A milestone in Dutch holidays numbers: for the very first time the number of holidays by plane has exceeded the number of holidays the Dutch have taken by car in 2019. The number of holidays by plane increased 3% to a total of 10,1 million versus a decrease of 3 percent for car holidays to a total of 10 million. Together they constituted 89 percent of all holidays taken. Holidays by train were only 4% off all holidays taken, so a total of 830.000 rail holidays. All together, the Dutch spent 20,4 billion euro on holidays last year, an increase of 3 percent. 44% of all the holidays were taken in Holland itself where they spent about 3,2 billion euro.  These figures were released by Dutch travel research company ‘NBTC-Nipo’ during the trade day of the Vakantiebeurs travel exhibition.

Forecast: more interior holidays

For sure, the Dutch will continue to go on holiday in the years to come. ‘When time and money is no obstacle, two thirds of the Dutch population would even go more times on holiday than at present. In view of the economy and the slight population growth, the number of holidays is expected to rise by 0.5 to 1% each year (so in numbers that is about 300.000) and holiday participation will rise to 84% of the entire population. It is expected that in the next ten years, there will be a revival of interior holidays. Whilst it has remained stable over the past years, it is expected to increase by 1 percent per year, mainly due to the growth of short stay holidays and an increase in citiznes aged 65 or olders as they have  a slight prefence for interior holidays. These findings were presented by Kees van de Most of Trends & Tourism in his reprt “The future of the Dutch holidaymarket 2030”.