OECD Tourism Trends and Policies 2026

Tourism is an important contributor to the Dutch economy. In 2024, tourism contributed EUR 40.1 billion to GVA in nominal terms, increasing 9.5% compared to 2023, and equivalent to 4.0% of total GVA. The tourism sector provided 458 000 jobs, or 5.5% of total employment, which was 1.3% more jobs than in 2023. Travel exports represented 6.8% of total service exports in 2024.

In 2024, the Netherlands welcomed a record 21.3 million international tourists in commercial accommodation establishments, an increase of 4.8% compared to 2023. The top international source markets were Germany (35%), Belgium (12%) and the United States (10%). International arrivals grew by 4.9% in 2025.

Domestic tourism continues to grow, with a record high of 30.0 million domestic tourists in commercial accommodation establishments in 2024, a 3.1% increase on 2023 levels. Domestic tourism expenditure amounted to EUR 58.7 million in nominal terms, or 57.2% of total tourism expenditure.

The Ministry of Economic Affairs is responsible for tourism at the national level and acts as a first contact point within government for tourism industry associations and stakeholders.

The Netherlands Board of Tourism and Conventions (NBTC) is the national DMO and works on the country’s tourism positioning, development, and marketing, in close collaboration with public and private sector stakeholders. Their aim is to turn the Netherlands into a liveable, popular, and valuable destination for residents, visitors and businesses.

Regional and local authorities are responsible for tourism policy at their respective levels, often with their own strategy or a joint strategy with other municipalities. They receive and distribute funding locally and are responsible for marketing nationally and internationally and product development.

Destination Nederland, founded in 2022, is a network of local destination and city marketing organisations in the Netherlands. The network aims to strengthen destination management and marketing through knowledge sharing, and increase the appeal of the Netherlands as a destination to visit and stay for residents, visitors and companies.

The Centre of Expertise Leisure, Tourism & Hospitality is a collaboration between universities of applied sciences in the field of tourism. The aim is to stimulate public-private partnerships in knowledge and research to encourage collaboration between education, industry and government.

The National Council for Recreation and Tourism (Landelijke Raad voor Recreatie en Toerisme) brings together businesses, governments and knowledge institutions to work jointly on strategic issues within the hospitality and tourism sectors. The Council was formed in 2024 after a positive evaluation of the National Taskforce on Leisure and Tourism created during COVID-19.

The Netherlands Board of Tourism and Conventions is partially funded by the Ministry of Economic Affairs. In 2025, a total of EUR 10.5 million was allocated by the Ministry to the Board, in addition to third-party funding for specific projects. There is no budget allocated for tourism at the national level beyond that allocated to NBTC.

The Netherlands’ long-term tourism strategy, Perspective 2030, continues to guide the tourism sector. Developed in 2019, the Strategy shifts the focus from increasing visitor numbers to improving the quality of tourism, ensuring that the benefits of tourism are broadly shared and that negative impacts are mitigated. The ambition is to strengthen the hospitality and tourism sector in a way that supports regional identity, liveability, and long-term resilience.

To focus on the policy priorities and actions at the national level, the Ministry of Economic Affairs is guided by the National Policy Framework for the Tourism and Hospitality Sector. The core actions under this Framework include:

• Strengthening collaboration within the sector by stimulating and facilitating collaboration among public and private actors. This includes multi-level governance and stakeholder co-ordination. A key milestone is the establishment of the National Council for Recreation and Tourism (Landelijke Raad voor Recreatie en Toerisme) in 2025, a platform that brings together businesses, governments, and knowledge institutions to work jointly on strategic issues.

• Fostering future-proof sector development by promoting inclusive prosperity and creating conditions for responsible visitor growth, both domestic and international, that benefit entrepreneurs and society alike, including through themes like recreation and integrating tourism into spatial policy.

• Supporting destination development and management by working with provinces and regions to provide research and specific programmes for destination management, with the aim of creating positive social impact and contributing to regional development and well-being. Emphasis is placed on integrated spatial and economic development that fits the regional scale and identity.

• Utilising knowledge-based policy by promoting the use of digital tools and data to help the sector become more efficient, adaptive, and insight-driven, including through the Data Offensive for Tourism (see box below). This contributes to smarter decision making, targeted policy interventions, and improved monitoring of trends and impacts.

• Towards a climate-resilient hospitality sector: We map the impact of climate change on the Dutch tourism sector and translate this into targeted recommendations and action plans for businesses and governments.

• Better integrating recreation and tourism into spatial policy by working with the sector to clarify the (spatial) development challenges for recreation and tourism and how they can be intelligently combined with other major challenges such as housing construction, nature development, or the agricultural transition through ongoing consultation and workshops.

• Contributing to international tourism agendas through participation in the EU and G20, with the aim of strengthening national priorities by connecting to global initiatives. International co-operation also facilitates knowledge exchange, innovation, and sustainable tourism transitions.

The Framework is implemented through a mix of direct support, including funding for NBTC, co-financing of regional projects, and strategic collaboration with regional governments. There is no single earmarked tourism budget, but resources are mobilised through sectoral and interdepartmental programmes. The Framework brings together provincial and municipal governments, the Netherlands Board of Tourism and Conventions, the National Council for Recreation and Tourism, knowledge institutions, tourism associations and entrepreneurs, and international partners (e.g. EU, OECD).