Amsterdam businesses urge city to suspend tourist tax rise
Gunay Uslu and 46 other prominent figures from the city's culture, hospitality and events sectors warn that a higher tourist tax, stacked on the national VAT increase, could cut visitor spending in Amsterdam.
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Illustrative photo: Zairon / CC BY-SA 4.0
Gunay Uslu, the departing head of Corendon, and 46 other prominent figures from Amsterdam's culture, hospitality and events sectors have written to the city government asking it to suspend the planned rise in the tourist tax. Signatories include restaurateur Won Yip and Paul Riemens, head of RAI Amsterdam.
Why it matters
- Visitors who stay overnight in Amsterdam pay the tax as a share of the hotel room cost, now 12.5%.
- The rate rises to 16% next year.
- It is to go up further, to 20% by 2031.
The signatories warn of the effects of stacking the national VAT increase and a higher Amsterdam tourist tax. "Amsterdam is pricing itself out of the market in the wrong way," they write.
They argue that a visitor who chooses to sleep outside Amsterdam because of a higher price has not left the city. That visitor still comes to the centre during the day, they say, but spends less money there, "which has major consequences for providers of culture, events and hospitality".
The letter asks the municipal council (gemeenteraad) to look critically at the increase and to suspend it.
Overnight stays in the province of North Holland, which includes Amsterdam, have kept growing in recent summers, Statistics Netherlands (CBS) figures show. In August 2026 hotels and other accommodation recorded 4.94m overnight stays, up from 4.87m in August 2025 and 4.74m in August 2024.
Overnight stays in North Holland peak each August and the peak is rising
Thousand overnight stays · Sep 2023–Aug 2026
Overnight stays in North Holland peak each August and the peak is rising (thousand overnight stays). From 3,337 in Sep 2023 to 4,942 in Aug 2026; highest 4,942 in Aug 2026, lowest 2,328 in Jan 2024. Source: CBS.
View data
| Item | Thousand overnight stays |
|---|---|
| Sep 2023 | 3,337 |
| Oct 2023 | 3,410 |
| Nov 2023 | 2,444 |
| Dec 2023 | 2,368 |
| Jan 2024 | 2,328 |
| Feb 2024 | 2,350 |
| Mar 2024 | 2,954 |
| Apr 2024 | 3,483 |
| May 2024 | 3,948 |
| Jun 2024 | 3,663 |
| Jul 2024 | 4,436 |
| Aug 2024 | 4,737 |
| Sep 2024 | 3,654 |
| Oct 2024 | 3,450 |
| Nov 2024 | 2,618 |
| Dec 2024 | 2,512 |
| Jan 2025 | 2,393 |
| Feb 2025 | 2,337 |
| Mar 2025 | 2,866 |
| Apr 2025 | 3,954 |
| May 2025 | 3,687 |
| Jun 2025 | 3,937 |
| Jul 2025 | 4,217 |
| Aug 2025 | 4,869 |
| Sep 2025 | 3,510 |
| Oct 2025 | 3,616 |
| Nov 2025 | 2,717 |
| Dec 2025 | 2,550 |
| Jan 2026 | 2,351 |
| Feb 2026 | 2,336 |
| Mar 2026 | 2,815 |
| Apr 2026 | 3,909 |
| May 2026 | 3,843 |
| Jun 2026 | 3,775 |
| Jul 2026 | 4,468 |
| Aug 2026 | 4,942 |
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