Despite the setbacks that the hotel market has faced in recent years, there is a continuing demand for hotel properties. This is applicable to both operators and investors.

• Staycations have been popular and Dutch provinces outside of the Randstad welcomed more hotel guests compared to previous years (Friesland +25% in summer 2021 compared to 2019). Amsterdam, heavily reliant on business and intercontinental travellers, saw a fall in the number of overnight stays during the pandemic (-54% in summer 2021 compared to 2019). 
• The hotel market recovered in the second half of 2021, as can be seen by analysing the correlation between hotel occupancy figures and the number of passengers at Schiphol Airport. 
• The future supply of hotels is very limited. The number of hotel rooms is set to increase: Amsterdam (2%), Rotterdam (16%) and Utrecht (19%). 
• Investors who now wish to purchase hotels are demanding lower prices than before the pandemic, because of the much lower occupancy rates. On the other hand, vendors are unwilling to offer discounts. 
• The Dutch hotel market has started to see capital injections from private equity and wealth, as they acquire stakes in hotel enterprises. Interest from this type of investor is expected to stay strong, in view of the relatively high yields and the recovery in the occupier market.  
• The Dutch hotel market faces a significant challenge to improve sustainability. Almost two million square metres remain unlabelled or have a D label or worse in the key hotel markets. In Amsterdam, for example, the biggest hotel market, some 49% (960,000 sq. m.) of the stock remain unlabelled and 11% (220,000 sq. m.) have a label D or worse. 

You can read the full report here.