Tourism expenditure rises to 96 billion euros in 2022

© Hollandse Hoogte / Erik van 't Woud
In 2022, tourist spending within the Dutch economy amounted to nearly 96 billion euros. This means that expenditure, not adjusted for price changes, exceeded pre-pandemic levels. Spending by both domestic and foreign tourists in the Netherlands was up in 2022; together, they spent 36.5 billion euros more than in 2021. Compared to 2019, the increase was mainly seen among domestic tourists. Statistics Netherlands (CBS) reports this on the basis of research for the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Policy.

Tourism expenditure can be defined as total spending by tourists before, during and after the trip and stay at the place of destination.

In 2022, foreign tourists spent 34.5 billion euros. This represents an increase of more than 90 percent relative to 2021, when there were still COVID-19 measures in place. Foreign tourism accounted for approximately one third of total tourism expenditure. This includes spending by foreign tourists who do not travel to the Netherlands, but do spend money at Dutch companies, for example when booking hotels or flights online.

Tourism value added surged in 2022

In 2022, the gross value added of the tourism sector grew by over 66 percent year on year (adjusted for price changes) and stood at nearly 32 billion euros. Nevertheless, it was still lower than in 2019, before the coronavirus pandemic. The value added of the tourism sector rose more sharply than the total economy last year, but the sector was also hit considerably harder by the pandemic in 2020 and 2021. Up to and including 2019, tourism value added grew faster than the rest of the Dutch economy.

Share in Dutch economy increases

The contribution of tourism to the Dutch economy rose to 3.7 percent in 2022. This was 2.5 percent in 2021. The value added increased across all tourism-related sectors. The strongest growth in 2022 relative to 2021 was recorded by the sectors accommodation and food services, and aviation, travel agencies and travel services.

Recovery of employment in tourism sector

In 2022, tourism employment was higher than in 2021. The number of labour years in the tourism sector rose by nearly 20 percent to 452 thousand. As a result, the share of tourism in total employment amounted to 5.5 percent last year. In 2019, this was still 4.8 percent. The increase is visible across all tourism industries. Employment in aviation, travel agencies and travel services saw the sharpest rise. The number of employed persons and jobs increased as well in 2022. In tourism, part-time employment is relatively high; the number of jobs therefore exceeds the number of employed persons.

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