More than 7,2 million Dutch people still want to go on summer vacation despite the corona crisis

This summer, 7,2 million Dutch people are expected to go on holiday, which is 39 percent less than last summer. In that period, 11,9 million Dutch people were still planning to go on holiday.

These are holidays of a week or longer in the period from May to September. The current travel restrictions and uncertainty as a result of the corona crisis have a huge impact on holiday plans, according to large-scale research recently conducted by NBTC-NIPO Research into the holiday plans of the Dutch population.

“In many cases, there is a desire to continue the holiday at a later time, so a postponement is not necessarily a cancellation,” says Marieke Politie, director of NBTC-NIPO Research.

The corona crisis mainly affects holidays abroad

More than three-quarters of all Dutch people indicate that the corona crisis has a major impact on holiday plans this summer. This influence is greater on plans for a holiday abroad than on plans for a holiday in the Netherlands. Of the 7,2 million Dutch people who still have holiday plans this summer, 1,8 million indicate that they will take a summer holiday in their own country (-27 percent compared to 2019). About 5 million have holiday plans abroad (-43 percent compared to 2019), the rest don't know yet.

Vacation postponed, but desire to travel remains

“The holidays are very important for the Dutch. We are therefore known in Europe as a people who love to travel. This research shows that the desire to travel is great. Although many holiday plans for next summer have been affected by the crisis, in almost half of the cases it is a matter of postponement and not of cancellation,” says Politics. In addition, the search for a safe destination is something that is mainly mentioned by Dutch people who want to stay in their own country.