page_title: Nautical tourism
section_title: The Netherlands
hierarchical_section_title: Nautical tourism / By region / Europe / The Netherlands
caption_attribution_description: English: Picture of tulip fields near Hillegom, along the Leidsevaart Canal in April 2007. This is a popular route for water tourists in Spring when the tulips are in bloom.
context_page_description: Nautical tourism, also called water tourism, is tourism that combines sailing and boating with vacation and holiday activities. It can be travelling from port to port in a cruise ship, or joining boat-centered events such as regattas or landing a small boat for lunch or other day recreation at specially prepared day boat-landings. It is a form of tourism that is generally more popular in the summertime.
  First defined as an industry segment in Europe and South America, it has since caught on in the United States and the Pacific Rim.
context_section_description: Water travel used to be the only form of transportation between cities in the Netherlands. Since improvements in the road and rail structure, less and less commercial freight water traffic is using the water. In the latter half of the 20th century the growth of water tourism exceeded the amount of freight traffic, and older cities whose ports were long disused refurbished them for water tourists. Water tourists are a strong lobby for protecting old water routes from being closed or filled. Both refurnished antique canal boats ("salonboten") and modern tour boats ("rondvaartboten") are available for tourist day trips in most Dutch cities. A steady tourist industry has kept both the old canals of Amsterdam and their canal mansions open for water traffic. Their popularity has introduced water traffic safety laws to ensure that the commercial passenger boats have right-of-way over private skiffs and low yachts, while preventing fatal accidents.
  To reduce the less desired side-effects of popular watertourist spots, the public awards stimulate sustainable tourist innovations, such as the EDEN award for the electricity-propelled tourist boats in De Weerribben-Wieden National Park.
caption: Rowing water tourists in Hillegomin April, when the tulip fields are in bloom.
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