Travel industry out of slump, back to pre-corona levels

Bookings in the last week of December and the first week of January increased by 3.1 per cent compared to last year. This brings the travel industry back to its pre-corona crisis level. This while almost all destinations have become more expensive.

This is according to the Zoover Holiday Monitor. Based on 30 million annual visitors, over 3.9 million reviews, an offer of 1 million accommodations and 12,000 package holidays of all providers, the review and booking site can make an accurate analysis of the search and booking behaviour of Dutch holidaymakers.

Up to and including 2019, the weeks before the Holiday Fair traditionally saw a lot of holiday bookings. In the corona years 2020 and 2021, no more. In early 2022 and 2023, the travel industry saw that trend return and this year, holidays were again booked in abundance around the holidays.

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''We see that the pre-corona trend is back. Families discuss where they want to go during Christmas and New Year and immediately after that they book their summer holidays early. That was the same until 2019," says Zoover's coo Reinoud Koot. "We also see that people are again booking the same hotels, flats and other accommodation as before corona."

One in three bookings are currently for the May holidays, one in seven for spring holidays and yet one in five for summer holidays. Koot expects the number of bookings for the summer holidays to increase in the coming weeks and surpass those for the May holidays.

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Most holidays are currently booked to Spain. Over one in three Dutch people fly there. The number of bookings has increased by 5.2 per cent compared to last year. One in five holidaymakers opt for Turkey (+4.7 per cent) and Greece (+1.3 per cent) and one in eight for Egypt (+2.3 per cent). From the search behaviour of the Dutch, Zoover can see that France is, as ever, the most popular holiday destination this year. Holidaymakers there mainly search for reviews on campsites and holiday homes. The top 5 is further formed by Spain, the Netherlands, Italy and Greece.

Last year, Dutch people were already on average 12.3 per cent more expensive when booking their holidays. The average travel price rose further from 2181 to 2275 euros at the end of 2023 and early this year, a growth of 4.3 per cent compared to the whole of 2023. ''But despite the price rise, people continue to book. That indicates that they accept this increase," Koot said.

Most booked countries Spain and Turkey are close to the average fare, but Greece is 10 per cent more expensive. Interestingly, Egypt has become 12.35 per cent cheaper with an average travel sum of 1994 euros. This is due to two reasons: because of the war between Israel and Hamas, hotels were empty and Egyptian hoteliers lowered their prices. When it turned out that it was not that bad, many people booked last-minute holidays, which are cheaper.