Further limitations may apply to hotels in Amsterdam as a result of a new regulation capping tourism numbers.
Since 2017, the municipality of Amsterdam has applied a strict overnight stay policy (Overnachtingsbeleid). This means that in almost all parts of Amsterdam no room will be given to new hotel initiatives that do not fit in the existing zoning plans. Additional restrictions have been implemented by way of the municipality, in principle, not cooperating with amendments of leasehold contracts to allow additional hotel initiatives.
Tourism in Balance regulation
In 2021 the city council of Amsterdam has adopted a new regulation “Tourism in balance” (the “TiB Regulation”) imposing a bandwidth of a minimum of 10 million and a maximum of 20 million annual overnight stays and including 12 million and 18 million stays as signal values. The TiB Regulation is the outcome of a successful citizen ‘initiative calling the city to rein in the numbers of tourist staying in Amsterdam. The TiB Regulation has been imposed to, amongst others, reduce the 21.8 million pre-Covid-19 annual overnight stays, which has declined to approximately 7 million stays in 2020 and 2021. Further to the number of overnight stays, the TiB Regulation also aims to regulate the daily touristic visits, the capacity per city area, and the effects of tourism on the quality of life in areas of the city.
According to the TiB Regulation, the municipal executive has to inform the city council every year prior to 1 June as to the expected number of overnight stays in the current year and the subsequent two calendar years. In the event that the expected number of overnight stays exceeds the signal values, the city council has to prepare within six months a policy document setting out the manner in which the number of overnight stays will remain in between the 10 and 20 million bandwidth. Such policy document needs to include, at least, the possibilities of : (i) regulating the short term rental of residential properties (e.g. AirBnB), (ii) regulating the amount of tourism tax to be levied and (iii) other measures to be taken by the municipality to regulate the number of overnight stays. The explanatory notes of the TiB Regulation provide that the bandwidth and the signal values may be amended, subject to approval of the city council, in the event that the bandwidth or the signal values do not correctly represent the experience of the effect of tourism by the citizens of Amsterdam.
Contrary to the number of overnight stays, the TiB Regulation does not set specific values with respect to the daily touristic visits, the capacity per area, and the effects of tourism on the quality of life in areas of the city.
Expectations 2022-2024
Based on a recent prognosis of the municipality, the signal values and bandwidths of the TiB Regulation are expected to already be exceeded in the near future, with a substantial change of measures to be imposed. In a publication of April 2022, the municipality has estimated the overnight stays based on three scenarios depending on the growth of tourism. The “low” scenario assumes that Covid-19 restrictions will temper the recovery of tourism. In this scenario the overnight stays are projected to be 19.4 million in 2024 . The “middle” scenario assumes that tourism to Amsterdam recovers based on the economic growth and the mobility possibilities and results in a projection of 20.4 million overnight stays in 2024. The “high” scenario assumes an alternative situation where the demand of tourism is fully accommodated and no Covid-19 restrictions apply and projects 22.8 million overnight stays in 2024.
All three scenarios show a number of overnight stays exceeding the signal values and nearing, or exceeding the maximum number of overnight stays as included in the TiB Regulation. As a consequence, additional measures are likely to be imposed. As stated above these measures will be imposed in a policy document to be expected in Q3 or Q4 of 2022. Other than the guidelines set out in the TiB Regulation, the TiB Regulation does not elaborate on the exact measures to be imposed, making it unknown what additional measures the city council will impose. However, it is widely expected that the Municipality will attempt to restrict the overnight stays. This may have a material impact on hotels. This is also evident from the recent coalition agreement between the three left-wing parties in charge of the municipal executive for the next four years. The coalition agreement mentions that additional controlling measures will be imposed based on the TiB Regulation. Furthermore, the new coalition is intending to: (i) impose a complete ban on short term rental of residential properties in certain areas of the cities, (ii) keep the moratorium on new hotel rooms in place and (iii) strictly enforce the rules regarding illegal hotels.
It should be noted that the aforementioned overnight stay policy includes specific exceptions for special hotel initiatives which provide a quality boost to the existing hotel facilities and its surroundings. Although the coalition agreement refers to the desire to oppose a mono-culture of tourism, the TiB Regulation does not include references to certain “quality over quantity” principles, so that the exact assessment of new initiatives is unknown.
It, therefore, remains vague what the exact measures will look like and which exact consequences the TiB Regulation will have for the operators and owners of hotels. We nonetheless expect that given the political climate and the recent variety of policies adopted by the municipality, hotels will be subject to additional scrutiny by the city and additional measures are likely to be imposed.
More information?
May you wish to receive more information or may you have any questions regarding the impact the TiB Regulation will have on your business, please contact us.
