Sharp fall in business-related hotel stays

The number of nights spent in Dutch hotels by people on business trips fell by 6 percent in 2008, to 15.7 million. The fall has been continuing in 2009: in the first five months the number of nights spent by businessmen and women was nearly 9 percent lower than in the same period last year.

Hotel nights: January to May

Recession causes fall

The decrease in the number of business-related nights spent in hotels is connected with the economic recession. This has resulted in a strong decrease in business, and a connected decrease in meetings and conferences. Companies are trying to cut costs by among other things limiting the number of nights staff spend in hotels during business trips. 

Strongest fall in North and South Holland

The number of hotels nights fell by most in the provinces North and South Holland in 2008, by 0.3 million and 0.2 million respectively. For both provinces this was a decrease of 6 percent.

North Holland was still the province with the most night spent in hotels during business trips: 5.5 million, of which 3.3 million in the Amsterdam region. South Holland came second with 2.8 million nights, followed by North Brabant with 1.5 million.

Business-related hotel nights per province

Seasonal pattern in business trips

Half of nights spent in Dutch hotels in 2007 and 2008 were business related. There is a seasonal pattern in the business-related hotel nights. September and October were top months, each accounting for 10 percent of the nights; December and January were the months with least business-related nights. Just over one third of the hotel nights were in March to June. The first five months of 2009 show a similar pattern, albeit less pronounced than in the last two years.

Number of business-related hotel nights

Jamilja van der Meulen