More Netherlands residents will look for cheap vacations close to home this year: NBTC

The demand for vacations in the Netherlands will increase again among the Dutch this year compared to the last year before the coronavirus crisis, the Netherlands Bureau for Tourism & Congresses (NBTC) said in its International Vacation Monitor. The increased prices for holidays, among other things, play a role in Netherlands residents’ choice not to go abroad.

According to the NBTC, the Dutch booked over 28 million overnight stays in the Netherlands in 2022. That is 11 percent more than in 2019, the last year before the coronavirus pandemic. For the coming year, the research bureau expects an increase of another 2 percent. In addition to the increased prices, respondents also said that they’re opting for the Netherlands for the possibility of staying in a quiet place.

The willingness to go on vacation seems high, despite the price of holidays, according to the NBTC. 25 percent of respondents have already booked a holiday for 2023, and 80 percent said they intend to go on holiday. The NBTC also polled people from Germany, Belgium, France, the United Kingdom, and the United States on this.

The NBTC expects the tourism sector to continue recovering from the coronavirus pandemic in 2023 and maybe even recover completely. But it remains challenging to predict. “We see that people really want to travel. The intention to go on holiday in 2023 is high. However, inflation, energy prices, consumer confidence, and the coronavirus make it more difficult to predict whether people will actually convert their holiday intention into a booking.”

The NBTC expects that people in Germany will show the most interest in the Netherlands as a holiday destination. Germans will book an estimated 6.4 million overnight stays in 2023, 8 percent more than last year. That is also more than before the pandemic when German tourists spent 6.2 million nights in the Netherlands. That includes both holiday accommodation and business trips.

People from other countries also show more interest in the Netherlands than last year, but that is not yet back to pre-pandemic levels. According to the NBTC, the total number of overnight stays by international tourists in the Netherlands will reach about 92 percent of the number in 2019.