Press release: Dutch hotel market reaching record highs

Date: 5. April 2018

The Dutch hotel market has had another great year. Research by Horwath HTL shows that the both hotel occupancies and average room rates increased in 2017. For 2018 a further growth of both occupancies and average room rates is expected to result in record highs.

The research, carried out among over 200 three, four and five star hotels in the Netherlands, shows that the average occupancy has increased from 73.9% in 2016 to 76.8% in 2017. The occupancy has not been this high since the record year 1998. It is expected that the occupancies will continue to increase to 78% this year, which would be equal to the record of 1998. The average room rates also increased in 2017, from € 107 to € 113. The average room rates are still just below the record level of € 114 as achieved in 2002. In 2018, the average room rates are expected to increase by 3% t € 117, which would be an absolute record for the Dutch hotel industry.

Increased rates in lower segment
The strongest rate increases were achieved in the lower segments. In the three star segment, the average room rates increased by 8%, from € 91 to € 98. In the four star segment the increase was 5%, to € 109. In the five star segment, the average room rates increased by only 2%. However, with average room rates of € 216 in 2017 the level is still twice that of three star hotels. The occupancy on the other hand showed the strongest increase in the five star segment, increasing by 5 percentage points from 70.5% to 75.5%. In the three star segment, which already had very high occupancies, the increase was 2.2 percentage points at 77.9%. The four star segment achieved an average occupancy of 76.5% in 2017, due to an increase by 2.8 percentage points.

Hotel market to follow economic growth
Hotel managers expect that the growth in 2018 will mostly be stimulated by the economic developments in the Netherlands and globally. Local tourism is also seen as a positive influence. Negative impact is expected from the consequences of the Brexit, possible new terrorist attacks and new additions to supply. Some 60% of hotel managers expect that the occupancy rate will increase, and no less than 80% expect an increase in average room rates. The strongest growth is expected in the individual tourist segment, followed by the business segment and the MICE segment. Tour groups are expected to increase only slightly.

Amsterdam takes lead in growth
Hotels in Amsterdam & Schiphol are doing particularly well. In 2017, the average occupancy reached over 85% for the first time since 2000. The average room rates in Amsterdam increased by almost 8%, from € 131 to € 141. For 2018, the Amsterdam hotel managers expect an increase of 4%, to € 146. The occupancy is expected to remain at approximately 85%. Outside the Amsterdam region, the occupancy increased from 68.4% to 71.2%, while the average room rates increased by 3% to € 91. For 2018, hotel managers outside the Amsterdam region expect average room rates to increase to € 94, and occupancies to increase to 73%.

Dutch City Hotel Index
The other main Dutch hotel cities (Rotterdam, The Hague, Utrecht and Maastricht) also show an increase in both occupancies and average room rates. The Dutch Hotel City Index, published las year by Horwath HTL and ABN AMO, already showed that the cities in the Randstad region (Amsterdam, Utrecht, Rotterdam and The Hague) offer the best prospects as hotel cities, followed by cities such as Eindhoven and Haarlemmermeer. Smaller municipalities such as Valkenburg, Texel and Apeldoorn show fewer opportunities.

Table 1. Development of occupancies in Dutch hotels

Source: Horwath HTL

Table 2. Development of average room rates in Dutch hotels

Source: Horwath HTL