Dutch tourism growth stronger than other EU countries

The number of foreign tourists visiting the Netherlands grew by 5.5 percent to more than 15.8 million last year, according to a report by Statistics Netherlands and the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO). The tourism growth is stronger in the Netherlands than in most other European countries.

World wide tourism grew by an average of 4.8 percent per year since 2008. Last year the number of tourists worldwide grew by 3.9 percent to more than 1.2 billion. Asia and Oceania and Africa are particularly benefiting from the growth, while Europe's growth was more variable.

In 2016 the number of tourists in all of Europe grew by an average of 2.4 percent. For the 28 European Union member states, the growth averaged at 4.6 percent. Northern Europe saw the biggest growth at 6.1 percent, followed by Central and Eastern Europe with 3.7 percent. In the Western European region, tourism did not increase last year.

The Netherlands showed a positive peak in tourism in Western Europe. The number of tourists in the Netherlands increased by 5.5 percent. Tourism in the Netherlands also grew faster than other EU countries and the world in 2014 and 2015, according to the institutions. At 76 percent the bulk of foreign tourists in the Netherlands come from within Europe.. Non-European tourists visiting our country mainly come from the Americas, 9.2 percent.

Tourism in the Netherlands and globally continues its growth in 2017. In the first eight months of this year, global tourism grew by 6.6 percent compared to the same period in 2016. In the Netherlands, tourism grew by 13.1 percent to 12.4 million foreign guests in the same period.

Tourism is the third largest export product in the world, after fuel and chemical products.