The Dutch opt en masse for a boating holiday as an alternative to the trip abroad. This is the conclusion of the online boat rental platform Barqo based on the record number of reservations. The affiliated boat owners benefit from the rental peak.
Due to the predicted heat wave for the coming days, there is already a shortage of available rental boats in some sailing areas.

Despite the relaxed travel advice for most European countries, a large part of the Dutch opt for a holiday in their own country. This has emerged from research by the Netherlands Bureau for Tourism & Conventions (NBTC). Half of the Dutch will not go on a summer vacation in the coming months, two in five Dutch people who do have vacation plans will go on vacation in their own country, according to the NBTC.

Thijs Janssen, co-founder of Barqo: 'The fact that many Dutch people prefer a holiday in their own country is immediately visible in the number of rental requests. The number of reservations is currently two and a half times higher than last year. Boat owners rent out their dinghy, sailboat and motor cruiser faster than ever. It is striking that where normally the most interest goes to day trips in the vicinity of Amsterdam and Loosdrecht, more and more people opt for a multi-day trip on the lakes and ponds in Friesland. '

In the Netherlands, no general ban on boating has been issued by the government. It is therefore allowed to sail, provided that the guidelines of the RIVM are observed. For example, it is only allowed to sail as an individual, family or household and must be kept at least 1,5 meters away.

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