Low Numbers of Chinese Tourists in the Netherlands: Impact on Popular Destinations

Since the beginning of this year, the more than 1.4 billion inhabitants of China have been allowed to travel abroad again after a long lockdown. But to the Netherlands they do that much less than before. There are few Chinese tourists in Giethoorn, the Zaanse Schans and Amsterdam, according to a tour of the NOS.

In Giethoorn they had taken into account a stream of visitors from the Asian country this spring. “The boats normally go into the water at Easter. Now we did that a little earlier, because we thought they might come already,” says Ronald de Boer of the local business association. “But they’re coming in dribs and drabs.”

And it doesn’t look like it’s going to get much better this summer as not many bookings have been made from China yet. For Giethoorn that is not a very big problem. “The Chinese visitors are an extra for us,” says De Boer. “They often come during the week, when it is quiet, so we also generate turnover in quiet times.”

The Designer Outlet Roermond was also a popular destination for the Chinese before the corona crisis, which they often visited on their way from Amsterdam to Paris or Düsseldorf. And Chinese tourists spent a relatively large amount of money.

“A third of our Chinese visitors traveled with organized bus tours,” says outlet manager Rudolf van Gompel. “And two-thirds were individual travellers. These are often business travelers who have more to spend and which we mainly focus on.”

And it is precisely the second category that is slowly showing its face in Roermond, according to Van Gompel. “These people are less dependent on traditional travel agencies, which have reduced their capacity in recent years. It is therefore easier for them to arrange their visa and book a flight themselves.”

There are few buses with Chinese people on the Zaanse Schans. But they are not sad about it. “I would find it quite exciting if a lot of Chinese tourists had come here now,” says director Maarten van der Meer. “It’s really busy here.”

While Asian tourists stayed away, many more tourists came from neighboring countries during the corona crisis. The Dutch also visited their own heritage en masse again. “In recent years, they may not have felt quite the target group of the Zaanse Schans, because it had become such a major international tourist attraction,” says Van der Meer.

He is happy with this development, because there is now more space for individual visitors, instead of busloads full. “In general, tour operator visits are shorter. Individual visitors move in smaller groups and have more space to absorb the story and history.”

Before corona, Gassan Diamonds in Amsterdam had about 60,000 Chinese visitors per year. “If we look at it optimistically, we hope to go to about 10,000 again this year. But that is the maximum,” says CEO Benno Leeser of the jeweler, which also offers tours in a diamond factory.

According to him, the low numbers of Chinese visitors are also due to the fact that airline tickets are now much more expensive. “There are also few flights. KLM, for example, still flies much less to and from China. Airlines are now slowly changing that.” Meanwhile, his company has focused more on visitors from the Netherlands. “They also helped keep us afloat. We now have a good run-up of Dutch people.”