Dutch public transport companies are introducing several new day tickets this spring which the government hopes will make public transport more attractive to tourists and easier for them to use.

The Holland Travel Ticket off-peak card will cost €39 and can be used from 9am and all day at the weekend on trains, buses, trams and metro. The Holland Travel Ticket, which is valid all day, will cost €59, junior transport minister Sharon Dijksma told MPs in a briefing on Tuesday.

Tourist organisations and MPs had called for a special all-in-one day ticket which they hope will make it easier for tourists to move around the country.

The introduction of the new tickets is being coupled with improved service at stations and all ticket machines will be adapted to accept credit cards, the minister said.

‘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,’ tourist board spokeswoman Therese Ariaans said last year when the plan was first mooted.

Next year the success of the new transport tickets among tourists will be assessed by transport companies.

Last year some 15 million tourists visited the Netherlands and the government is keen to encourage them to visit other parts of the country as well as the main attractions.