Turnover in accommodation and food services sector up by 2.7 percent in Q2

Turnover growth in Q2 was lower than in the previous quarter. In Q1, turnover was 8.1 percent higher than a year earlier. Growth in Q2 2024 was the lowest since Q2 2021, when turnover in the accommodation and food services sector resumed following the Covid-19 pandemic. Weather conditions play an important role for this sector, and Q2 2024 was somewhat wetter and cloudier than Q2 2023.

Turnover in accommodation services increased by almost 1 percent

In Q2 2024, turnover in accommodation services, which includes hotels and holiday parks, increased by 0.8 percent year on year. The turnover for hotels was up 2 percent on Q2 2023. However, holiday rentals and camping sites recorded a drop in turnover of 2 percent. Bad weather played a role in this.

Turnover in food and beverage outlets almost 4 percent higher

The turnover of food and beverage outlets increased by 3.6 percent compared with Q2 2023. Canteens and catering recorded the largest increase in turnover in the accommodation and food services sector, at 7.7 percent. Restaurants and fast food outlets saw their turnover rise by 3.9 and 2.4 percent, respectively. Cafés recorded the smallest increase in turnover at 0.3 percent.

Sentiment in the accommodation and food services sector remains negative

More than three weeks ago, Statistics Netherlands published information on business confidence among Dutch manufacturers. Business confidence in the accommodation and food services sector was slightly more negative at the beginning of Q3 than it was at the beginning of Q2 2024. Confidence stood at -4.7, compared to -4.6 in Q2. Businesses in this sector were less negative about the economic climate in the past three months, but more negative about the economic outlook for the next three months. Business confidence in most Dutch sectors improved at the start of Q2 but remains negative overall.

Almost half of entrepreneurs in the accommodation and food services sector ended the first half of 2024 with a profit. Looking at all economic sectors together, 65 percent of entrepreneurs in the Netherlands ended the first half with a profit. Only in the culture, sports and recreation and retail trade were business results less positive than in the accommodation and food services sector.

New statistics for the accommodation and food services sector and other services

Due to new European regulations, changes have been made to CBS statistics on the accommodation and food services sector and other business services, among others, with effect from 2024. In addition to turnover (the total value of goods and services supplied), figures on production (volume of added value) are now also available. Furthermore, monthly figures are published for the sectors in addition to quarterly and annual figures. Finally, the base year has been changed from 2015 to 2021.

In the near future, monthly news releases will be published on production in the services sector (including the accommodation and food services sector). The current quarterly reports on the turnover of certain specific sectors (such as accommodation and food services, business services and transport) will be continued.

Due to this change and the transition from quarterly to monthly figures, the period on which the seasonal correction model is based will be too short to produce reliable seasonally adjusted figures. These are expected to be added retroactively from 2021 in the spring of 2025.