Staycations stay popular in 2023 as tourists seek value for money

More people in the Netherlands are choosing to take holidays in their own country as rising inflation puts the squeeze on travel budgets.

The number of staycations is expected to increase by 2% in 2023, following a 10% rise last year, despite the return of international travel now that nearly all pandemic restrictions have been lifted.

Tourism monitoring bureau NBTC expects visitor numbers to return to pre-coronavirus levels, with 47 million trips in 2023, according to its latest survey of international travellers.

Domestic tourists are set to make up 61% of all bookings, compared to 56% in 2019. The number of visitors from Germany, Belgium and France is also expected to be similar to the level in 2019, but the NBTC expects 18% fewer travellers from the USA and a 25% drop in tourists from the UK – though both figures are significantly higher than in 2022.

Despite the increase in living costs, four out of five people said they planned to take a holiday this year, while one in four have already booked to go away, mostly in the first half of the year.

Dutch people are among the least likely to say they are unable to afford a holiday this year, with just 7% saying their economic circumstances prevent them going away, compared to 14% of Belgians and 13% of Germans.

NBTC managing director Jos Vranken said: ‘We see that people are very keen to travel, the number of people intending to take a holiday in 2023 is high.

‘However, inflation, energy prices, consumer confidence and coronavirus make it more difficult to predict if people will actually turn their intention to go on holiday into a booking.’