Last year, about 50.00 stranded Dutch people were repatriated thanks to the joint effort of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, travel organizations and airlines. These Dutchmen had become trapped somewhere in the world due to the consequences of the corona crisis. The top 3 countries where most Dutch people were detained is Morocco, South Africa and New Zealand.

Minister Blok: “The repatriation of tens of thousands of stranded Dutch people has been an unprecedented operation. I am very grateful to the travel industry and other involved partners for the tremendous effort they have made to bring all these people home safely. In addition, the travel sector is and will remain an indispensable partner in the implementation of the measures to combat the spread of the corona virus. ”

In addition to this repatriation, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs also helped more than 4200 Dutch nationals who were in an acute emergency situation last year. This has the national government recently announced. The travel advice on the website of Foreign Affairs was visited no fewer than 89,5 million times last year, compared to 2019 million in 3,25.

“The Dutch love to travel, which is wonderful. I wish everyone to be able to travel carefree again. Unfortunately, at the moment I cannot say with certainty when it will be possible to go abroad on holiday again. Health is of course paramount, the start of the vaccinations is hopeful. As a government, we are working behind the scenes to give shape to the answer to the question of how we can go on holiday responsibly and 'corona-proof'. The experiences and insights of the travel organizations are very important here. That is why we will continue to talk closely with each other in the coming period, ”said Minister Blok.

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