Netherlands growing as vacation country; Tourists spent €111 bil. last year

The Netherlands has grown as a holiday destination in terms of tourist spending. Last year, Dutch and foreign tourists spent 111.2 billion euros in the country. This is almost 6 billion euros more than the previous year, Statistics Netherlands calculated.

The statistics agency also reported that the tourism sector grew faster last year than the Dutch economy as a whole. This represents a catch-up effect following the COVID-19 pandemic, which had a relatively large impact on the holiday industry due to travel restrictions and the closure of hospitality venues. In the years since the pandemic, the tourism sector has consistently grown faster than the overall economy.

However, the sector has not completely recovered from the pandemic. There was less work in the sector than in 2019, the last year before the pandemic started.
However, employment in the tourism sector did increase last year, Statistics Netherlands reported. Most of the new jobs were in travel agencies and the aviation industry.

Of all tourist spending, Dutch residents accounted for the largest share, totaling over 67 billion euros. When tourists spend by foreigners, it also includes some expenditures made abroad but with a Dutch company, for example, online bookings with a Dutch business.