The Dutch made over 19 million foreign trips last year, a rise of 7% on 2016, according to tourist board research.

Germany, France and Spain were the most popular foreign destinations, with trips to Turkey down 40% following the political unrest. Greece, which had been hard hit by the refugee crisis, was on the rebound, with bookings up 40% on 2016.

In total, 82% of the Dutch went on some form of holiday last year. Those who stayed in the Netherlands were most likely to go to the Veluwe heath region, which outstripped the North Sea coastal resorts for the first time in years, the NBTC-Nipo said.

The organisation says the rise in foreign holidays was partly due to the bad weather last summer, as well as economic growth which meant people had more money to spend on trips abroad.