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Netherlands

Netherlands

Visitor characteristics

  • Business visitors are more than three times as likely to be male than female
  • More than three in four holiday visitors are making a repeat trip to Britain (excluding British nationals)
  • 83% of visitors are Dutch while 8% are Britons
  • 93% are either ‘very likely’ or ‘extremely likely’ to recommend Britain for a holiday or short-break

Popular activities

Sightseeing of Famous Buildings/ Monuments

Visited a Pub

Went Shopping

Global context

Measure2017
International tourism expenditure (US$bn)19.6
Global rank for international tourism expenditure15
Number of outbound visits (m)32.1
Most visited destinationFrance

Key demographic and economic data

Measure2018
Population (m)17.2
GDP per capita PPP (US$)48,418
Annual average GDP growth over past decade (%)0.9
Annual average GDP growth in the past year (%)2.7

Resources

Netherlands market profile (PDF,3.3MB)

visitbritain_marketprofile_netherlands.pdf

Read about the preferences of Europeans towards tourism. Published March 2015

2015-3 Preferences of Europeans towards tourism_23.pdf

Find out where visitors from the Netherlands to the UK reside in their own country. Published 2014

annual_states_of_residence_2016_for_web.xlsx

More resources

Netherlands market snapshot

netherlands_snapshot_oct2018.pdf

The Netherlands aviation profile (PDF, 464KB)

netherlands_aviation_profile_31082018.pdf

Exchange rate

1 GBP = 1.1201 EUR

As of 7 December 2018

Retrieved from the Bank of England

Inbound visits to Britain

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Seasonality (Share of visits)

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Regional spread (Share of visits)

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Journey purpose (Share of visits)

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What the Dutch think about Britain

  • Amongst the most important reasons for choosing Britain as a holiday destination, Dutch respondents stated ‘cultural attractions’, ‘vibrant cities’ and the ‘countryside/natural beauty’ followed by a ‘good deal’ and ‘visiting friends and/or relatives’
  • Areas of strength for Britain include the provision of ‘good entertainment and nightlife’, ‘watching sporting events’, ‘the ease of getting around’, ‘the atmosphere’ and ‘good shopping’.
  • France, Spain and Ireland were the most considered competitor destinations by Dutch visitors to Britain

Caring for visitors

  • There is an overall preference for small-scale (family run) hotels with character and traditional decoration and furniture, preferably in a nice countryside village
  • British gastropubs are a good option for the Dutch as they enjoy the atmosphere of a traditional pub and food is good value for money
  • Having a traditional afternoon tea is often high on the wish list while visiting Britain
  • Many Dutch holiday visitors tend to start thinking about their trip early with about one in three doing this as early as half a year or more in advance, but more than half of Dutch bookings happened within two months before the trip.

The leisure & travel trade

  • The Dutch travel trade is made up of tour operators, coach operators and travel agents, as well group travel organisers such as schools, night schools and associations
  • Dutch consumers are very independent and Britain is a familiar country to them which means that quite a few consumers book their holidays direct
  • Sea carriers such as P&O Ferries, Stena Line and DFDS Seaways are very strong brands in the Netherlands and they also offer accommodation and short breaks usually in cooperation with a tour operator
  • The Dutch value their private life and tend not to be very keen to go out for business dinners

 

Access to Britain from the Netherlands

Measure2017
Weekly aircraft departures982
Weekly seat capacity127,177
Airports with direct routes in the Netherlands4
Airports with direct routes in Britain27
Weekly ferry crossings28
  • It is straightforward to reach Britain from the Netherlands by sea, plane, coach, or with just one change, train, but the majority of visitors travel by air
  • Airline seat capacity has grown again in the last few years
  • There is excellent access to all parts of Britain from the Netherlands but the highest capacity is on routes from Amsterdam to London area airports
  • Those departing Britain by air for the Netherlands are charged £13 in Air Passenger Duty

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