Dutch motorist shopping across the border, immediately fills up tank there too
Dutch motorists are massively combining cheap shopping abroad with a full tank. Consumers are willing to drive an average of 53 kilometres to do so. For almost one in five Dutch people, that limit is even 100 kilometres or more.
This is according to research by Duitsemilieusticker.nl among 1,052 respondents. Filling up across the border is not an afterthought for most ‘border shoppers’, but a regular part of the trip. Of the Dutch who do their shopping in Germany or Belgium, almost 65 per cent almost always fill up the tank. Another third do so regularly or sometimes. A fraction of those surveyed, namely 3 per cent, say they do not fill up because they drive electrically or do not own a car.
Great willingness
According to Duitsemilieusticker.nl, the willingness to travel long distances for a lower price at the pump is clearly high. Although a significant proportion of those surveyed stay within a radius of 20 to 30 kilometres, a hard core do not shy away from the long drive. For instance, almost 10 per cent say they are happy to drive 100 kilometres and there is even a group of over 2 per cent who travel 200 kilometres for a full tank and a cart full of bargain groceries.
“Our previous research shows that motorists in the border region can easily save two to three hundred euros a year by filling up smartly,” says Freek Jurg of Duitsemilieusticker.nl. “With the current fluctuations in fuel prices, we expect that the willingness to drive further will only increase.”
The price differences at the pump with Belgium and Germany are currently so great that fuel tourism is structurally increasing. It is estimated that Dutch people now fill up over 1 billion litres a year across the border.
Read also:
- ‘Fuel tourism in Belgium grows, but most Dutch continue to fill up at home’
- ‘German fuel prices rise, but Netherlands remains substantially more expensive’
