The Netherlands needs to develop a special smart card for tourists which can be used on all public transport systems and entitles them to a discount at tourist attractions, MPs will tell ministers on Wednesday.

Parliament is set to debate the ‘hospitality economy’ later in the day and a special tourist card would be a key element in making the Netherlands more tourism-friendly, news agency ANP quotes MPs as saying.

‘The current system gives rise to a great deal of stress,’ VVD parliamentarian Erik Ziengs said.

One good example to follow is the London Oyster card, Ziengs says. ‘You can use it on the metro, the bus and the train,’ he points out. ‘But a Chinese or British tourist in the Netherlands does not want to worry about how and where he should buy all the tickets he needs.’

‘Tourists want to get the most out of their visit and travel from Amsterdam to Maastricht without any fuss and with a visit to Giethoorn if they feel like it.’

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Companies operating in the tourist sector have welcomed the suggestion. Around one-third of the 14 million tourists who came to the Netherlands last year relied on public transport as their main way of getting around, says the tourism board NBTC.

‘We know that tourists don’t understand the variety in tickets, that the provision of information is inadequate and that there are limited payment methods,’ spokeswoman Therese Ariaans said.

The NBTC is calling for the introduction of a national transport ticket for foreign tourists which covers all public transport services for a fixed price.