Gunay Uslu and 46 other figures from Amsterdam’s cultural, hospitality, congress and events sectors asked the municipality to suspend its planned tourist-tax increase and reconsider it. The tax is scheduled to rise from 12.5% of a hotel room’s price to 16% next year and to 20% by 2031.

The signatories warned that the increase, combined with the national rise in VAT on hotel stays from 9% to 21%, could lead visitors, congresses, productions and events to choose other locations. They requested an independent assessment of the combined effects on the sectors concerned before the increase proceeds.