Tourism along the Dutch coast has surged by 39% in the past decade to almost 30 million overnight stays a year, driving up prices and making local businesses increasingly dependent on the summer season, according to new research by ABN Amro and the NBTC tourist board.

More than 40% of all stays take place in the third quarter of the year, which includes the school summer holidays. And the pressure is growing as more foreign tourists and day-trippers head to beaches such as Zandvoort and Hoek van Holland, the research said.

Growth has been strongest in Groot-Rijnmond, where overnight stays have doubled, followed by Zeeuws-Vlaanderen (up 71%) and the Kop van Noord-Holland (up 49%), mainly thanks to the popularity of the Wadden Sea island of Texel.

The number of coastal holiday parks rose to 656 last year and there are nearly 25,000 holiday homes, up more than 10% on 2017.

Prices have also risen sharply and a four-person stay on the Wadden Islands now costs an average of €72 per night, almost double the national average. “The price gap reflects the coast’s popularity,” ABN Amro said.

Current affairs show Nieuwsuur said in July that the number of holiday homes and beach houses along the Dutch coast has risen sharply in recent years, despite an agreement intended to limit new developments.

In 2017, national and regional authorities, businesses and environmental groups signed an agreement aimed at preventing the Dutch coastline from becoming as heavily built up as the Belgian coast.

The deal was meant to restrict new holiday parks and catering facilities and is set to be extended this month for at least another five years.