Dutch people booking far fewer holiday trips to the United States

People based in the Netherlands booked far fewer holidays to the United States last month. Vacation reservations to the U.S. fell by 30 percent last month compared to March 2024, according to the monitoring service from travel agent association ANVR and market research firm NielsenIQ.

Last week, the International Trade Administration reported that fewer foreign travellers flew to the U.S. in March. This is because a growing number of people are put off by policies from President Donald Trump’s administration since his return to the White House in January, the American government office said.

This effect now also seems to be apparent in the Netherlands. “This decline occurred in all regions within the US. Canada also saw a similar percentage decline in bookings, but this can be better explained by a one-time peak in bookings in March 2024,” said ANVR representative Walter Schut.

The total number of bookings from the Netherlands to destinations abroad fell by 1 percent in March. In the first quarter, more than 8.7 million trips were booked. According to the researchers, this means that bookings are about 3 percent lower compared to the first quarter of last year. Aside from the U.S. and Canada, Curacao and Austria were also less popular holiday destinations compared to the same period in 2024.

The research showed that 85 percent of all bookings were to a destination within Europe. Sweden in particular has become much more popular, the number of bookings to this country rose by more than half last month. Roughly 5 percent more bookings were to destinations in Spain, which is the most popular country for holidaymakers departing from the Netherlands.

Foreign tourists are unsettled by the series of arrests upon entering the U.S. This has happened to people from Germany, among others. They were not allowed to enter the country despite having the correct papers. In some cases, people were held in deportation centers for days or weeks.

When asked whether the decline in travel to the U.S. was due to Trump’s policy, a spokesperson for the ANVR answered that they “can, of course, never say that.” In the last months of last year, there was also a sharp decline in the number of bookings to the U.S., the spokesperson said. During that period, the dollar exchange rate was unfavourable for tourists from euro countries.