Business management & development Brands beyond
ownhouses. Canals. Vermeers. For over a century, what we think of as Dutch tourism has seared itself into the mind as vividly as Italian piazzas or English country lanes. As long ago as 1901, local hoteliers gathered to sing the delights of Amsterdam, and a few decades later they were explicitly marketing the town as a centre for art and culture. Even in 1940, with Europe aflame and German tanks grumbling nearby, one optimistic Dutch official declared: “There are still many tourists that are ‘crazy’ for historical places and buildings.” Today, the city has an estimated 7,000 officially recognised historical buildings and almost 40,000 hotel rooms, according to Statista, making the erstwhile home of Rembrandt and Anne Frank a jewel. Yet, while Amsterdam remains as frantic with tourists as ever (more than 14.6 million visitors stayed in hotels and other short-term accommodations in the third quarter of 2022
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Amsterdam
As Amsterdam struggles with its infl ux of visitors, can the Netherlands develop its tourism industry beyond the capital? Andrea Valentino talks to Jurrian Dompeling, senior vice-president at JLL, and Stephan Stokkermans, the MD at the Grand Hotel Huis ter Duin, to hear how from Rotterdam to Breda, visitors are discovering there’s more to this small, tightly packed country beyond its capital city.
according to the Holland Times), not everyone is happy with the influx. In December of the same year, the city launched a campaign to ‘stay away’ from drugs and sex, and local authorities have implemented legislation making it far harder to build new hotels along the city’s infamous waterways. To an extent, these worries are understandable. Alongside its more wholesome architectural and cultural reputation, Amsterdam is equally famous for cannabis and prostitution. And as the country’s largest city – in one of the most densely populated nations in Europe – social problems are bound to follow. With Amsterdam seemingly happy to relinquish its crown as a tourist’s top choice, this leaves space for other parts of the kingdom to shine. They may not be as fashionable just yet, but cities like Haarlem and Rotterdam, to name a few, are exploiting their robust infrastructure and convenient locations to appeal to suitors from across hospitality.
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Future Airport /
www.futureairport.com Future Airport /
www.futureairport.com
Kasteel Gemert Eindhoven; Avigator Fortuner/
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Kasteel Gemert Eindhoven; Avigator Fortuner/
Shutterstock.com
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