Foreign spending by Dutch travellers higher than pre-pandemic

International travel took a severe blow in 2020. During the summer months of 2020, foreign spending by Dutch travellers was 70 percent lower than one year previously. Coronavirus measures caused relatively the strongest declines in spending at destinations outside Europe, including the US and Canada. All outbound travel from Europe declined in Q3 2020, although Dutch traveller spending saw a relative increase in Germany, France, Belgium and Italy. In Q3 2022, foreign spending exceeded its pre-pandemic level (Q3 2019). Spending in European countries exceeded the pre-pandemic level by 15 percent. On the other hand, spending outside Europe was 15 percent lower.
Inbound travel contracted less substantially, but the recovery took longer. Expenditure by foreign visitors to the Netherlands was 4 percent lower in 2022 than in 2019.

2022: spending in neighbouring countries lagging

In Q3 2022, Dutch travellers spent the highest amounts in Germany, France and Spain. The top 3 is the same as in 2019, but it looked different in 2020 and 2021, when Belgium and Italy respectively took over Spain’s 3rd position. In Q3 2022, with most travel restrictions already abolished, it was spending in the immediate neighbouring countries that remained below pre-pandemic level, whereas spending was actually higher in countries such as Italy, France and Spain.

UK back in top 3 of countries producing inbound travel

Travellers from Germany, Belgium and the United Kingdom spent the highest amounts here in Q3 2022. As the UK’s spending abroad declined rapidly in 2020 and 2021, its third position in the ranking was taken over temporarily by Poland. Polish expenditure mainly consisted of spending by cross-border workers during seasonal and temporary work in the Netherlands. Overall, this form of inbound travel contracted less markedly throughout the pandemic.

International service trade on the rise

Travel ranks among the top five most important types of services within total international service trade. The total trade in services had more or less returned to its pre-pandemic level by summer 2021. It took longer for international travel to recover. In Q3 2022, Dutch service exports amounted to 66 billion euros; service imports were worth 65.5 billion euros. This means that, relatively to 2021, both service exports and imports were higher by over one-fifth.