone who has been letting for a while: if you held an authorisation under the old tourism code or filed a notification back then, your accommodation was carried over and your number converted to the BELWAL format. You do not start from scratch, you first look up your number in the public register. That automatic carry-over only ran until 1 January 2026, and only while your fire safety certificate remained valid. If your accommodation is not in the register, you still need to go through the new procedure.
Who has to register?
The duty applies to anyone renting out short-stay accommodation in the Walloon Region, whatever the scale. In practice that means:
- Gîtes and holiday homes, from a small chalet to a group house for twenty guests
- Guest rooms and B&Bs
- Hosts with a single property as well as professional operators with several units (each unit gets its own number)
- The German-speaking municipalities in East Belgium too: they are part of the Walloon Region and fall under the same rules
If you rent out in Flanders or Brussels, different schemes apply with their own registration numbers. More on that briefly below.
The vast majority of registered Walloon accommodations are in the Ardennes. Curious how fellow hosts present themselves there? Browse the holiday homes in the Ardennes.
How to apply for your BELWAL number
The application is administratively simple and free. Registration has to be done before the property is offered for let, so do not leave it until your first booking:
- Step 1. Create an account on Mon Espace. The Walloon government's digital portal is accessible via the Tourisme Wallonie website. You sign in with your identity details or itsme.
- Step 2. Register each rental unit separately. For each property or room you enter the address, accommodation type and capacity. If you rent out several units on one estate, each unit receives its own number.
- Step 3. Note your BELWAL number and use it everywhere. After approval you receive a number in the form BELWAL followed by digits. Mention it in all your listings. Once the European rules take effect in Wallonia, booking platforms will ask for that number.
- Step 4. Check yourself in the public register. Tourisme Wallonie publishes a list of registered accommodations. If your property appears correctly, you are compliant.
Not sure whether your existing number is valid? Do not go by the format, go by the register. A number without the BELWAL prefix can be a recognition from the previous scheme that still holds. If your accommodation appears in the public register, you are compliant; when in doubt, ask Tourisme Wallonie.
What happens without registration?
Letting without valid registration is not allowed in Wallonia, and the Walloon Region can impose administrative sanctions for it. What does not apply yet: EU Regulation 2024/1028 obliges booking platforms to collect registration numbers and pass them on to the authorities, but in Wallonia that duty can only be enforced once the tourism code has been adapted to it. Tourisme Wallonie announced that adaptation for the end of 2026.
On our platform we ask for the registration number when you sign up and display it on your listing. Holidaymakers see straight away that you are compliant, and you avoid having your listing suspended with us.
Separate scheme: holiday villages
If you operate a holiday village or collective holiday estate, bear a second obligation in mind. Under the renewed Code wallon du Tourisme (in force since 1 July 2025), holiday villages must apply for a new certification before 31 December 2026. An old recognition, often issued for a limited number of units, no longer suffices. That certification is separate from the BELWAL number per unit: you need both.
And in Flanders and Brussels?
Flanders runs its own registration via Toerisme Vlaanderen and also requires a fire safety certificate for accommodations. Brussels applies its own registration number per accommodation. The EU regulation applies across the EU, but each region organises registration itself.
If you rent out properties in several regions, you therefore register in each region separately. The numbers are not interchangeable.
If you also rent out at the seaside, that property is registered with Toerisme Vlaanderen. For inspiration: holiday homes on the Belgian Coast.
Rent out commission-free, with your registration in order
On our platform you rent directly to your guests, without commission per booking. When you sign up, you enter your registration number and we display it on your listing. Hundreds of hosts in the Ardennes and beyond have gone before you.
Also read why more and more owners rent out directly in our article on the alternative to Booking.com. Still weighing up renting through a platform? The questions hosts ask us most often are gathered in the questions for hosts.
See how renting out with us works
Frequently asked questions
What is a BELWAL number?
The BELWAL number is the unique registration number Tourisme Wallonie assigns to each short-term tourist rental unit. New numbers consist of the BELWAL prefix followed by a series of digits; an older recognition number may look different and still be valid. Your number belongs in every listing.
I have let for years under an old authorisation. Do I have to register again?
Probably not. Accommodations that were already notified or authorised were carried over and their number now bears the BELWAL prefix; you can look it up in Tourisme Wallonie's public register. That automatic carry-over applied until 1 January 2026 and only with a valid fire safety certificate. If you cannot find your accommodation there, go through the new procedure.
Do Airbnb and Booking already ask for my BELWAL number?
Not yet on the basis of the European rules. Regulation 2024/1028 has applied since 20 May 2026 and obliges platforms to collect registration numbers, but in Wallonia that only works once the tourism code has been adapted to it. Tourisme Wallonie announced that for the end of 2026. Listing your number already does no harm.
How much does registration cost?
Registration via Tourisme Wallonie's Mon Espace is free. You only need your identity details and your accommodation's details.
I rent out three gîtes on one estate. Do I need one number or three?
Three. Each rental unit receives its own registration number, even if they share the same address or estate.
My property is in East Belgium. Does this apply to me?
Yes. The German-speaking municipalities are part of the Walloon Region, so BELWAL registration applies there just the same.
What happens if I do not register?
Letting without registration is not allowed in Wallonia, and the Walloon Region can impose administrative sanctions for it. Registration is free and simple, so the risk is not worth it.
I operate a holiday village. Is the BELWAL number enough?
No. Holiday villages need, in addition to the registration number per unit, a new certification under the Code wallon du Tourisme, to be applied for before 31 December 2026.