Nearly 10 million overnight tourists in July and August

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The summer months of July and August are the busiest months for tourist accommodations. Most overnight guests are domestic tourists during this period. This year, 35.5 percent of foreign visitors came from Germany during these months. They accounted for nearly half of the overnights stays by foreign tourists in the Netherlands.

Hotels also popular in summer

In July and August, the majority of guests (5.8 million, 59 percent) spent the night at a hotel, guest house or youth hostel. Nearly one-third of all overnight stays (11 million, 32 percent) were spent here. Relative to the same months last year, the number of guests and overnight stays was up by 2 and 5 percent respectively.

The number of Dutch hotel guests during the summer months was virtually the same as in July and August last year. There were 4 percent more foreign hotel guests and 8 percent more foreign overnight stays than one year previously.

More German visitors to holiday parks

Holiday parks accommodated 2 million guests in total, most of whom (60 percent) were from the Netherlands. This is 11.8 percent more than in the previous year. Altogether, these visitors spent 11.5 nights (+12.4 percent).

The number of German visitors in particular rose in particular and stood at 467 thousand, up by 17 percent. They were good for nearly 3 million overnight stays at these parks, 19.4 percent up on the same period last year.

Again more campsite guests and stays

Just as in the summer months of 2018, campsites again accommodated more guests in July and August than one year previously. For several years, these numbers had been down relative to the previous summer. At 1.8 million, the number of campsite guests was 4 percent higher than last year and the number of nights spent was up as well (+6 percent).

Most campsite guests (72 percent) were domestic. Around 70 percent of foreign guests came from Germany. The number of German campsite guests was up by 2 percent year-on-year. The number of nights spent by German visitors stood at approximately 2 million, up by 171 thousand (9.1 percent).

Guests at recreational accommodations mainly in Gelderland and Zeeland

In the provinces of Gelderland and Zeeland, most popular among guests are campsites, holiday parks and group accommodations (recreational accommodation) during the summer months. In Gelderland, however, most recreational visitors were Dutch (83 percent) while in Zeeland the majority of guests in these accommodations were from abroad (55 percent), from Germany in particular.

Trend continues into September

Developments in numbers of guests and overnight stays in July and August were also visible in the month of September. The number of guests was up by 5.9 percent in that month, while there were also more overnight stays (+7.7 percent) compared to September 2018. This is mainly due to an increase in numbers at holiday park accommodations. Guest arrivals were 24.1 percent up on the same period last year and there were also more bookings of overnight stays (18.0 percent), in both cases by more domestic than foreign guests (mainly Germans and Belgians).