Some 14.6 million domestic and foreign tourists booked at least one night in a Dutch hotel, campsite or holiday park in the third quarter of this year, according to new figures from national statistics agency CBS.

That is up 15% on last year and a 4% rise on 2019, before the coronavirus pandemic placed restrictions on travel, the CBS said. The third quarter includes the school summer holidays.

Compared with the third quarter of 2021, when travel restrictions were still in place, the number of foreign tourists doubled to 5.4 million while British visitors rose seven fold to 464,000. The number of tourists from Australia and Oceania rose over 500% as travel controls eased.

Nevertheless, the number of foreign tourists is still over 700,000 down on the pre-pandemic level, the figures show. The total number is dominated by 9.2 million locals who spent at least one night in holiday accommodation in the Netherlands.

The Dutch tourism board said in April it expected high inflation, the war in Ukraine and the risk of a new coronavirus wave to continue to have an impact on tourist number projections and holiday plans.

It estimated then no more than 12 million foreign and 24 million Dutch tourists will spend at least one night away from home in the Netherlands this year, compared with almost 46 million in 2019.