In the summer of 2022, the Dutch took 21,2 million holidays. For the first time since the corona crisis, more than half of that was spent abroad. Compared to 2019, summer holidaymakers more often stayed within Europe. They also took the plane less often, but the train slightly more often. This is reported by Statistics Netherlands on the basis of new figures from the CBS Holiday Survey.
The total of 21,2 million summer holidays was 0,9 million higher than in 2019, the year before the coronavirus pandemic broke out. In 2022, 10,8 million Dutch people went on holiday at least once during the summer. In 2019, that number was 10,7 million. In 2022, 56 percent of summer holidays had a foreign destination, approximately the same as in 2019.
Especially popular in Germany and France
With nearly 2 million holidays, France was the most popular foreign holiday destination in the summer of 2022. France has overtaken Germany (with 1,6 million summer holidays) as the most visited summer holiday destination. In the summer of 2019 - the year before corona - Germany attracted the most Dutch holidaymakers with 1,8 million. This was reversed for Spain, Portugal and Turkey; these countries were less popular as a holiday destination in the summer of 2022. Turkey was still in the top ten in 2019, with 381 thousand summer holidays.
Fewer holidays outside Europe than in 2019
Outside Europe, more than 2022 thousand fewer summer holidays will be spent in 400 than in the year before the corona crisis. More than 10 percent of foreign summer holidays had a destination outside Europe. In 2019 this was still 14 percent. The number of summer holidays to Asia in particular fell compared to 2019, but North America was also less popular.
Less by plane
The fact that people stayed closer to home in the summer is also reflected in the means of transport used for foreign holidays. Less was flown: in 2022, 4,2 million summer holidays (35 percent) were taken by plane. That was 1,0 million less than in 2019, when the share of air travel was 45 percent.
The car was the preferred means of transport for a foreign holiday in 2022: almost half of the holidays went by car, compared to 44 percent three years earlier, comparable to the share of air travel. People also boarded the train somewhat more often in 2022: for 0,9 million (8 percent) of foreign summer holidays, compared to half a million in 2019 (more than 4 percent).
In the intervening years with travel restrictions due to corona, fewer people went abroad. In 2020, 17 percent of those summer holidays went by plane, and in 2021 30 percent.
Source and more information: www.cbs.nl