Tourism expenditure rises to nearly 105 billion euros in 2023

© Tineke Dijkstra
Tourists who visited the Netherlands in 2023 spent nearly 105 billion euros. Tourists from the Netherlands and from other countries combined spent nearly 13 billion euros more in 2023 than they did in 2022. Domestic tourism accounted for approximately half of this increase. Statistics Netherlands (CBS) reports this on the basis of research carried out for the Ministry of Economic Affairs.
Tourism expenditure can be defined as total spending by tourists before, during and after their trip, including during their stay at the destination.

Tourists from other countries spent 34.5 billion euros in 2023. After adjusting for price fluctuations, that was an increase of 15 percent relative to 2022, when restrictions to limit the spread of coronavirus were still in place at the beginning of the year. Tourists from other countries accounted for approximately one third of total tourism expenditure in the Dutch economy. This included spending by those who did not travel to the Netherlands, but did spend money with businesses in the Netherlands, for example when booking hotels or flights online.


Tourism grew faster than the total economy in 2023

The tourism sector added over 9 percent more value to the Dutch economy in 2023 than it did in 2022 (adjusted for price changes). That value added amounted to 36.7 billion euros, which was almost back to the level seen in 2019 before the coronavirus pandemic. The value added of the tourism sector grew more rapidly than the economy as a whole in 2023, but the sector was also hit much harder by the pandemic in 2020 and 2021. Prior to 2019, the value added of tourism had also been growing faster than the Dutch economy as a whole.


Contribution of tourism to the Dutch economy continues to increase

As a percentage of the Dutch economy, tourism expanded to 3.8 percent in 2023, from 3.5 percent in 2022. Value added increased across all tourism-related sectors. The strongest growth in 2023 relative to 2022 was recorded by the accommodation and food services sector and the aviation, travel agencies and travel services sector.

Employment in tourism sector continues to recover

In 2023, employment in tourism was higher than in 2022. The number of labour years in the tourism sector rose by nearly 5.6 percent to 449 thousand. As a result, the share of tourism in total employment was 5.4 percent, compared to 4.6 percent in 2021, when the lowest point of the coronavirus pandemic was reached.

Employment increased in all sectors of tourism, with aviation, travel agencies and travel services seeing the sharpest increase. The number of workers and jobs also rose in 2023. Part-time employment is relatively high in tourism; the number of jobs therefore exceeds the number of workers.


Revision of the tourism accounts

The tourism accounts have been revised in line with the National Accounts. The results of that revision have been incorporated into the figures presented in this news release. The revised series of 2010-2020 can be found in StatLine by following the links below.

Sources