ABN Amro: Amsterdam should increase cooperation with Airbnb

The musicality of Amsterdam would be wise to increase its cooperation with house sharing platforms like Airbnb, economists at ABN Amro said to the Telegraaf. "In the capital tourism is expected to continue growing rapidly in the coming years, but since this year there is a reluctance on hotel policy whereby new hotel plans will often be rejected", industry economist Sonny Duijn said to the newspaper.

There are currently 30 thousand hotel rooms in Amsterdam, with another 6 thousand expected to be added in the coming years. Plans for those rooms are already in te pipelines, with old office buildings, a music room and a former butchery set to be transformed into hotels. But this is not enough to match the expected growth of tourism in the city. If tourism keeps growing according to expectation, the city's hotel rooms will be stuffed in about seven years time. Already the average occupancy rate in Amsterdam hotels is 82 percent, compared to 58 percent in the rest of the country.

"The restrictive hotel policy of the capital does ensure a further growth impulse for Airbnb", Duijn said to the newspaper. "Closer cooperation is wise, especially to further reduce nuisance and protect quality of life." According to him, Amsterdam should already be looking ahead to address future problems with too many tourists for too little accommodation. "There is already a lot of data being exchanged between the municipality and Airbnb. The best solution is to work even more closely together."