Nearly three-quarters of Dutch went on summer vacation last year

Last summer, 72 percent of Netherlands residents aged 15 or older went on vacation. The average Dutch person took two trips during the summer. The average trip lasted nine days and cost 77 euros per day, Statistics Netherlands reported on Friday - the first day of summer vacation for the south of the country.

Of the 28 percent of people who did not go on vacation in the summer of 2024, a quarter (7 percent of all Dutch 15 or older) went away in the winter season. 21 percent did not go on vacation at all. A third of this group (32 percent) said that they would rather stay home, 30 percent couldn’t travel due to health problems, and 27 percent couldn’t afford a vacation.

The summer period runs from May to September. Last summer, Netherlands residents spent 15.4 billion euros on vacations. That amounts to 1,417 euros per holidaymaker, spending an average of 77 euros per day. Vacations have become more expensive in recent years. In 2022, the average vacation cost 66 euros per day. The total cost of the average vacation increased from 628 euros per person in 2022 to 709 euros in 2024.

Although the costs per vacation increased, the total number of nights spent in holiday accommodation did not. Last summer, there were 177 million overnight stays by Dutch holiday makers, compared to 184 million in the summers of 2022 and 2023. In the years before the coronavirus pandemic, this was still well above 200 million. At that time, the average vacation cost less than 600 euros per person.

More than half (55 percent) of Netherlands residents went abroad for summer vacation in 2024. France was the most popular destination (2.1 million holidays), followed by Germany (1.8 million), Spain (1.3 million), Belgium (1.1 million), and Italy (1.1 million).