Amsterdam museum visits drop 5.2% in first half

Amsterdam museums drew 5.2% fewer visitors in the first half of this year than in the same period last year.

Amsterdam&partners, the foundation that promotes the Amsterdam metropolitan region, says the drop reflects a wider trend: visitors are spending less time and money in the city.

Attendance fell 10% in June alone, a drop that was linked to the heatwave.

A reversal from last year

The decline stands out because museum visits rose a year ago, by 1% in Amsterdam and 2.5% nationally, according to the Museum Association.

Amsterdam&partners says leisure visitors “are choosing more deliberately what they spend money on and are shortening their stays.

As a result, people visit fewer museums on average. There is simply less room, both in the budget and in the schedule.”

The role of tourists

Elsewhere in the Netherlands, Dutch day visitors mainly drive museum numbers.

In Amsterdam, international visitors shape attendance far more. A spokesperson does not see that as a problem.

“Tourists generally pay the full admission price.

That allows museums to keep rates accessible for City Pass holders, students, and children.”

Last year’s figures

Dutch museums drew 31.6 million visitors in 2025, which the Museum Association says is getting ever closer to the record set before the coronavirus pandemic.

Amsterdam’s five most popular museums recorded 6.7 million visits.

That was 53% of all museum visits in Noord-Holland and 21% of the national total.

The Rijksmuseum fell from 2.4 million visitors to 2.3 million.

The Stedelijk Museum rose sharply from 574,000 to 674,000, and the Van Gogh Museum went from 1.84 million to 1.86 million.

If these figures have you thinking about your own next museum visit, start with our rundown of the city’s museums.

Source: NL Times