This year, too, the Dutch will go on holiday in their own country en masse. Just as in 2020, more than a third of holidaymakers in 2021 are looking for destinations in the Netherlands, especially in Limburg, Overijssel, Gelderland and Zeeland, although some dare to look across the border again.

Abroad, destinations that are relatively close and accessible by car are particularly popular, such as France and Italy. Airline holidays in countries such as Spain, Portugal, Greece, Turkey and Egypt are hardly ever searched for. 

This is evident from the first Zoover Holiday Monitor of the review and booking site Zoover, in which millions of views and the search behavior of hundreds of thousands of visitors are analyzed. With more than 30 million annual visits, more than 3,8 million reviews and more than 15.000 holidays, Zoover is one of the largest holiday sites in the Netherlands. The quarterly analysis also shows that the Dutch pay close attention to the corona measures and safety at their holiday destination. In more than one in five reviews written on Zoover since March last year, terms such as corona, Covid-19, one and a half meters or corona measures appear.

Although the Vakantiebeurs has been postponed and the corona lockdown has been extended, Zoover sees that many Dutch people orient themselves in the first weeks of the new year for their spring, May and summer holidays. “People are still cautious, but they do feel the need to go on vacation this year,” says director Judith Eyck of Zoover.

According to Eyck, car holidays are especially popular due to corona, both last year and in 2021. “The flying holiday is still lagging behind, partly because there is still great uncertainty about when we can travel again. There are some bookings coming in, but most people are waiting, she says. Egypt and Turkey, for example, are pre-eminently countries that were looked at a lot before the May holidays, but that is precisely what is now extremely uncertain. That is why those bookings are lagging ”.

The site sees big differences compared to the time for corona. In 2019, most Dutch people looked for France as a holiday destination, just like the years before. Last year the country lost that leading position and this year too, a holiday in the Netherlands is at the top. In 2019, 18 percent of people were still looking for a holiday in their own country, last year this was 35% and this year almost 34%. France's market share grew from 19% in 2019 to 24% this year, just as Italy's share - not so popular last year due to the corona outbreak - grew from 8 to 13%. In 2019, almost 16% of the Dutch were still looking for a holiday in Spain, this year only 8%. Other Mediterranean countries such as Greece (from 9 to 4%) and Turkey (from 7 to 1%) also saw their popularity decline after corona. Egypt (from 2 to almost 0%) is no longer even in the top 10.

In terms of accommodations, she sees that campsites are especially popular. “It's camping, camping, camping. Of course there are also plenty of people who don't feel like it and are looking for a luxurious all-inclusive holiday. Now that things are getting more difficult in Turkey or Greece, hotels in the Netherlands, France and Austria are cleverly responding to this with extra packages ”, says Eyck

It is also striking that the popularity of Germany, still very popular with the Dutch last summer, fell from 7 to 4 percent compared to two years ago, while Austria managed to maintain its market share of 5 percent..

“Austria is still partly involved in winter sports. I think people are still hoping for a last-minute winter sport because the lockdown there will end at the end of January for the time being. Germany has been pretty much negative in the news in recent weeks. The lockdown there has also been extended until April, ”Eyck explains.

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