Dip in tourism expected to continue well into 2021

The number of foreign tourists that visited the Netherlands last year decreased by a massive 65 percent compared to 2019, the Dutch tourism office NBTC said on Monday. A large increase is not expected for this year either, NU.nl reports

“We see that people despite the current circumstances have a huge desire to go on vacation,” NBTC director Jos Vranken said. But few bookings are being made.

NBTC worked out three scenarios of what tourism in the upcoming year could look like. In the best case scenario scenario, traveling from neighboring countries will be possible again in the spring. Then the number of foreign tourists is expected to jump from seven million in 2020 to nine million in 2021, still over half less than in 2019.

In the second scenario, vacationing abroad will become possible again in the summer. Here, numbers are expected to stay at roughly the same level they were at last year. The worst-case scenario predicts that tourism will plummet by another 40 percent, due to international travel begin largely impossible.

Whichever scenario turns out to be true, "one thing is certain, 2021 will also be a tough year for the sector", Vranken said