“Last Minute Getaways to Sunnier Destinations as Spring Weather in Netherlands Remains Timid”

• Daan van den Enden

  editor online

Although it has been spring for a month already, the weather is not very noticeable yet. In the coming period, little will change in the changeable weather. Travel organizations notice that many last minutes to the sun are booked for the May holiday. At the same time, amusement parks in the Netherlands say they are not worried about the timid start of spring.

“We do indeed notice an increased demand for last minutes,” says a spokesperson for travel organization Tui. The still fresh weather in the Netherlands makes people long for a holiday in the sun.” Tui no longer has many options for a destination with lots of sun. “They have the greatest chance in Antalya in Turkey, Gran Canaria and here and there a holiday to Greece.”

Sunweb also sees that the demand for last minutes is increasing. “This week there are 30 percent more booked than the week before,” says a spokesperson. “The May holiday is popular anyway and people also book earlier than in recent years. 35 percent of the bookings with us were early bookers, with a peak in January. The fact that more are now being booked again can certainly be related to the weather in the Netherlands When the weather is bad, people book a last minute more often.”

The May holiday is also a time to go out in your own country. The moderate weather does not have to be an obstacle, say the theme parks.

“Bad weather is not a problem in itself. There is no question of a huge decline in visitors if a rain shower is expected,” says Karin Kuiper, director of the Club van Elf. This includes the Efteling, the Open Air Museum, the Keukenhof and the Apenheul. “A cold wet May holiday can of course mean that there are fewer visitors. And if there is a heavy thunderstorm, we would not recommend walking across the Keukenhof.”

A spokesman for Keukenhof says that the flower park is certainly dependent on the weather. “But visitors buy a ticket on a daily basis and on the basis of a time slot. If they have booked tickets, they usually come.” The changeable Easter weather also prevented anyone from visiting Keukenhof. “In four days we had 145,000 visitors, which are great numbers.” It will also be busy around the flower parade, says the spokesperson. “We expect 40,000 visitors both today and tomorrow.”

Efteling also says that the weather plays a role, but also sees no reason for pessimism. “We certainly see that more people come to Efteling when the weather is good. If the weather is really bad, for example with a lot of rain, then it decreases a bit,” says a spokesperson. “We also expect many guests to visit Efteling during the May holidays. Even if it is not very sunny.”

And it looks like it won’t be very sunny for a while. Tomorrow the afternoon temperature will be 11 degrees in the west to locally 15 in the east of the country, reports Weather plaza. At the beginning of next week it will not be warmer than 12 degrees, with alternating sun, clouds and occasional (hail) showers and cold nights just above zero degrees. Later in the week the temperature rises slightly, but waiting for the next warm day will take some time.