Visitor register

Do you provide overnight accommodation in the Netherlands? For instance in a hotel, bed & breakfast, or marina? You must maintain an ongoing visitor register. In this visitor register you record who is staying in your accommodation and when. This is important in case of for instance calamities such as a fire. You also need the visitor register to file your tourist tax return. You must supply the information to your municipality upon request.

Applying for a visitor register

The requirement to maintain a visitor register is laid down in the Criminal Code (Wetboek van Strafrecht). Furthermore, a visitor register is often required by the General Municipal By-Law (Algemene Plaatselijke Verordening). You can apply for a visitor register to some municipal authorities or you can download the register from their website.

You can also keep a visitor register in your own way, as long as you enter the information the municipality needs, such as:

• the main guest’s name and place of residence
• the date of arrival and departure (number of overnight stays)
• the type of identity document (ID) presented by the guest. Please note: you are not allowed to (temporarily) keep or make a copy of the ID.

You are not required to note the names and other information of spouses, minor children and travelling parties in the visitor register. Check with your municipality what the requirements are.

The municipality determines how long you must keep the visitor register.

Copy of ID

You may not temporarily keep or make copies of your guests' IDs. You are also not allowed to make note of your guests' Citizen Service Number (BSN). In the entire European Union the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR or AVG) is in force. This privacy regulation states that you may only keep a copy of a person's ID on good grounds (i.e. legal obligation).

Online data provision via Message Box

You can apply for a visitor register or submit the information from your visitor register also via Message Box. Message Box is a secure email system that enables you as an entrepreneur to exchange digital messages with Dutch government agencies.