Growth of tourism to Amsterdam 8 percent in 2005

The number of hotel guests in Amsterdam has gone up with 8% in 2005. These figures were announced by the city of Amsterdam.

The number of nights spent in Amsterdam grew less, with 3.5 percent. People visit more often, but stay shorter periods. The average stay of a tourist has dropped to 1.82 nights.

Of the 4.5 million guests, about 1 million were from Britain, followed by the Americans with 629,000 and the Dutch (623,000).
The number of Chinese visitors is growing relatively fast, from 38,000 in 2004 to 59,000 in 2005, a rise of 55%.

For 2006, a further growth is expected, due to the Rembrandt Year.

The new alderman of Economic Affairs, Mr Lodewijk Asscher, is happy with the figures, but warns for complacency. The competition of other cities is increasing, and Amsterdam has to keep promoting itself and keep investing in number and quality of events.