number 5 | November 2011

In 2010 Amsterdam attracted 5.3 million tourist

arrivals, good for 9.7 million bed nights. This was

1.2 million more bed nights than in 2009 (14%),

and also 880,200 bed nights above the previous

record level in 2007 (+10%). Compared to 2005

– the year when the previous SAIL event was

held – tourism in Amsterdam has increased by

22%. Guests stayed an average of 1.84 nights in

Amsterdam in 2010, slightly longer than in 2005

and 2007 (1.82).

Growth in tourism in 2010 thanks to the Dutch, with slowdown in 2011The 1.2 million increase in bed nights in

Amsterdam in the period 2009-2010 is largely

due to hotel accommodation for Dutch tourists

(+281.000), Brits (+129.000), Italians (+118.000),

Spaniards (+113.000) and guests from the United

Tourism 2010: a new record for Amsterdam

In 2010 tourism in Amsterdam grew at a remarkably high rate: 14% compared to 2009.

A new record of nearly 10 million bed nights was reached. The Amsterdam tourism

industry owes this growth to several factors: the improving global economy, the

maritime SAIL event and the increase in hotel capacity. Both hotel capacity and the

number of bed nights in Amsterdam is growing faster than it is nationally. Due to the

increasing demand for hotels, the occupancy in 2010 was better than in 2009 and as a

result hoteliers have increased their prices. However, the tourism industry has not yet

fully recovered since the recession. The hospitality industry is still showing a decline in

sales and the number of jobs throughout the tourism sector is increasing more slowly

than the average for Amsterdam. Although the expectations for 2011 are favourable,

it remains to be seen whether the level reached in 2010 can be surpassed given the

global economic uncertainty, especially in the Eurozone.

Fact sheet

Tourist Arrivals and bed nights in Amsterdam, 2001-2010

Source: Census Bureau (CBS)

Research and StatisticsEconomic Development Department

bed nightstourist arrivals

x 1 mil.

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

2010SAIL

20092008200720062005SAIL

2004200320022001

2

States (+113.000). But in relative terms the

growth of smaller, less known tourism markets is

noticeable: Africa and Oceania (together +33%)

and parts of America other than the United States

(+28%). For the fifth year in a row the BRIC coun-

tries have shown an increase (+9%) in 2010.

In the first six months of 2011, the number of bed

nights in Amsterdam increased with an average

of 1.8%, according to preliminary figures from the

Census Bureau (CBS). The growth was mitigated

by a shorter length of stay in hotels – the possible

effect of higher prices. Domestic tourism also

decreased as did tourism from European coun-

tries such as Great-Britain, Spain, France and Italy.

Room occupancy and room rates rose in 2010In mid 2010 Amsterdam had 370 hotels, with a

total of 21,700 rooms and 47,700 beds. Strong

growth in the number of bed nights during the

period 2009-2010 gave hotels a better room

occupancy: the average occupancy increased with

four percentage points to 72% in 2010. The occu-

pancy of hotel beds in this period also increased

by four percentage points to 61%. The growing

demand for hotel rooms and increased occupancy

gave hoteliers some space to increase their room

rates in 2010, after two years of price cuts due to

severe price competition in 2008 and 2009. Room

rates in 2010 were still below the level of 2007

and 2008.1 Luxury accommodation (4-5 stars)

achieved a relatively large increase in capacity,

demand and price.

Increase of bed nights in hotels by country of origin (sorted by percentage of growth in 2010)

*) Preliminary figures.

**) BRIC countries: Brasil, Russia, India and China. Source: Census Bureau (CBS)

Arrivals, bed nights, length of stay and average bed occupancy in Amsterdam hotels, 2010-2011

average bed arrivals bed nights length of stay occupancy (%)

Q1 2010 1,087,886 1,934,601 1.78 49

Q2 2010 1,396,803 2,561,244 1.83 64

Q3 2010 1,517,692 2,912,129 1.92 72

Q4 2010 1,280,765 2,316,668 1.81 58

total 2010 5,283,146 9,724,643 1.84 61

Q1 2011* 1,092,000 1,908,200 1.75 49

Q2 2011* 1,479,800 2,666,800 1.80 68

*) Preliminary figures. Source: Census Bureau (CBS)

Tourist arrivals in Amsterdam by country of origin, 2010

**) BRIC countries: Brasil, Russia, India and China. Source: Census Bureau (CBS)

The Netherlands

United Kingdom

USA

Germany

France

Spain

Italy

BRIC countries*

rest of Europe

rest of Asia

Africa and Oceania

rest of America

15%

21%

10%

7%6%

6%

5%

16%

4%

5%3% 3%

change year to year 2009/2010 change january-june 2011* to january-june 2010

%

–20

–10

0

10

20

30

40

tota

l

BRIC co

untri

es**

rest

of Eur

ope

United

King

domAsiaUSA

Germ

any

Fran

ce

The

Nethe

rland

sSp

ainItaly

Amer

ica (e

xcl. U

SA)

Africa

/ O

cean

ia

3

Slight growth of jobs in tourism sector2 On 1 January 2011 the Amsterdam tourism sector

provided a total of 50,100 jobs, nearly 780 more

(2%) than one year earlier. The number of major

jobs (FTE, 12 hours or more per week) increased

by 1% to 37,000 and the number of minor jobs

(PTE, fewer than 12 hours per week) increased

by 4% to 13,100. There is some growth in the

number of jobs in catering (cafés, restaurants,

fast food) in Amsterdam (3%), whereas for travel

agents the number of jobs (–4%) is decreasing.

Strong growth in tourism in Metropolitan region Amsterdam presents internationally together with

its adjoining region as a single tourist product,

in order to encourage foreign tourists to visit.

In addition to the hotel capacity in Amsterdam,

the Metropolitan Region has another 200 hotels;

10,000 rooms and 20,000 beds in the regional

municipalities, most of which are concentrated

around Schiphol Airport, in the Haarlem city

centre and the resort of Zandvoort.

In 2010 there were 3.4 million bed nights in the

region, of which 2.1 million in the municipalities

around Amsterdam (Amstel Meerlanden and

Waterland together). With 9.7 million bed nights

bought in Amsterdam in 2010, the Metropolitan

Area provided 39% of all bed nights in the

Netherlands. Both in Amsterdam (+14%) and in

the municipalities around Amsterdam (+16%)

the number of bed nights increased faster in the

period 2009-2010 than it did nationally (+7%).

Growth of bed nights, hotel beds, room occupancy and room prices according to star class hotels over the period

2009-2010, Amsterdam

Source: CBS/O+S

%

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

16

totalhotels 4-5 starshotels 3 starshotels 0-2 stars

bed nights beds bed occupancy room price

Total jobs (total FTE and PTE) in the tourist industry, Amsterdam on 1 January 2001-2011

* Travel agencies, touristic goods Source: O+S

x 1,000

0

4

8

12

16

20

24

28

20112010200920082007200620052004200320022001

accommodation catering transport culture and leisure rest*

4

Notes1 AccordingtotheHotelPriceIndex(HPI),whichiscalcula-

tedannuallybytheinternationalhotelmarketingagency

Hotels.com,hotelpricesinAmsterdamsawanaverage

increaseof8%overtheperiod2009-2010.Thiscalculation

isbasedonthepricesofhotelroomsbookedthrough

thewebsitewww.hotels.com(hotelswithtwotofivestars).

AccordingtotheO+Shotelsurveyamong194hotels,

thepriceforanaveragesingleroomintheperiod

2009-2010hasincreasedby10%,andthepricefora

doubleroomhasincreasedby12%.

2 Thetouristsectorincludesthefollowingindustries:

hospitality(hotels,catering),cultureandleisure(museums,

entertainment),passengertransport(includingtaxis),travel

agents,retailersofsouvenirs.

Sources consultedAmsterdam Tourism & Congress Bureau

(Amsterdam Toerisme & Congres Bureau, ATCB)

Census Bureau (Centraal Bureau voor de Statistiek, CBS)

Dutch Bureau for Tourism and Congresses

(Nederlands Bureau voor Toerisme en Congresen, NBTC)

Oudezijds Voorburgwal 300

1012 GL Amsterdam

The Netherlands

Telephone +31 (0)20 251 0333

Fax +31 (0)20 251 0444

algemeen@os.amsterdam.nl

www.os.amsterdam.nl

Author:

T. Fedorova, MSc (O+S)

This fact sheet can also be downloaded

from www.os.amsterdam.nl/publicaties

Colophon

Weesperstraat 89

1018 VN Amsterdam

The Netherlands

Telephone +31 (0)20 552 3205

Fax +31 (0)20 552 2860

info@ez.amsterdam.nl

www.ez.amsterdam.nl

Bed nights per COROP area in metropolitan area of Amsterdam, 2010

Source: CBS/ edited by O+S

more than 5,000,000

1,000,000 to 5,000,000

250,000 to 1,000,000

fewer than 250,000

growth

decrease

+13%

+12%

+20%

+28%

+14%

+20%

+10%

+7%

FlevolandAgglomeratie Haarlem

Het Gooi en Vechtstreek

Amstel-Meerlanden

Zaanstreek

IJmond

AMSTERDAM

Waterland

Kop van Noord-Holland

Bed nights change2009/2010

Metropolis Amsterdam

The Netherlands

Bed nights in 2010