Tourism industry body ANVR wants foreign minister Caspar Veldkamp to discuss travel restrictions with other EU states following a Spanish measure which obliges hotels and other tourist facilities to share over 40 pieces of data with the state from October 1.

The information would include include bank account numbers, phone numbers, passport details and the type of hire car. “It is completely unclear how this data will be shared and if privacy can be guaranteed,” ANVR chief Frank Radstake told the Telegraaf. Some four million people travel from the Netherlands to Spain each year.

The Spanish registration drive comes in the wake of the six-month border controls set up in Germany and the electronic visa requirement for EU travellers to the UK from April next year.

The ANVR said waiting times at the Dutch-German border are not long at the moment but will be much longer come summer. Radstake said Schengen and the euro have made things much easier for people to visit family and go on (business) trips. “That is now being done away with,” he said.

Some countries are doing this to tackle terrorism, Radstake said. “But our research has shown that it has become safer to travel in Europe. Some countries struggle with attacks and immigration but the solution is not to ask for more information from tourists. And the question is if that information is always relevant for the purpose,” he said.

The ANVR has asked foreign minister Caspar Veldkamp to discuss the matter with his European colleagues. “If other countries follow the example of Spain, the UK and Germany we are turning the clock back 30 years,” Radstake said.