Turnover hardly up for hotels and restaurants

• Volume of hotels and restaurants sales down 1.3 percent
• Turnover decrease continues for pubs, bars and cafés
• Largest turnover growth for restaurants

According to figures from Statistics Netherlands, the Dutch hotel and restaurant sector realised 0.6 percent more turnover in the third quarter of 2012 than in the same quarter last year. This small turnover growth is accounted for by higher prices. The volume fell by 1.3 percent. This is the largest volume decrease for two years.

Cafés, pubs and bars realised 3.2 percent less turnover in the third quarter than twelve months previously. This continues the turnover decrease that started in the second quarter of 2012. The volume fell by more than 5 percent in the third quarter.

Restaurants did significantly better than other branches in this sector, achieving turnover growth of 2.6 percent. Prices rose by 1.6 percent, the volume was just over 1 percent higher. The month of August in particular, when turnover rose by nearly 4 percent, contributed to growth in the third quarter.

Turnover of hotels was 0.2 percent higher in the third quarter than twelve months previously. In the first half of 2012, the increase in this branch was still over 3 percent.