Tourist spend in the Netherlands topped €100 billion last year

Tourists in the Netherlands spent close to €105 billion last year, an increase of around €13 billion compared to 2022, new data from Statistics Netherlands (CBS) has revealed.

Dutch tourists accounted for about half the increase in spend, the data, which is based on research from the Ministry of Economic Affairs, found.

Foreign tourist spend

Last year, foreign tourists spent €34.5 billion in the Netherlands, which is more than 15% higher than 2022, a year that was affected by the lingering effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Tourist expenditure is defined as the total expenditure by tourists before, during and after their trip, and during their stay at a particular destination, CBS noted.

The tourism sector added 9% more value to the Dutch economy compared to the previous year, after adjusting for price changes.

The total added value reached €36.7 billion, bringing it close to the levels seen in 2019, before the COVID-19 pandemic.

Tourism outpaced the broader economy

The tourism sector’s recovery outpaced that of the broader Dutch economy, similar to the period prior to 2020, when tourism consistently grew at a faster rate than the overall Dutch economy.

The share of tourism as an overall percentage of the Dutch economy increased last year, to 3.8%, up from 3.5% the previous year, with hospitality, aviation and travel agencies seeing the biggest increase.

In 2023, employment within the Dutch tourism sector saw a notable increase compared to 2022, with tourism accounting for 5.4% of total employment. This is a notable recovery from the 4.6% recorded in 2021, at the height of the pandemic.

Employment growth was observed across all tourism-related sectors, with both the number of employed individuals and the total number of jobs rose in 2023.

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