The Netherlands didn't blossom much in 2017

The Hague

City of royalty, international institutions and organizations, The Hague is also known for hosting the International Criminal Court, the International Court of Justice and Europol. The headquarters of major Dutch companies such as Royal Dutch Shell, Royal KPN (telecom) or Royal TNT Post, are also settled in the city. Its airport is connected to Rotterdam and handled approximately 1.8 million passengers in 2017.

The Hague chain hotel supply continued to stagnate in 2017, with only 11 additional rooms, while performance improved substantially: +12.3% RevPAR in 2017 after two years of downtrend. Growth was supported by combined increases in ADR (+5.6%, 1 point above the national average) and occupancy rates, now approaching 75%. OR also grew faster than the national average (+4.5 points vs +3.8).

Utrecht

One of the oldest cities in the Netherlands, Utrecht is the fourth most populated city in the country and is located close to the geographic center of Holland. The city’s main activity sectors are financial and business services.

The city of Utrecht counts 1,045 corporate operated rooms as of January 1, 2018, almost unchanged from 2017.

Growth already observed in the last 3 years was confirmed in 2017. RevPAR grew by 10.3% and reached €86.7, fueled by a surge in ADR (+7.3% to €107.8) and a significant increase in occupancy rates, up 2.2 points to 80.5%.

Eindhoven

The Eindhoven metro area is home to high-tech companies and the city benefits from its geographic location near other Dutch and European gateway cities. Eindhoven hosts the second biggest airport in the country after Amsterdam and before Rotterdam. Its passenger traffic has been booming since the opening of the second terminal in June 2013. After a 6.3% increase in 2016 and a 9.3% increase in 2015, the number of passengers reached about 5 million in 2017. In 2012, passenger traffic at the airport was 3 million per year.

Eindhoven's chain supply increased by only 132 rooms for a 6.8% increase in the supply. The increase in occupancy rates, up +2.6 points to 62.3%, brought the RevPAR to a 5% increase, while the average daily rate stagnated (+0.5%, at €82.1 VAT incl.). Despite this year’s good dynamics, both occupancy rates and ADR remain low, well below those of the other major Dutch cities.

An increase in performance in these three cities despite stagnation of their supply indicates an increase in their attractiveness which has not yet been reflected by growth in supply. Recent measures taken by the Amsterdam government to reduce tourist arrivals could redirect visitor flows to other cities in the Netherlands, allowing local actors to develop.

Find more information and detailed analyses of the offer and performance by range of hotels in the European Hospitality Report 2018, available on our store.