Assen raked in much less money than expected with the TT Tax for campsites and hotels last year. The municipality counted on 75,000 euros more due to the significantly higher tourist tax for TT overnight stays. But that ended up being 55,000 euros.
Last year was the first time that Assen was actually able to use the higher TT tax rate. Because due to corona, camping at the TT campsites was canceled in 2020 and 2021.
The price increase during the TT is more than a doubling of the tourist tax. Instead of 1.40 euros, the rate is 3 euros per night. The municipality thought that this would raise more than 140,000 euros, but the amount has stalled at 100,000 euros, according to the figures.
The reason for the disappointing yield is a sharp drop in the number of overnight stays. The municipality expected to score about 47,000 overnight stays during the TT. But that was considerably lower, namely almost 35,000.
According to the municipality, the cause of this decrease is not only due to the TT Taks, which the campsites and hotels initially had great difficulty with. They were afraid that the customers would be chased away. According to an evaluation by the municipality, there are several reasons for the decrease in the number of TT campers.
The aftermath of corona, inflation and unclear reporting about whether or not campsites are open are to blame for the fact that the number of overnight stays lagged behind last year. Furthermore, according to some of the entrepreneurs, the campers also stayed shorter than usual. Almost unanimously, they point to higher costs as the cause.
The Municipal Executive concludes that the introduction of the increased TT overnight rate has not led to major complications. That is why this week the TT Taks is being used for the second year. For guests at the TT campsites and in the hotels, they have to pay 3 euros per night from Wednesday to Sunday.