The number of overnight stays booked at Amsterdam hotels was up 12.5% in the first four months of this year, compared with the same period in 2018, the Telegraaf said on Tuesday, quoting ABN Amro research.

The growth is largely due to a rise in the number of Chinese tourists – they booked 33% more nights in hotels in the Dutch capital between January and the end of April, the paper said.  The number of nights booked by British tourists was up 18%.

If the rate of growth continues, it means Amsterdam hotels will book 18.8 overnight stays this year, and look after 9.5 million guests, ABN Amro economist Sonny Duijn told the Telegraaf.

‘Holidaymakers can travel longer distances than before because of budget airlines,’ he said.

Amsterdam is grappling with what is perceived by many as over-tourism, and the Dutch tourist board is trying to spread the flow of visitors to the rest of the country.

Earlier this year, the city’s budget hotel sector said that council plans to put up tourist taxes would make the city too expensive for less well-off tourists.