And you think that the Dutch camp much more than other Europeans.
When you see the number of rut huts on the road in the summer, you sometimes think only one thing: we Dutch love camping. You’ve undoubtedly done it yourself, or you know someone who does it. Sleeping in a caravan or tent is in our DNA. Is that really the case, because what about other countries?
Well, it is certain that the Dutch belong to the top of camping. This is evident from the most recent data from statistical agency Eurostat, which has been analyzed by the Kampeer en Caravan Industrie (KCI) trade association. Dutch people camp three times more than Germans and even five times more than Belgians.
The Netherlands is even in the top 5 when it comes to the number of camping nights compared to other European countries. Our country is in fifth place with almost 26.5 million nights spent at a campsite in 2022. This equates to an annual average of 1.5 nights at a campsite per inhabitant.
Sweden is in fourth place with an average of 1.6 nights. Denmark comes in third with an average of just over 2 nights, France in second place with more than two nights and the Croatians in one with 5.5 overnight stays at a campsite.
After corona, camping has grown in popularity. This is reflected in the number of caravan and camper sales. In 2022, residents of all 27 EU countries spent more than 393 million nights camping. For comparison: in 2014 there were 311 million camping nights. Camping is hot and in many European countries the number of camping nights is rising to record levels.
The figures prove that we Dutch indeed love camping, but that we still have a long way to go compared to some other European countries. In short, if you are at the campsite now or this summer, there is a static chance that you will encounter a Swede, Frenchman, Dane or Croat. I can already feel a good joke coming on. Anyone else have a nice camper?
Photo: Urus caravan via @tthj on Car Whiz Spots
