A study by CBS reveals that the Dutch spent 16 billion euros on holidays in 2012, with almost 13 billion of these euros going on foreign vacations.

Home or Away

Long holidays taken abroad accounted for the greatest proportion of travel, with around 14,8 million foreign trips made in 2012. Interestingly, this figure has remained more or less constant since 2008 - the year when the financial crisis took hold.

However, while the majority of Dutch holidays were taken abroad, this study also shows that the number of vacations taken within the Netherlands is increasing.

There was an increase of around 800.000 in the total number of vacations taken between 2008 and 2012. This figure corresponds to the growing number of holidays taken within the Netherlands.

In particular, there was a massive 1,2 million increase in the amount of short holidays spent in this country.

European dominance

Almost 90% of foreign holidays were spent in Europe, with France remaining the most popular destination.

France accounted for 15% of the Dutch's foreign holidays, while Germany and Spain followed suit with 14% and 11%, respectively. 

When Dutch people did holiday outside of Europe, almost 0,5 million chose the USA. In fact, America was the only non-European country to make it into the Dutch's 10 most popular travel destinations.