July 26, 2016 · Team HG
Revenue for Dutch hotels, restaurants, and cafes has risen more sharply in recent years than the European Union average. Following the outbreak of the credit crisis in 2008, hospitality revenue in the Netherlands actually declined more than in the rest of the EU. Currently, hospitality revenue is at record levels both in the Netherlands and compared to the EU average, according to reports. CBS and Eurostat.
In the first three months of 2016, hospitality turnover in the Netherlands was 24% above the low point of the crisis at the end of 2009. In the EU, on the other hand, turnover rose by an average of 20%. Turnover in the Dutch hospitality sector has been above pre-crisis levels again since the end of 2013 and has only continued to rise since then.
Due to relatively strong growth, the importance of the hospitality industry to the Dutch economy has increased in recent years.
Recovery since the crisis
Dutch hospitality businesses struggled with declining revenue from 2008 – the year the smoking ban also came into effect – until the end of 2009. During that period, revenue fell by 8.5%. A decline was not the case everywhere in the EU at the time; in Poland, Belgium, and France, there was little sign of a drop in revenue, and in some cases, there was even an increase.
After 2009, the hospitality sector recovered almost everywhere to a higher level than before the crisis: only in Portugal, Greece, and Spain are turnovers still lower and they are not yet recovering from the crisis. The largest turnover increases were found in Belgium (+35%) and France (+37%). Poland continues as the frontrunner, where turnover has increased by almost 75% since 2008, although it should be noted that the hospitality sector there is relatively small.
Main income
In the Netherlands, the number of people employed in the hospitality sector increased from 344,000 to 374,000 between 2008 and 2014. As a result, in 2014, approximately 4.3% of all employed persons worked in that sector, making it a primary source of income. This is slightly lower than the EU average (4.8%).
