Holidays 2007: more often and further away

In 2007, the Dutch spent 22.4 million long holidays in the Netherlands and abroad, three times as many as in 1969. Compared to 1969, the Dutch more often go on holiday. Many people opt for remote, exotic holiday destinations.

Number of long holidays

Nearly twice as many foreign as domestic holidays

With 4.1 million, the number of domestic long holidays was far higher in 1969 than the number of foreign holidays (3.0 million). The 2007 figures for domestic and foreign holidays were 8.5 and 13.9 million respectively. As a result, the total number of domestic overnight stays is much lower than the number of foreign overnight stays, i.e. 75.7 and 165.7 million respectively.

The number of long summer holidays is twice as high as the number of long winter holidays. On average, long domestic holidays last 9.9 days, long foreign holidays 12.9 days.

Seasonal breakdown long holidays, holiday year 2007

Turkey less popular

Between 1983 and 2007, the number of foreign holidays spent in Europe has risen dramatically from 5.9 to 12.2 million. The amount of foreign holidays outside Europe increased from 0.2 to 1.7 million over the same period.

Many Dutch spend their holidays in France, but the popularity of France as a holiday destination has declined somewhat in recent years. Germany is gaining popularity. Turkey’s increasing popularity as a holiday destination between 1999 and 2005 appears to have been short-lived. Since 2005, the number of Dutch going on holiday to Turkey has rapidly declined.

Austria and Switzerland have been popular winter sports destinations since the 1970s. 

Henk Swinkels