The number of Dutch holidaymakers who die in an accident while abroad is showing a steep rise, figures requested by the AD from the foreign affairs ministry and emergency call centres have shown.

Last year, the foreign ministry provided help in 1080 cases of death abroad compared to 385 in 2017, the paper said, but not of these were accidental.

Emergency centre Eurocross said it has seen the number of deaths abroad rise from 177 in 2021 to 241 last year. Other emergency centres also saw a rise but the ANWB said the numbers “had remained reasonably stable”.

Funeral firms confirmed the rise but said they were not allowed to divulge figures.

This summer two Dutch tourists died in Crete and Samos respectively, possibly from heat-related causes. Earlier this week, rescue services on Samos found the body of 65-year-old Brigitte van Gennip who it is assumed got lost on a walk and became unwell.

In July, a 74-year-old woman in the first stages of Alzheimer’s died from a fall after being unable to find her way back to the French campsite where she was staying, while in Mallorca a 21-year-old died from carbon monoxide poisoning caused by a faulty pipe.

Other accidents involved a Dutch couple in Bulgaria who fell off a balcony, a 42-year-old man who drowned in the sea on Spain’s Costa Brava, and a 65-year-old who died in a motorcycle crash in the United States.

The figures for 2024 have not been collated yet but while there is an “upward trend” it is unclear what is causing it, foreign affairs minister Caspar Veldkamp said.

“When I listen to the people on the ground they tell me there is no clear pattern. Are there more accidents, are young people more likely to be involved, or is the rise partly due to elderly people who live abroad and die there? Or perhaps more people are traveling to riskier destinations after the pandemic?” he said.

Veldkamp stressed the importance of keeping abreast with the travel recommendations issued by the ministry on its website, “It is not just the people who like taking risks who come a cropper. So if you go to Thailand, which is a wonderful country but with a high incidence of traffic incidents, don’t hire a moped there if you never drive one at home,” he said.

Help

The ministry said it is also likely that more people now know to ask for help at embassies and consulates when confronted with the deadly accident of a relative.

No research has been done into the matter, tourism lecturer Jeroen Klijs said. “It could be that older people are traveling more, that people are more careless or more people fall victim to the heat because of global warming. But we can’t be sure,” he said.

Veldkamp said that whatever the reasons, the increase in deaths abroad is an extra incentive not to cut back on embassies and consulates. Closures are on the cards but it is not known how many and where.