This leads tour operators to seek less expensive destinations, such as Australia, Cuba, Canada and Europe itself. At least one of the smaller niche operators in fact complained that he now has too much business. Beginning as an incentive operator and branching out to niche markets, clients are using such operators for the entirety of their business. Also, companies and organizations that in the past had in-house travel planners now forego such an employee and instead use small, specialized companies for all their travel needs. Compared with last year's survey, Great Britain, Italy, Slovenia, Turkey, the USA and Canada have lost slight in popularity while France, Germany, Spain, Greece and Switzerland have gained.
Self catering is on the rise, as is air travel over train travel.
Dutch businesses expect hefty profits for this year, as companies benefit from domestic consumer demand and a strong dollar makes previous transatlantic investments seem very profitable when translated into Euros. Within the European Union, however, few Dutch companies have the scale to compete on equal terms with larger economies. Official unemployment in the Netherlands is 2.5 percent and the tight labor market is the most important problem of Dutch companies. Nonetheless, in Belgium, few accept the idea of replacing a good travel agent with the internet for leisure travel. If Belgian internet users increasingly resort to the internet for information about destinations, only a small majority use the internet to book a holiday.