Mostly you will be able to spot the Dutch from a far distance because they’re so tall. And if you’re not seeing them, you will probably hear them because they tend to be quite loud. But there are more ways to recognise a Dutch tourist enjoying their holidays. 

Of course this newsletter is full of stereotypes, so please take this with a korreltje zout (translation: take this with a pinch of salt, meaning “please do not take this too seriously” in Dutch).

1.    B.Y.O. hagelslag, peanut butter, potatoes, toilet paper etc.
The Dutch are big fans of the B.Y.O. (bring your own) principle. Many Dutch tourists bring food or other supplies with them on holiday. Breakfast isn’t complete without hagelslag or Dutch peanut butter, dinner isn’t complete without Dutch potatoes and what do you do when there is no toilet paper available on your holiday destination?

2.    They are everywhere
You can travel to the end of the world and to the most deserted places on earth and for some reason you will always bump into a Dutch tourist even when there is no-one else to be found in the area. And of course you’ll find out because they are taller than everyone else and you can always hear them talking with their loud and unpronounceable G’s.

3.    Complaining about the weather
The Dutch are known to always complain about the weather. They do this at home and won’t shy away from doing it while being on holiday. They escape the bad weather in the Netherlands to go to countries with a warmer climate and will make sure to complain about the heat. And if it cools down or starts raining, they will also complain about being cold and getting wet.
On the other hand: since the Dutch are so used to bad weather at home, they will still head out and continue their activities when others prefer to get inside and wait for the rain to stop.

4.    Bedrace at the pool
The first thing a Dutch tourist does when he wakes up? Run to the pool and put down a towel on one of the beds to make sure he doesn’t miss out. After that he will continue his day with a nice sandwich with hagelslag for breakfast, pay a visit to a local town, all while keeping the bed occupied. At the end of the afternoon it’s finally time to spend some time at ‘his’ bed at the pool. Another funny thing about this: the Dutch will always blame other tourists (preferably German or Russian) for starting the ‘bedrace’.  Same goes for waiting in line at a buffet, it’s never the Dutch that start to jump the queue.

5.    The Netherlands is great and so is their soccer
As soon as you’ll start talking to a Dutch tourist, they won’t stop preaching about how great the Netherlands are. Our pension systems, efficiency, tolerance and don’t forget our soccer. They’ll make sure to tell you all about Cruijf, Gullit, Van Basten in case you haven’t heard of them before.

6.    Gratis, goedkoop and korting
These are three words that will magically attract a lot of Dutch people to your destination. Gratis means for free, goedkoop means cheap and korting means discount. The Dutch are known for their frugality and love a bargain. The Dutch are always looking for something that is either free, cheap or discounted. Just to make sure: this doesn’t mean that they have less fun, they just like to leave more room to have multiple ways to have fun.

7.    Speaking multiple languages
To end this newsletter on a positive note: you will most likely be able to communicate with a Dutch tourist when you meet one. 94% of Dutch respondents of a study performed by the European Commission (EC) said that they were able to speak at least one other language besides their mother tongue. English is the most commonly spoken foreign language by the Dutch, followed by German and French.

While 94% of the Dutch respondents said they had sufficient English to have a conversation, 77% of respondents said they spoke at least three languages well enough in order to be able to have a conversation. The Dutch follow Luxembourg where 98% speaks a second language and 84% speaks a third language well enough to be able to have a conversation.  

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