Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

In 2009 a total of 9.9 million overnighting foreign visitors came to the Netherlands. This is an 2% decrease compared with 2008 (Source: Statistics Netherlands CBS).

Foreign tourists recorded 25 million overnight stays in the Netherlands in 2009, 1% less than in 2008. In 2009 foreign guests stayed an average of 2.5 nights in the Netherlands (Source: Statistics Netherlands CBS).

In 2009 the Netherlands received most foreign overnighting guests from: 1. Germany (2,744,000) 2. United Kingdom (1,409,000) 3. Belgium (1,172,000) 4. United States (767,000) 5. France (574,000) (Source: Statistics Netherlands CBS)

The top five areas where foreign guests had overnight stays in 2009 were: 1. The four major cities (4,391,000 guests) 2. North Sea seaside towns (1,374,000 guests) 3. West and Central Brabant (561,000 guests) 4. East Brabant, North and Central Limburg and Rijk van Nijmegen (467,000 guests) 5. IJsselmeer coast (343,000 guests) (Source: Statistics Netherlands CBS)

In 2009, a total of 7,754,000 foreign guests stayed at a hotel or bed-and-breakfast (78%), while 2,167,000 (22%) stayed at camping sites, bungalow parks or group accommodation (Source: Statistics Netherlands CBS).

A total of 2,240,000 foreign overnighting guests were recorded in 2009 by Statistics Netherlands (CBS). This is 23% of the total number of foreign overnighting guests (Source: Statistics Netherlands CBS).

In December 2009, 584,000 foreign overnighting guests visited the Netherlands, 9% more than in 2008 (Source: Statistics Netherlands CBS).

1. Holiday (70%) 2. Business (25%) 3. Other reason (5%) (Source: NBTC, 2009)

In 2009, 54% of the Dutch population spent at least one holiday in the Netherlands. In total, the Dutch had 18.0 million domestic holidays (Source: NBTC-NIPO Research, ‘ContinuVakantieOnderzoek’ (CVO)).

Popular holiday destinations for Dutch people in 2009 were: 1. North Sea seaside towns (2,178,000 guests) 2. Veluwe and Veluwerand (1,985,000 guests) 3. East Brabant, North and Central Limburg and Rijk van Nijmegen (1,950,000 guests) 4. Groningen, Friesland and sandy plains of Drenthe (1,924,000 guests) 5. West and Central Brabant (1,684,000 guests). (Source: NBTC-NIPO Research, ‘ContinuVakantieOnderzoek’ (CVO))

The following attractions got most visitors in 2009: 1. De Efteling (4,000,000) 2. Amsterdam canal tours (2,811,000) 3. Parc Slagharen (1,572,000) 4. Blijdorp zoo (1,562,000) 5. Burgers' Zoo (1,525,000). (The figures stated above are the total numbers of visitors. A breakdown into numbers of foreign and Dutch visitors is unavailable).

The international business travel market consists of individual business visitors and MICE visitors. Within the business market the MICE segment accounts for approximately one-quarter of foreign arrivals. The abbreviation MICE concerns the foreign guest’s reason for visiting the Netherlands: - M: visit to meetings (Meetings) - I: incentive travel to the Netherlands (Incentives) - C: visit to conventions (Conventions) - E: visit to exhibitions (Exhibitions)

Association conventions bring together people with common professional, scientific or social interests. An association is an international grouping of people with the same interests or the same field of specialisation. A feature of association conventions is that they are usually recurring events with a long lead time and are seldom held in the same country within a short space of time. The country where the convention is held rotates. The organisation of theses conventions is usually handled by a group of initiators that form a local organising committee (LOC). This local counterpart invites the international association to hold a convention in its home country. Corporate meetings are national or international meetings held for a business purpose (meetings, product launches, training sessions, incentives, etc.) whereby the business community itself always takes the initiative.

The Netherlands came tenth in 2009 in the ranking of the international convention nations. This table is published each year by the International Congress and Convention Association (ICCA).

The Netherlands came sixth in 2009 in the ranking of the congress destinations. This table is published each year by the Union of International Associations (UIA).

Two organisations that keep the global convention statistics are the Union of International Associations (UIA) and the International Congress & Convention Association (ICCA). UIA, ICCA and NBTC apply different definitions of an international convention. Consequently, the Netherlands as a convention destination may occur at different positions in the global rankings of the ICCA and UIA. ICCA International convention criteria (association convention): • at least 50 participants • organised regularly (one-off conventions do not count) • convention must rotate between at least 3 countries UIA International convention criteria (association convention): • at least 250 participants • minimum number of foreigners: 40% • minimum number of nationalities: 5 • minimum duration of convention: 2 days

You can find them by means of the Statline module on the website of the CBS (Statistics Netherlands) at www.cbs.nl.