Business travelers in Netherlands still 20% below pre-Covid levels

The number of business travelers staying in the Netherlands remains 20 percent below the 2019 peak before the pandemic. Overnight business stays also fell 2 percent in January–August compared with the same period a year earlier. “Because of economic uncertainty, that will remain the case for now,” says the ABN Amro study on the Dutch travel and tourism sector.

“Companies are making different choices, because during the pandemic we saw that people could partly manage with online meetings,” ABN Amro sector analyst Ward van der Stee told De Telegraaf. As a result of that shift, some hotels in major cities are struggling. Occupancy rates remain reasonable, however, because domestic and foreign tourists have partly replaced business travelers.

Even so, Koninklijke Horeca Nederland recently warned that the Netherlands is becoming too expensive, and Van der Stee noted that current economic conditions — including import tariffs and political unrest — make it difficult for the sector to return to pre-pandemic levels.

ABN Amro also found that younger travelers are increasingly turning to traditional travel agencies, a reversal of past trends. Many members of Gen Z experience choice overload on social media, where endless travel options create decision stress. For them, help from a travel agent offers relief. The number of travelers under 25 who use travel agencies has risen from 5 to 12 percent, and among those under 34 from 3 to 10 percent, according to data from the Netherlands Bureau for Congresses and Tourism.

“Young people turn to small agencies or one-person businesses that specialize in a specific niche. For example, they might meet for coffee to discuss options or book through an online travel agency,” Van der Stee said.

The ABN Amro study also found that travel agency revenues have remained stable, partly thanks to younger travelers and the growing use of artificial intelligence in planning trips. Meanwhile, domestic tourism rose 2 percent through August, with more Dutch people choosing to spend their summer holidays within the country.

One uncertainty for the tourism industry is the planned VAT increase, which would make the Dutch travel sector even more expensive. It remains unclear whether the measure will proceed, given the upcoming elections.