Annual results The Hague & Partners 2022: Recovery and records for The Hague

The Hague showed recovery and records last year after the corona period. The Hague & Partners sees this reflected in the results in its 2022 annual report, which has just been released. The organisation responsible for marketing and acquisition of the city on behalf of the Municipality of The Hague, aimed at residents, visitors, conferences, and foreign companies and institutions reports positive results. The number of multi-day international congresses recruited increased again, and with the city's strong international profile, The Hague also remained attractive to international companies and institutions in 2022. The visitor economy even set a record. Despite the lockdown in the first two months of the year, never before so many overnight stays were booked in the Hofstad, as many as 2.2 million.

Congresses with impact

From mid-February 2022, corona measures were increasingly loosened. This is reflected in the figures: in 2022, a total of 85 multi-day international business meetings and congresses took place in The Hague. In 2021, there were only 17. The coming years also look good. In 2022, potential congresses were acquired with an economic value of 106 million euros. Of this, €28.7 million has now been definitively confirmed.

Marco Esser, director The Hague & Partners: ''An example is the Micronutrient Forum 6th Global Conference, a congress on the right to good food, which will bring around 1,000 visitors to the city for seven days in 2023. A conference that fits perfectly with The Hague's profile as an Impact City working on innovations for a better world.''

Last year, The Hague & Partners started facilitating Event Design Canvas training courses. This is a method for developing events. International conference organisations that choose to organise their conference in The Hague are offered this method. Marco Esser: "This has attracted a lot of international media attention and thus additional interest in The Hague as a venue for conferences.''

The new energy sector

The Hague is working on innovations for a better, safer, and just world. This is reflected by the international companies and institutions recruited in 2022. Over 70% of the companies landed in The Hague have links to the profile clusters: Impact City, Security Delta, and Legal & Policy. By 2022, a total of 38 international companies and NGOs have landed in The Hague in a tripartite collaboration with the municipality of The Hague, InnovationQuarter and The Hague & Partners. These companies will account for 732 new jobs over the next three years and they will invest some €54 million in the city.

The new energy sector involves companies such as Chiyoda, CC7 and Goldwind. Esser: "These companies not only strengthen the existing energy cluster in The Hague, but also bring the desired energy transition closer."

Record number of overnight stays

2022 saw a relatively warm summer with a large number of beach days. This ensured a natural spread of visitors. Various campaigns were also used to spread them over the seasons. This worked out well, because even despite the lockdown in the first two months of the year, 2022 saw a record number of overnight stays. With 2.2 million overnight stays, there was a 26% increase over the old record year of 2018.

Esser: 'With a good spread over the year and across the city, growth is possible without having negative effects on the city's liveability. With our marketing efforts, we can contribute to this. That is a positive signal towards the future.''

The Hague & Partners' complete Annual Report 2022 (in Dutch) can be read below.