In 2024, Great Britain was the leading inbound travel market in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, based on the number of hotel arrivals. That year, hotel arrivals by British guests totaled almost *** million. This figure, however, represented an annual decline and remained below pre-pandemic levels. Meanwhile, hotel establishments in the city recorded around *** million arrivals by domestic travelers in 2024.

The statistic illustrates the inbound tourism to the four main cities in the Netherlands from 2010 to 2014. The number of international visitors increased for all four cities between 2010 and 2014. Most tourists were found in and around Amsterdam with roughly 5.2 million tourists in 2014, an increase of roughly one million tourists when comparing it to the year 2010. When looking at the other cities, there were significantly less tourists than in Amsterdam. Rotterdam was the second city with the most tourists, approximately 442,000 in 2014. The Hague attracted roughly a little less than 420,000 tourists, whereas Utrecht attracted roughly 174,000. In general, looking at the forecast of inbound tourism for the Netherlands, it is estimated that in 2018 approximately 16.7 million tourists will visit the Netherlands. To compare, in 2017 there were roughly 16.3 million tourists, which means an increase of roughly half a million tourists in 2018.

Due to the impact of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic on travel and tourism, the number of international visitors to popular attractions in the Netherlands fell sharply in 2020 over the previous year. Zaanse Schans, an area near Amsterdam which is popular for its historic windmills, attracted over *** million international travelers in 2019, whereas the number of visitors from abroad dropped to around ** thousand in 2020. Similarly, the number of international visitors to the theme park De Efteling - which topped the list of the most visited attractions in the Netherlands, decreased from over one million to *** thousand over the period considered. Meanwhile, the Keukenhof - renowned tulip gardens attracting over *** million international tourists in 2019 - was closed to the public in 2020, due to the pandemic.

Key information about Netherlands Visitor Arrivals

• Netherlands Visitor Arrivals grew 3.9 % in Oct 2024, compared with an increase of 6.5 % in the previous month
• Netherlands Visitor Arrivals Growth rate data is updated monthly, available from Jan 2013 to Oct 2024
• The data reached an all-time high of 1,124.1 % in Apr 2022 and a record low of -97.1 % in Apr 2020

• In the latest reports, Netherlands Visitor Arrivals recorded 2,012,000.0 person in the month of Oct 2024
• Tourism Revenue of Netherlands reached 10.9 USD bn in Dec 2020, a decrease of 53.1 % change from the previous year

The coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic disrupted the tourism industry, as governments implemented travel restrictions to face the global health crisis. In the Netherlands, due to the pandemic, the number of inbound tourists from Asia decreased sharply in 2020 over the previous year, declining from almost *** million to just *** thousand. As a result of the pandemic, it was estimated that the Netherlands only reported about ** thousand hotels guests from Asia in the second quarter of 2020. Looking at the forecasts for 2021, a January 2021 study analyzed different scenarios. In the best-case scenario, assuming that intra-continental traveling will be possible from July on, Asian inbound tourists were forecast to reach *** thousand in 2021. In the worst-case scenario, with restrictions taking place until the end of 2021, the number of inbound tourists from Asia to the Netherlands was estimated to decrease to around ** thousand in 2021.

Overnight guests from China and Japan In 2018, most of the Japanese tourists that spent their time in the Netherlands did so in Amsterdam. In that year, roughly ** thousand overnight guests from Japan were registered in the capital city, whereas Rotterdam counted around **** thousand Japanese overnight guests. The same development can be seen with the number of overnight guests from China. In 2019, *** thousand Chinese guests stayed in Amsterdam, while ** thousand and **** thousand guests had their overnight stay in Rotterdam and The Hague, respectively.

Total number of hotel guests in Amsterdam Looking at the overall number of hotel guests from Asian countries in Amsterdam (Netherlands) in 2018, a total of *** thousand guests spent their stay in hotels in the city famous for its canals. Roughly ** thousand of these hotel guests came from Indonesia, whereas ** thousand from India.

As of 2020, the number of hotels rooms in Amsterdam amounted to ****** in total. Roughly ****** rooms were available in 3-star classified hotels, whereas 4-star hotels offered just over ****** rooms in Amsterdam in the Netherlands. Furthermore, the number of hotel rooms increased steadily in the period between 2008 and 2018 with a total increase of over ****** hotel rooms.

Majority of tourists stayed in hotels in Amsterdam

Majority of the number of overnight stays in Amsterdam were spent in hotels and hostels in Amsterdam. Nearly ** million guests stayed in hotels/hostels in 2017, whereas roughly *** million people choose Airbnb’s as their accommodation. Looking at the country of residence of hotel guests in 2017, most of the people were domestic tourists (**** percent), whereas **** percent came from Great Britain. Furthermore, **** percent came from the United States and **** percent of the hotel guests were German.

Number of tourist accommodations in Amsterdam

The total number of tourist accommodations grew annually between 2008 and 2018. If In 2008 approximately *** accommodations were found in Amsterdam, whereas in 2018 it increased to a total of *** available registered accommodations.

Amsterdam is the largest city in the Netherlands, with a population amounting to over 918,100 inhabitants. In the last ten years, Amsterdam’s population increased rapidly, and the end is not yet in sight. By 2030, the number of inhabitants is forecast to reach over one million.

 Amsterdam and tourism  

Amsterdam is not just a popular place to settle down, it is also one of Europe’s leading city trip destinations. In 2020, tourists spent nearly 5.8 million nights in the city. Europe’s most popular capitals, London and Paris, registered roughly 20.77 and 14.13 million nights, respectively. In 2019, Amsterdam ranked 10th on the list of leading European city tourism destinations, just below Vienna and Prague.
   Tourism boom  

Tourism in Amsterdam is booming. In the last ten years, the number of tourists visiting the capital has doubled. In 2018, the city registered nearly 8.6 million hotel guests. The largest group of guests visiting Amsterdam were tourists from the U.K. (three million hotel nights), followed by domestic tourists and tourists from the US (2.9 and two million hotel nights, respectively).

In 2024, Amsterdam was the city in the Netherlands with the highest number of domestic hotel guests. That year, hotels in the popular Dutch destination recorded approximately 1.9 million domestic travelers. Rotterdam and The Hague followed in the ranking in 2024, with 789,000 and 738,000 domestic hotel guests, respectively.

Looking at some of the most popular Dutch cities visited in 2022, international visitors spent the most number of hotel nights in Amsterdam that year. Tourists from abroad spent approximately 1.5 million hotel nights in Amsterdam in the final quarter of 2022 alone. Meanwhile, cities such as Maastricht and Utrecht reported 48 thousand and 51 thousand international visitors, respectively, in the fourth quarter of 2022.

As of 2018, there were approximately *** million hotel guests in Amsterdam, which is an increase of roughly ******* guests compared to the previous year and the highest volume of hotel guests in the given time period. The lowest number of guests was seen in 2008, when the total volume amounted to roughly *** million.

Attendance at the most visited museums in the Netherlands grew significantly in 2023 over the previous year. Overall, the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam reported the highest figure in 2023, with roughly *** million visitors, recovering from the impact of COVID-19. The Van Gogh Museum ranked second that year, with nearly *** million visits.

In 2022, the public fair De Negenmaandenbeurs was the most visited exhibition industry's event in Amsterdam, in the Netherlands, welcoming roughly ** thousand visitors. Interclean Amsterdam followed in the ranking, with around ** thousand visits.

The statistic illustrates the number of jobs in the hotel and hostel industry in Amsterdam in the Netherlands from 2010 to 2018. As of 2018, there were roughly 70,000 jobs in the tourism industry in Amsterdam. This is an increase from the 65,609 jobs reached in 2017 and the highest number reached since 2010.

As of the second half of 2021, tourists spent the most hotel nights in Amsterdam with approximately 2.25 million overnight stays in the city. In the second half of 2021, the number of hotel nights spent in Rotterdam amounted to roughly 437 thousand, whereas approximately 477 thousand nights were spent in hotels in The Hague. As of the second half of 2021, slightly more than one million hotel nights were registered as tourists from Germany, whereas over half a million hotel nights were spent by individuals from Belgium.

COVID-19 and the Dutch hotel industry The global health crisis created major obstacles for the tourism industry worldwide and the hotel industry in the Netherlands also suffered as a result. For instance, the occupancy rate of hotels in the Netherlands and Amsterdam was significantly lower in 2020 when compared to 2019. Furthermore, the revenue index of the hotel industry in the Netherlands declined from 132.3 in the final quarter of 2019 to 86.4 in the first quarter of 2020. The index fell even further, going as low as 30.6, by the second quarter of 2020, most likely due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

Number of hotel nights in Amsterdam Amsterdam attracts many tourists every year that want to explore the capital city of the Netherlands. In the final quarter of 2021, 777 thousand hotel nights were spent by international tourists in Amsterdam. The city is popularly visited by domestic tourists as well, with 341 thousand hotel nights spent by domestic travelers going to Amsterdam in the fourth quarter of 2021.

The statistic illustrates the distribution of inbound tourism to the Netherlands in 2012 with a forecast for 2018 and 2025, by region. It is estimated that in 2018 roughly 13 percent of the tourists will travel to the coastal areas of the Netherlands. However, according to the estimation, most were and will travel to the Amsterdam region. Where in 2012 38.3 percent of the tourists could be found there, it is estimated that in 2025 there will be nearly 40 percent of the tourists in and around Amsterdam. Further estimations on other cities such as Rotterdam, The Hague, Utrecht and Maastricht are slighly increasing when it comes to the share of tourists. In 2012, 8.5 percent of the tourists were to be found in and around the above mentioned cities and according to the estimation, this will grow to 8.6 percent in 2018 and 8.7 percent in 2025. For the coastal areas the estimation is less positive. In 2012 it attracted 13.7 percent of the tourists, but in 2018 and 2025 it is estimated that this will decrease to 13.1 and 12.5 percent.

This statistic illustrates the perception of Dutch tourists in Amsterdam in the Netherlands in 2016 and 2017, by neighborhood. As of 2017 when the respondents were asked, on a scale from * to * with * meaning not at all and * too much, how to describe the crowdedness of Dutch tourists in their neighborhood, Centrum West was rated as the highest with **** according to the data of Travelbird. This indicated that the residents in this neighborhood scaled the the crowdedness of Dutch tourists as relatively much.

The Amsterdam Dance Event (ADE) is a music conference on workshops and tech demos, as well as a festival focused on dance music. It is held every year in Amsterdam around October and is one of the largest events in the city, as well as the largest conference for electronic music festival in the world. The number of visitors to the dance event increased steadily from 2014 onwards. In 2014, 350 thousand people visited ADE, whereas by 2018 and 2019 the audience peaked at 400 thousand.

Most popular festivals in the Netherlands In 2019, the Amsterdam Dance Event (ADE) topped the ranking of the most visited fee-based festival in the Netherlands. The Dutch Design week and the International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR) followed. In that year, the Vierdaagsefeesten, held in Nijmegen, ranked first in the list of the leading free cultural festivals in the Netherlands in terms of visitors.

Number of festivals and festival visits in the Netherlands Due to the impact of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, the number of festivals in the Netherlands dropped significantly in 2020. As the number of events decreased sharply, so did the number of festival visits in the Netherlands in 2020.

The number of British tourists who visited the Netherlands rose significantly in 2023 over the previous year, but did not fully recover from the impact of COVID-19. Overall, the number of British guests at Dutch travel accommodation establishments reached approximately 1.9 million in 2023.

In 2015, Dubai was the city with the highest number of tourists staying at least one night per capita. That same year, international overnight visitor spending in Dubai reached 28.5 billion US dollars. The city, which is the largest and most populous city in the United Arab Emirates, was also one of the most expensive holiday destinations in the world in 2018. In 2016, 14.87 million people visited Dubai from abroad.

Europe and Asia: top destinations

According to the source, most of the 20 tourist cities with the highest number of visitor arrivals per capita were Asian or European cities. After Dubai, Amsterdam and Prague were the second and third cities with the greatest number of tourists spending at least one night per capita. With respectively, 2.7 and 2.5 visitors per capita, the two European cities were followed by another one: London. Singapore, ranked fifth with 2.1 visitors per capita, was the first Asian city in the list. Thus, New-York the first North American city of this ranking was 17th. It appears that Europe remains one of the most popular tourist destinations. Asia was also a very attractive destinations for international visitors with Hong-Kong being the leading city destination in 2017.

Focus on tourism in Europe

Since the nineties, the number of international tourist arrivals in Europe keeps increasing. France is the European country with the largest number of international visitors’ arrivals, while Spain and Italy are also two of the leading tourist destinations on the continent. Travel and tourism have an important contribution to GDP in Europe, reaching 781.6 billion US dollar and 2018 and expected to attain 991.4 billion in 2028.

In 2018, outbound tourism attracted the largest share of travelers across all age groups in Netherlands, with over 40 percent of participants in each age group between 15 to 64 years old stating that they undertook this type of travel. Among 45 to 54 year olds, more people stated they had used both domestic and outbound travel than those who stated they had only used domestic travel.