The four biggest hotel concentrations in the Netherlands (Amsterdam, Schiphol, The Hague and Rotterdam) have planned an ambitious hotel policy for the coming years.

Until 2015, the Amsterdam ‘hotel development intermediary’ plans to add up to 9,000 hotel rooms to the existing stock, an increase of almost 50% compared to the current number. The municipalities of The Hague, Rotterdam, and Haarlemmermeer plan to increase the current stock by a third or more. These figures are revealed in the recent publication Understanding hotels in the Netherlands, in which CB Richard Ellis’s Research division provides an elaborate description of the current status of the Dutch hotel market.

Due to the extremely cyclical character of the Dutch hotel market, it is currently impossible to say whether the above-mentioned plans will be realised. In line with the forecasted decline in economic growth in 2009, a reduction in the number of overnight stays, occupancy rates and average hotel room price is also expected.

Although the credit crisis has led to a reduction in the number of hotel transactions, CB Richard Ellis still sees opportunities for investors to invest in property. One of the reasons for this is that more hotel chains want to sell their property via ‘sale-and-lease-back’ and ‘sale-and-manage-back’ constructions.

The publication Understanding hotels in the Netherlands is primarily aimed at national and international parties that are active or want to be active in the Dutch hotel market.