Fourth of all Dutch vacationers will go abroad, another fourth going nowhere

A survey of 1,000 people showed that about 26 percent of people who had planned to take a summer holiday will still leave the country for their vacations. That is a big drop compared to what people said in January, six weeks before the Covid-19 pandemic took a firm grip on Europe.

At that time, 70 percent had planned to exit the Netherlands for their summer break.

This week, a study from DVJ Insights for RTL Nieuws showed that slightly fewer than a quarter of respondents will take no holiday at all, while 29 percent will get their holiday-making fix by stay in the Netherlands. The remaining 21 percent were still undecided.

“I have worked all year, I want to go enjoy the view, the weather, the food," said 42-year-old Melanie, who plans to go to Italy with her family in August. "I think of it this way: you can get coronavirus everywhere, so why not go?” the Eindhoven woman explained to RTL Nieuws.

Most of the people going reported that they trust the Dutch government's advice. About 29 percent went so far as to even cite the government's advice as a reason for going abroad, with nearly a quarter (24 percent) reporting that their desire to take a break is the primary reason for fleeing the Netherlands.