2014, a year of growth!

The number of bednights in Amsterdam has increased during the first eleven months of 2014 by 11.1%. The number of overnight stays by international visitors increased by 11.9% and the number of overnight stays by Dutch visitors by 7.4%. With these results, Amsterdam is growing above the target of 3% growth per year, which is determined in the dashboard Citymarketing 2012-1018. The first quarter of 2014 showed the most growth in the number of national and international overnight stays, namely 13.3%. The growth during this period was mainly facilitated by a lower occupancy rate than average.

The number of bednights of the core markets of Amsterdam have increased significantly in the first eleven months of 2014. Germany (18.5%), the UK (14.9%) and Italy (13.8%) showed strong growth compared to 2013. The United States (+ 10.8%), France (+11 , 3%), Spain (+ 3.9%) and Belgium (+ 7%) are also doing well. The number of bednights in the domestic market increased by + 7.4%. The total number of bednights in Amsterdam is growing faster than the average of all the competing European cities in the core markets of Amsterdam. Only in the Spanish market, the average of European cities has higher growth than Amsterdam. In Spain, the average of the European cities grew by 8.8% while Amsterdam grew by 3.9%.

Visitors from the risk markets show, until November 2014, several trends. The number of bednights from India (+ 32%), Turkey (+ 17%) and South Korea (+ 14.2%) grow fast. Brazil, Australia and Indonesia show growth in the number of overnight stays in Amsterdam, with respective growth rates of + 13%, + 11.1% and + 9.7%. Russia, China and Japan, however, show a decrease. The number of overnight stays in Amsterdam from Russia, China and Japan have declined compared to 2013. Russia showed a decrease of -2.4%, Japan -5.8% and -6.6% China. Espacially in the last quarter of 2014 the crisis in Ukraine and the poor rate of the Russian Ruble had a negative impact on the number of overnight stays by visitors from Russia. It is expected that this negative trend will not change in 2015. The economy in Japan is not doing very well, this is a reason for decrease in the number of bednights by Japanese visitors. The number of bednights in Amsterdam by Chinese visitors decreased. Chinese visitors tend to stay in the Metropolitan area of Amsterdam, there is a large increase in the number of bednights by Chinese visitors.

In line with the earlier months of 2014 shows the number of tourist and business stays in the first eleven months, a sharp increase (+ 11.1%). The tourist bednights show a growth of 14.5% compared to 2013, the number of business bednights show an increase of 5.8%. In the first quarter the business market showed stronger growth than the tourist market, + 16.1% versus + 11.6%. In the second and third quarter, there was an increased growth in the tourism market. 2013 was a successful year for the business market. In the third quarter there were large international conferences such as the ECCO congress. Therefore, the third quarter of 2014 show a small decrease of -1.6%.

The number of overnight stays in the metropolitan area (excluding Amsterdam) show in the first eleven months of 2014 a significant increase. Unlike previous years, there was no month in 2014 which showed a decrease in the number of bednights compared to the previous year. The number of Dutch overnight stays increased by 2% and the number of international overnight stays by 11.8% compared to 2013.

Museums and attractions both show growth. The number of visits to museums in Amsterdam increased by 3.3% compared to 2013. The number of attraction visits increased by 3.6% compared to 2013. 2014 was a good year for the number of arrivals of foreign passengers at Schiphol. Compared to 2013 there were 7% more foreign passengers at the airport.