More visitors stay in the Netherlands

Some 29 million visitors from inside and outside the Netherlands stayed in Dutch overnight accommodation in 2006. This is 10 percent more than in 2005. The number of nights they spent in the Netherlands was 5 percent higher than in 2005.

More Germans in 2006

In 2006, 17.9 million Dutch guests spent the night in some form of accommodation in the Netherlands, nearly 11 percent more than in 2005. The number of foreign guests rose to 10.9 million in the period 2005–2006.
There was a notable increase in the number of German visitors: it rose by 10 percent to the level of before 2003. The number of guests from Belgium and the United Kingdom has been increasing for a number of years now. In 2006, the number of Belgian visitors topped 2 million for the first time, and nearly 2 million UK visitors stayed in the Netherlands. The number of American guests has also been increasing for a number of years.

Visitors staying in the Netherlands overnight, by country of origin

Foreign guests stay in hotels

Together, Dutch and foreign visitors spent a total 84 million nights in Dutch overnight accommodation in 2006. Most foreign guests stayed in hotels, especially the Brits and the Americans. Germans and Belgians stayed in hotels but also in holiday cottages.

Camp sites cater mainly for the Dutch

Juts over half of Dutch tourists stayed in hotels, a quarter of them stayed in holiday cottages. Three out of four people staying on camp sites were Dutch.

Guests staying in the Netherlands by type of accommodation and country of origin, 2006

Amsterdam favourite

Amsterdam attracts relatively many people from the UK and America. In 2006 52 percent of British visitors and 60 percent of American visitors stayed in the capital. The number of Germans sand Belgians staying in Amsterdam also rose slightly. Thirty percent of German tourists preferred the coastal resorts, however.

Foreign guests by region of accommodation and country of origin, 2006

Wim Veerkamp and Jamilja van der Meulen