Inbound tourism in the Netherlands 2014-2020

Due to the impact of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, the number of inbound tourists in the Netherlands is estimated to drop sharply in 2020 over the previous year. In 2019, the country welcomed roughly 20 million international travelers. In 2020, the number of inbound visitors is expected to drop to seven million.

As of 2017, most of the individuals who travelled for holiday or business purposes to the Netherlands were from Germany, as roughly 5.24 million German tourists visited their neighboring country. Together with the Belgians and British they account for more than half of the total tourists visiting the Netherlands in 2017.

Tourist expenditure more than doubled

Year-on-year the tourism industry becomes more important for the Dutch economy. A total of approximately 78 billion euros was spent by tourists in 2018 (excluding outbound and other expenditure). An important part of this expenditure can be attributed to tourists from abroad; roughly 32.5 billion euros was spent by inbound tourists (45 billion euros of domestic expenditure). This is roughly twice as much when compared to 2010.  

Keukenhof remains popular as a visitor attraction

When looking at activities tourists from abroad undertake when they visit the Netherlands, one stands out; visiting the Keukenhof. Looking at the visitor flow of the Keukenhof, 20 percent of the visitors were domestic, 15 percent were German and ten percent came from the U.S, completing the top three. Volume of Chinese visitors that went to the Keukenhof decreased significantly, from 90,000 in 2017 to 60,000 in 2018.