More Dutch Holidaymakers Are Calling ANWB for Help with Breakdowns and Medical Emergencies
When something goes wrong on holiday, Dutch travellers call the emergency centre ANWB. This summer it has logged over 330,000 requests, with a striking rise in medical calls.
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Flat tyres, dead batteries, warning lights and cars that will not start. The Dutch holiday season is in full swing, and it is showing on the roads, according to the motoring organisation ANWB. This summer, though, it is not only breakdowns keeping it busy.
The ANWB, formally the Royal Dutch Touring Club, is the Netherlands’ main motoring and travel organisation, with millions of members. Much like the AA or RAC in Britain, most members have roadside assistance and travel cover, and when something goes wrong away from home, they call the club’s 24-hour emergency centre, the Alarmcentrale, in the Netherlands. From there, staff arrange help wherever the traveller happens to be, from a repair or a doctor to, in serious cases, getting someone home.
A busy summer
In total, the ANWB’s emergency centre has already recorded more than 330,000 requests for help from travellers at home and abroad this summer. That is considerably more than in the same period last year, a rise of at least 10,000.
More medical calls
What stands out this year is the number of calls about medical problems, including infections, bruises, stomach complaints and ear infections. It is not entirely clear why. For ear infections, though, there is often an obvious culprit: dirty swimming-pool water.
“It is always advisable, when you get out of the pool, to briefly rinse out your ears in the shower as well,” said Victor Geskes, director of the ANWB emergency centre. “That can prevent a lot of problems.”
The heat plays a role too. “Cars have a harder time when it gets very hot, and so do people,” Geskes said. The biggest increases in calls came from popular southern European destinations: up 23 percent from Italy, 18 percent from France and 17 percent from Spain. The ANWB also received more medical help requests from travellers in Morocco, Turkey and eastern Europe.
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Taking a bike abroad
Another trend brings its own risks. More and more Dutch people are taking a bicycle with them on holiday. Every week, dozens of Dutch cyclists end up in hospital abroad, often with head injuries or broken bones.
“We are a cycling country and we like to cycle abroad too. The only thing is, other countries are not the Netherlands when it comes to facilities for cyclists,” Geskes said. Accidents often happen because cyclists have to swerve around other traffic, and because road users in holiday countries are less used to cyclists than in the Netherlands. Unfamiliar landscapes can add to the danger. “More mountains and hills do call for some caution,” he said.
A shift to cooler destinations
As it did last year, the ANWB is seeing many holidaymakers swap the heat of southern Europe for cooler places. That shows up in the breakdown figures. France remains one of the most popular destinations for Dutch drivers, and calls from there rose by 3 percent, but there has again been a clear move towards cooler countries.
More breakdown reports are now coming from Germany, the United Kingdom, Switzerland, Sweden and Denmark. In Italy the number of reports stayed stable, while in Spain breakdowns fell sharply, by 9 percent.
Around sixty calls came from people who had been evacuated because of the wildfires in southern Europe. In those cases it was not about damage or injury, but about matters such as insurance and compensation.
The peak is still to come
With a few weeks of the holidays still to run, the ANWB expects things to get busier still in August. “We certainly have not had the peak yet,” Geskes said. “We will not be bored over the coming weeks.”