The Dutch are massively booking holidays in January. The number of booked trips has tripled in the first week of January 2022 compared to the entire month of January in 2021. Spain is by far the most popular holiday destination, followed by sunny countries such as Turkey and Greece. When looking for holidays, the Dutch look more often to France than to a destination in their own country for the first time since the corona pandemic.
This is apparent from the Zoover Vakantiemonitor, which analyzes the search and booking behavior of millions of visitors to the review and booking site Zoover. The booster shots against Covid-19 and the money-back guarantee from travel companies have made people feel confident about going on holiday again this year. However, that only partly explains the current rush.
“People are done with it and just want to go on holiday again, we hear a lot from our customers. The number of bookings in the first week of January is three times as large as in the whole of January 2021. I even expect that Zoover will receive as many or more bookings this month as before the corona pandemic”.
follow the sun
The first booked holidays for this year are literally following the sun. In January and February people mainly leave for Egypt, from April to Turkey and in the following months mainly to Spain and Greece. “We can see from the bookings that people are clearly looking for warmth. People need the sun again," says Wijnia.
Travel market is recovering
Zoover offers 15.000 package holidays from almost all travel providers and can therefore give a clear indication of the booking behavior of holidaymakers. Every year 30 million visitors search the site for holiday destinations. The site sees from all its data that the travel market is recovering. In 2021, the number of reviews grew by 2020% compared to 15. The Netherlands has been by far the most popular holiday destination for the millions of people who look at Zoover in the past two years. The regions of Limburg, Overijssel, Gelderland and Zeeland topped the search behaviour. Now France is again at the top with more than 22% and the Netherlands is second with 18%. This is followed by Spain (14%) and Italy (11%). As in the past, the French regions of Rhône-Alpes, the Mediterranean, Provence and Languedoc are at the forefront of the regions. Gelderland and Limburg follow in sixth and eighth place. The best rated destination in the Holiday Monitor is Turkey with a 9.14, followed by Portugal (8.84) and Italy (8.77). “In those countries, the swimming pools, service and hygiene are particularly well rated,” Wijnia says.
Trend more luxury continues
In the past year, the Dutch spent more on their holidays. This trend will continue in 2022. On the one hand, flying holidays became more expensive, on the other hand, people book more luxurious trips, such as all-inclusive. The average travel sum in January 2021 was 1798 euros. This year it has already risen to 2024 euros per booked holiday. A record. Wijnia: “On average, holidaymakers will spend 13% more this year than last year.”
Also read: Analysis of booking and search behavior holidaymakers
