This year, the Vakantiebeurs received more than 71,000 visitors. That is 9 percent more than last year, when more than 65,000 visitors were counted. This was announced by the Jaarbeurs on Tuesday. The Vakdag (Travel Trade Day) also attracted more visitors. On Wednesday, there were 8,150 travel professionals. Last year, there were nearly 8,000. The 53rd edition of the Holiday Fair had more than 1,000 exhibitors, including travel companies, hotels and holiday destinations. Last year there were 863 exhibitors (participants and indirect participants). The demand for personal travel advice was enormous this year, reports the Jaarbeurs, which says that both the exhibitors and the organization look back with great satisfaction. The Jaarbeurs quotes a number of exhibitors, including Tessa Hoogduin-Meerman, Manager Campaign & Partnerships Corendon: ‘We ended the last day of the Vakantiebeurs with a very positive feeling. Not only was the event a good place to present the official change of our management, but we also saw many relations, colleagues and not unimportantly our customers or potential customers. There was a lot of interest in our destinations, especially Curaçao. 2024 promises to be a great year for Corendon.’ Hugo van Drie, director of Nordics, is also quoted.
He looks back with a positive feeling: ‘Scandinavia is hot and we knew it. We have spoken to so many nice, enthusiastic, wanderlust people who want to discover Scandinavia with us.’ Exhibition manager Marleen Rompen of the Vakantiebeurs says: ‘After five days full of travel inspiration and entertainment, the doors are closed. We enjoyed the full aisles, six exhibition halls full of adventure, the entertainment at the Dutch Travel Week festival, the happy faces of visitors, exhibitors and partners. As a team, we are proud of what we have achieved and that we have grown compared to the previous edition.’ Rompen continues: ‘The changes in the travel sector and the developments in the world require the travel industry to take a new look at entrepreneurship. A future-proof travel industry now requires collaboration more than ever. That is why, based on recent research among the travel industry, Jaarbeurs has decided to extend the Travel Trade Day to two days. Travel & Tech, the new trade event with a focus on digitisation in the travel industry, will also take place at the same time as the Travel Trade Days Holiday Fair.’ Through campaigns for visitors to the Vakantiebeurs, more than 10,000 euros were raised for the Princess Máxima Center for pediatric oncology in Utrecht on the initiative of the Jaarbeurs.
The 2025 Holiday Fair will take place from Thursday 9 to Sunday 12 January 2025 in Royal Jaarbeurs. The Travel Trade Days will take place on Wednesday 8 and Thursday 9 January. (Photo: TravMagazine).
