Large rise in number of hotel guests

10/05/2011 09:30

Dutch hotels accommodated 19.2 million guests in 2010, 7.7 percent more than in 2009. The number was nearly the same as in record year 2007.

Number of hotel guests

Recovery after dip during recession

Following decreases of 3.8 percent in 2008 and 3.5 percent 2009, the number of hotel <<3390k1>> guests picked up again in 2010. The decreases in 2008 and 2009 were caused by the economic recession: fewer business travellers, in particular, stayed in hotels.

Number of foreign hotel guests

More foreign guests again

The number of foreigners staying in Dutch hotels rose by 12.5 percent in 2010. The number of guests from America in particular rose sharply: by 20.3 percent. This was offset by a decrease of about the same order of magnitude in the two previous years, however. This put the number of Americans in Dutch hotels in 2010 at the same level as in 2007.

One of the few countries to show a different pattern is Belgium. In the last nine years, the number of Belgian hotel guests has risen continuously. The number of guests from Britain is also slightly up again.

Smaller rise for number of business stays

Together, hotels guests spent a total of 33.7 million nights in Dutch hotels in 2010. This was just over 7 percent more than in 2009. The recovery in the hotel sector was mainly accounted for by the number of non-business related nights; this grew by more than 10 percent.
The number of nights spent by business guests rose by much less: 3.3 percent.

Number of nights spent in hotels

Lower occupancy rates

Although the number of guests was back at its 2007 level, hotel occupancy rates were still lagging. Compared with 2009, hotel occupancy rose from 43 to 44 percent. In 2007 the average rate was still 48 percent. There are two reasons for this. First the number of nights spent rose by less than the number of guests. Secondly, the available capacity has increased. An average 208 thousand hotel beds were available for guests in 2010. This is higher than ever before, and over 6 percent up on 2007.

Yuri Boskamp