In 2017, the number of tourists surpassed the visitor volume of the previous years. A total of approximately 16 million tourists visited the Netherlands that year, an increase of approximately 500,000 visitors in comparison to 2016. Moreover, it is forecasted that in 2018 and 2020 inbound tourism will continue to grow to 19.2 and 21.2 million tourists respectively.

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 72 billion euros was spent by tourists in 2017 (excluding outbound and other expenditure). An important part of this expenditure can be attributed to tourists from abroad; roughly 30 billion euros was spent by inbound tourists (42 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, most visitors came from abroad. 40 percent were from the neighboring countries, 20 percent were domestic tourists. The other 40 percent came from other countries; many of these visitors were U.S. (120,000) and Chinese (90,000) citizens.