Netherlands Travel Awards 2025

Netherlands' Travel Industry Overview

The Netherlands welcomes over 20 million international visitors annually with a tourism proposition anchored by one of Europe's most distinctive and atmospheric cities — Amsterdam — and one of the world's most respected airlines — KLM Royal Dutch Airlines. The country's extraordinary flat landscape, historic waterways, world-class museums, Dutch cycling culture, and tulip fields create a travel experience of genuine character that is unmistakably Dutch in every detail.

Amsterdam is one of Europe's most beloved city break destinations, offering an extraordinary concentration of Golden Age art (Rijksmuseum, Van Gogh Museum, Anne Frank House), 17th-century canal houses, world-class dining, and a vibrant multicultural street culture. Amsterdam's luxury hotel market has been transformed by new entrants including the Waldorf Astoria Amsterdam (occupying six 17th-century canal houses), Conservatorium Hotel, Kimpton De Witt, and the Hotel de l'Europe — providing high-end visitors with architecturally significant accommodation befitting the city's UNESCO World Heritage canal ring status. Amsterdam's Jordaan district, with its independent boutiques, artisan restaurants, and intimate café culture, provides a model of urban authenticity that few European cities can match.

The Keukenhof Gardens — open for just eight weeks each spring — draw over 1.5 million visitors annually to what is widely described as the world's most beautiful garden, set among 7 million blooming tulips, daffodils, and hyacinths. The Dutch flower auction at Aalsmeer is the world's largest, and the Netherlands' flower export industry underpins a significant spring tourism economy. Delft, with its Royal Delftware pottery tradition and Vermeer heritage, and The Hague, home to the International Court of Justice and world-class museums including the Mauritshuis (Vermeer's Girl with a Pearl Earring), round out the Netherlands' extraordinary cultural tourism landscape.

KLM Royal Dutch Airlines is one of the world's oldest airlines and a founding member of the SkyTeam alliance, operating from Schiphol Airport — one of Europe's busiest and most passenger-friendly hubs. The airline's iconic blue Delft-house liqueur bottles, served in first class, exemplify the brand's distinctive Dutch cultural identity. Dutch cycling tourism — explored on the Netherlands' extraordinary network of dedicated cycle paths — is increasingly attracting international visitors seeking healthy, sustainable, and authentic travel experiences through the windmill-dotted Dutch countryside.