The Dutch spend more money on holidays again
After slight decreases in previous years, the number of holidays stabilized in 2015. In total, the Dutch took more than 35 million holidays: 17 million holidays in their own country and 18,1 million abroad. Spending on holidays increased again for the first time since 2012 (+3%). Total spending on holidays grew to almost 16 billion euros.
This is evident from the annual results of the ContinuVakantieOnderzoek of NBTC-NIPO Research.
More Dutch people on holiday, but slightly less often
About 12,7 million Dutch people went on holiday one or more times in 2015 (80% of the population). This means a slight increase (+100.000) compared to 2014. The Dutch went on holiday slightly less often than in 2014. The average holiday frequency fell from 2,80 to 2,77 holidays per holidaymaker. A total of 35,1 million holidays were taken at home or abroad. This number is the same as last year.
Half a billion euros more spent on holidays
In total, the Dutch spent about 2015 billion euros on holidays in 16, of which about 13 billion abroad and 3 billion in their own country. Compared to 2014, total holiday spending increased by 500 million euros (+3%). Both our own country (+4%) and abroad (+3%) benefited from this relatively strong increase.
Spain shows the most growth
The number of foreign holidays has risen slightly in the past year. In total, about 18,1 million holidays were taken abroad, an increase of about 150.000 holidays (+1%). Like last year, Germany leads the top ten foreign holiday destinations with around 3,4 million holidays, followed by France with 2,6 million. The number of holidays for Germany and France remained virtually the same as last year. The number three – Spain – again saw the number of holidays rise sharply (+6%). It was also striking that, despite all the problems of last year, Greece recorded only a modest minus (-4%).
Slight decrease in domestic holidays
The number of domestic holidays fell by about 200.000 in the past holiday year to 17 million (-1%). The decrease was entirely due to the so-called fixed-location holidays (holidays in second homes, boats, mobile homes, etc.). Holidays in rented accommodations showed growth (+1%). Holidays in a bungalow (park) were particularly popular (+4%). As in previous years, the North Sea resorts were the most popular holiday region in the Netherlands with 2,2 million holidays. The Veluwe follows in second place with 1,9 million holidays. The number of holidays in the North Sea resorts decreased slightly (-2%), while the Veluwe showed a slight increase (+1%).