Despite the fact that corona obviously infleucnes booking behaviour by Dutch tourists, a third of Dutch people still expect to book a trip abroad in the coming months. This is the finding of a survey that Dutch holiday research company GfK conducted last month on behalf of the travel umbrella organization ANVR.

60% of the Dutch did not book a trip abroad last year. And half of the travelers indicate that they will not book any or fewer trips for this year. However, 32% think that if more becomes clear, 25% if the destination is safe and 19% if they have been vaccinated, they still have the intention to go abroad.

Frank Oostdam, chairman of the ANVR: “With an increasing vaccination rate and a Europe that has practically turned yellow since last week, the travel industry can still look forward to a lot of bookings. Nevertheless, at the moment, we are making a turnover that is 60-70% far below normal. That is why we will continue to draw attention – and above all financial support – to a large category of independent travel agents who until now fall outside all financial regulations and to the travel organizations that offer long-haul travel, as t.”

The most favourite means of holiday transportation remains the plane (46%) although own transport by car  (43%) is gaining in popularity. Before corona, the plane was by far the most popular means of transportation abroad (57%, car 32%), but last year it already lost something (52%) at the expense of the car (36%) and this trend will continue (airplane 46%, car 43%). We will be staying closer to home and want to be more flexible.

The GfK research shows that corona affects the type of holiday; with 42%, summer beach holidays are far more popular than city trips (12%), active holidays (10%) and, for example, round trips (8%). Corona also affects the choice of the destination; while 26% simply choose the destination of their choice, 20% choose a destination closer to the Netherlands and 31% choose a location in the Netherlands.

The method of booking (directly, via a travel agency, or a comparison site and also the channel used (web, mail, et cetera) has not changed much in recent years. Of course, the research shows that less is booked through the travel agency in 2021, but that is obvious because all travel agencies have been closed for a long time.

Now that Europe is turning yellow and, hopefully, the rest of the world will soon become increasingly accessible, travelers must, despite the so-called corona passport, take into account the various measures that may differ per country.  But more than 70% see no real objection to traveling with a travel certificate, negative test or vaccination certificate.