AMSTERDAM: Holland Marketing estimates that close to 14 million international tourists visited the Netherlands in 2014. This is a 10 percent increase compared to 2013. Most of the visitors came from Germany, while China showed the biggest growth percentage-wise. NBTC expects some four percent more visitors in 2015, a forecast of 14.5 million international visitors this year.
The 14 million foreign visitors spent well over 34.6 million nights in Holland (+9%). This makes 2014 another record year for Holland. Most of the foreign tourists hailed from Germany, just like in previous years. Well over 3.9 million Germans visited our country in 2014 (+12%). Great Britain is the runner-up; the number of British visitors increased by eleven percent to nearly 1.9 million. Belgium comes third with over 1.8 million tourists (+10%).
China showed the biggest increase, percentage-wise. The number of Chinese visitors increased by eighteen percent to more than 250,000 arrivals. In addition, nearly one million (+6%) Americans came to our country, partly thanks to the improving economy and the cheaper euro. The number of visitors from Russia decreased by six percent, mainly as a result of the political tensions and the drop in the value of the rouble.
