From 1920 onwards prosperity gradually increases. More and more people can afford a holiday. The valley of the Geul is now getting widely known as a part of the Netherlands with a foreign touch. We want to experience that.
Now less wealthy families also visit Valkenburg. To these can be added regional day-trippers who come by train, bus or bike.
Initially tourists came to enjoy the scenery, the caves and the castle ruins. But these would no longer do. More is needed to lure  the “new modern” tourist. Entrepeneurs realize this. A  cave is converted into a coal mine, followed by a zoo, an open air theatre, a Lourdes cave, and an amusement park.
The modern tourist wants to be amused in a more and more active way. The Tourist Office which had been working for years to make the area attractive for tourists responds to this. They actively promote the new attractions and activities in the centre of the Geul valley.

After 1945 the emphasis shifts more and more tot mass tourism. The number of camping-sites increases. The fairy forest and the cable car open. The vast influx of holiday-makers causes trouble in the streets and on the camping-sites: in a nutshell a nasty crowd. To keep things bearable the Council ropes in the police. The crowd reacts by intimidating the police. There is always something going on in Valkenburg!
The pictoresque city-centre bears the brunt. Traditional shops serving decent customers disappear. Instead  bars, discos and giftshops are opened. Souvenirs once popular make way for goods from China. Picturesque spots make way for jerry building. The only thing that really matters is profit.  The number of overnight stays in hotels dwindles.

In 1985 things take a turn for the better. Hotel-keepers, the Council and the Tourist Office are fed up with the noise, the booze and the bad image. The good reputation of the past must return. One focuses on the inner city and its surroundings. The number of campings is restricted and in an effort to attract the “better” sort of tourist one succeeds in persuading Holland Casino and Thermae 2000 to come to Valkenburg.
This state of affairs is still going on. The Geul embankment and old city-gates were restored and reconstructed between 2005 en 2015. The historic city-centre has been given a thorough face-lift and the accessible cycling and walking tracks have given the city a quality boost. Wealthy pensioners have given a financial injection to the Valkenburg hotel industry. Valkenburg as Christmas, cycling and fortified city attracts many tourists, often senior citizens and families with children, admittedly sometimes also a pub-tiger.