TravTalk India Online Magazine
NBTC Holland Marketing, India, recently hosted members of the trade to visit and explore Holland, and attend the HollandCity Global Travel Trade Show. Visitors had a chance to explore a different side of The Netherlands, one that went beyond Amsterdam to regions like Rotterdam, Den Haag, and other scenic sites.
Guldeep Singh Sahni, Managing Director, Weldon Tours & Travels
The itinerary was very well planned, and I appreciate every place we visited. To mention few, market tours, cheese tasting, shopping, speedo tour, visit to Royal Delft, Mauritshuis Museum, Madurodam and of course, Efteling, is perfect for a family overnight stay especially with children. We are recommending all this to our customers. NBTC Holland Marketing has done good work of training the tour operators, but time has come to create demand in the market. With NBTC Holland Marketing, Holland is going to become a long holiday destination.
Himanshu Patil, Director, Kesari Tours
NBTC Holland Marketing, India, had invited 11 OTOAI Executive Committee members to visit and explore Holland, and attend the HollandCity Global Travel Trade Show. It was a very good interaction with partners across the country. The itinerary was well planned, Usually, Indian travellers visit Holland for two nights, which majorly involves visiting Amsterdam, but after this trip, I am sure that the Holland itinerary should increase to 4-5 nights. As a group tour operator, we will incorporate different tours.
Chitra Bhatia, Managing Director, Aashman Air Travels
Two of my favourite experiences during the trip were the visit to different museums and Efteling Theme Park and Madurodam, both of which are ideal tourist spots for families and kids. I think, Indian travellers going outbound are now evolving in such a manner that they want to try experiences at hand. I have a lot of clients who love doing pottery. So, if Royal Delft can provide a small pottery workshop for tourists, I will be happy to put together an interested group to travel there.
Gurdeep Singh Gujral, Director, Gujral Tours and Travels
The best attraction for me during the trip was the visit to Madurodam, a city full of beautiful miniatures, activities and attractions. I think it is an excellent attraction for family and kids. Apart from that, canal cruise was something which fascinated me the most in Amsterdam. All these destinations are ideal for family and M!CE travellers from India due to their available amenities. To attract more Indians, NBTC Holland Marketing should do some joint promotional plan with airlines such as KLM. The airlines can offer some combi fares.
Riaz Munshi, Managing Director, N Chirag Travels
Out of all destinations we visited in Holland, I would personally recommend staying in Rotterdam for its bustling and vibrant nature and taking day trips to the neighbouring cities and attractions. Rotterdam Walking Tour would be the perfect start to get acquainted with the city followed by the magnificent views from Euromast. Travellers should spend a complete day in The Hague to enjoy the creative Grote Market and Scheveningen Beach. I would also highly recommend the Mauritshuis to art lovers.
Ajay Sengar, Managing Director, Pawas Tourism
It was a wonderful experience to learn and know more about lesser-known destinations of Holland during the trip. The highlight about the trip was the itinerary, which helped us explore so many different cities of Holland in a span of six days. Countryside Holland is indeed enchanting and beautiful, with a mesmerising landscape, gothic architecture and serene river canals. We got to know that Holland is not just about Amsterdam. We had a wonderful time bonding and sharing knowledge.
Siddharth Khanna, Partner, Khanna Enterprises
During our trip to Holland, I personally enjoyed our visit to Madurodam and Rotterdam. In my view, a number of Indian tourists prefer travelling to Holland via tour operators or DMCs of other markets and not local tour operators, primarily because Amsterdam is considered as the only popular destination in Holland so far in the Indian market. So, people generally prefer working with agents where the travellers are travelling the most. So, I think, Holland should be promoted more as a stand-alone destination in India.
Rajeev Sabharwal, Chief Executive Officer, Gaurav Travels
I liked everything which we did on the Holland trip. The walking tours were excellent. Den Haag is a beautiful city, where we stayed for three nights. We have been selling Holland for the past 20 years, and the country has grown significantly in terms of attractions and destinations. Generally, Indian tourists travel to Holland during their transit to Europe or for a bachelorette trip, but now that we have experienced the new destinations, we can easily sell Holland for 4-5 nights for Indian travellers.
Shravan Bhalla, Chief Executive Officer, High Flyer
Indian tourists, who love to shop, can go to Delft as well as the outlet mall. Indians can spend full day at the outlet shop- ping mall and enjoy great discounts offered. As far as NBTC Holland marketing is concerned, they should organise more educational tours to attract Indians. After our trip, we have understood that Holland has a lot to offer. It is not just a part of a Europe trip with 2-3 nights stay, but has more to offer. We can sell Holland as a single destination with 7-9 nights stay offer to the clients.
Kaushal Bhuva, Managing Director, World of Vacations
The Hague has always been popular. The Cobble Street and shopping at the passage is truly fascinating. The access to Delft, Madurodam and Rotterdam makes The Hague a unique centre for value accommodation and casinos. We are marketing 5 nights/6 days solo Netherlands package with attention to Den Haag, Brabant and Amsterdam. This will always be during Keukenhof period besides Summer. We are also promoting architecture offsite tours to Rotterdam along with Amsterdam. We are also looking at bike tours.
