The 2025 Carnival celebrations attracted 14% more visitors than the year before. This is according to an analysis by the Nationale Bezoekers Index, an initiative by Resono and Argaleo. The increase appears largely attributable to the favorable weather. While the 2024 Carnival was marked by overcast skies and rain, conditions this year were significantly better, which likely contributed to the larger influx of visitors.
Major differences between cities
Visitor growth was not equal in every city. The largest increases took place in Geleen (+52%) and Venray (+46%), followed by Waalwijk (+39%) and Oldenzaal (+37%). Eindhoven also experienced strong growth at +24%. On the other hand, there were cities where visits declined, with Weert (-19%) as the most notable drop.
Among the three largest Carnival cities, the increase varied per city. While Eindhoven saw the strongest growth at +24%, the increase in Maastricht remained modest. The top three as a whole rose by an average of 13.8%, in line with the general trend.
Visitors from various cities
The analysis shows that the origin of visitors varies per city. In Kerkrade, Sittard, and Geleen, a relatively large share of visitors comes from within the same province, while cities such as Venray and ‘s-Hertogenbosch attract a larger proportion of visitors from outside the province.
The data further reveals that 10% of Carnival-goers in Nijmegen come from Noord-Brabant. In ‘s-Hertogenbosch, 13% of visitors come from Gelderland and 10% from Zuid-Holland. This underscores that visitor flows during Carnival do not remain strictly within the traditional Carnival cities, but also reach cities beyond them.
About Nationale Bezoekers Index
The Nationale Bezoekers Index is an initiative by Resono and Argaleo that offers data-driven insights into visitor flows across the Netherlands. Through advanced analytics, the Index helps cities and organizations gain better insight into the visitor economy, tourism, and events.
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