Higher lodging tax fails to keep tourists away; hotels host 3.36M in July

Despite the higher tax rate in the Netherlands, the tourists did not avoid the country this summer. On the other hand, according to new figures from Statistics Netherlands (CBS), holiday parks and hotels both saw far more visitors in July than a year before, with the trend being mostly driven by Germans.

The VAT rate for hotels and holiday parks in the country rose from 9 to 21 percent in January. There were fears surrounding the hike, with some suggesting this would make foreign tourists stay away from the Netherlands. However, in July, Dutch hotels had 1.715 million foreign visitors, which is nearly 5 percent more than last year. Together with domestic tourists, that number is at around 3.36 million.

Germans accounted for the largest share of the foreign tourist group, with 385,000 visiting the Netherlands this July. That is almost 9 percent more than a year ago. There were also more Belgian visitors. with the number rising to 199,000 from 177,000, which is an increase of more than 12 percent.

Additionally, more people from the U.K. and France also visited the Netherlands this July. British guests grew by almost 6 percent to 166,000, while the French accounted for 78,000 visitors. That is more than a 5 percent rise from last year.

In the meantime, this July, Dutch holiday parks experienced one of their busiest summer months in recent years. Overnight stays in July rose from 5.7 million to 6.5 million. The number of Germans, once again, rose from 1.77 million to 1.89 million.

Dutch residents took more short trips within the country, with hotels receiving 1.65 million local guests in July, which is 8.1 percent more than last year.

Holiday parks saw particularly strong growth, with more than 3,650 Dutch visitors staying overnight in July, marking an 18.9 percent rise. A year ago in July, Dutch guests stayed 3.07 million times overnight at cottage parks.