Amsterdam's tourism growth slowing down due to measures taken by the city

Tourism in Amsterdam is still growing, but not at the rates as it has done in the past. New statistics provided by the municipality show that the number of tourist overnight stays reached 22.9 million in 2024, which is a 3 percent increase from the previous year. Between 23 and 26 million overnight stays are projected for this year.

The figures are lower than the forecast that the municipality had drawn up a year ago, which estimated the number of tourist overnight stays for 2024 at between 22.9 and 25.4 million and for this year at between 23.2 and 26 million.

According to the municipality, the reason for the lower-than-expected figures is the result of the measures the city has taken to curb tourism. The tourist tax has been raised, the number of river and sea cruises has been limited, and there is currently a ban on the construction of new hotels. Private holiday rentals, such as via Airbnb, have also been restricted.

The municipality is not expecting to be able to have the number of overnight stays drop to 20 million a year for the time being. The target of 20 million overnight stays was set in 2021 in an ordinance.

Additional measures would have to be taken to reach this goal, although it is not yet known what these measures are.

The citizens' initiative “Amsterdam has a choice” thinks that Amsterdam should be doing more to push back mass tourism and sent the municipality a notice to that effect last week. The people behind the initiative have said that a summons will follow if nothing comes of the notice.