Americans Willing to Spend Most; Dutch Are Number One Travelers

According to a global GfK Association study, Americans are willing to spend more money on travel than any other country while the Dutch travel for the longest periods of time.

Overall 18% Americans are willing to spend more than 2,472 dollars per person compared to 6% Europeans. In Europe, British (16%), Dutch (13%) and Swedes (11%) top the list for those who would spend more than 2,472 dollars per person per year on travel.

Swedes (87%), Dutch (85%) and Belgians (77%) are most likely to travel and Bulgarians will travel the least (70%). 17% of Dutch take a vacation for five weeks or longer, which – taking into account the expenditure – makes the Dutch number one travelers.

In almost all countries, young people are most likely to travel in their leisure time. Germany is the only country in which there is no discrepancy in age as the older German citizens are in a better financial situation compared to other countries.

People from the Southern European countries are particularly keen on staying in their home country: almost 70% of Portuguese, Spanish, and Italian citizens and 60% of the French enjoy spending their time off at home. Majority from Brazil (90%) and from Turkey (95%) also do not travel abroad. 80% of Americans spend their vacation on home turf.

Relaxation is particularly high on the list of priorities among Europeans (58%), but not for Americans. The American’s preferred vacation pursuit visiting friends and relatives (25%) is the European’s fourth most popular activity (17%). However, Europeans enjoy going to bars, clubs and discos (16%) about the same amount as Americans (15%).

Discovery of new countries and cultures and visiting friends and family both come second in the rankings of all respondents’ favourite vacation activities (22%). Almost half of Belgian and Dutch respondents prefer sightseeing. However, only 8% of all respondents prefer to explore foreign cuisine.