Mumbai agents say it the Dutch way
With presentations on the destination, the Schiphol Airport as well as the visa process, Holland managed to motivate a roomful of travel agents to send their clients to the Land of Tulips.
This has been the first tourism event I have attended in Mumbai and it has been organised well. People know Amsterdam as a destination for its famous museums and architecture, but there are also other places that will be of interest to Indians. This event gave us a platform to introduce the Netherlands to an ever-expanding group of Indian tourists, which also brings with it challenges that we will tackle along with our friends from the travel agencies.
We are pleased to see the turnout of people here and we see this as the introduction of Amsterdam Airport Schiphol to the travel trade in Mumbai. We are thrilled that Jet Airways is flying daily from Mumbai to Amsterdam and it has been successful. Soon, more capacity will be put into the market with the Boeing 777 instead of the A330 which proves there is huge possibility of increasing traffic between India and Netherlands.
Amsterdam is a good selection by Jet Airways as its hub as its one of the most vibrant cities of Europe. With direct flights, I expect an increase in numbers. We expect more such roadshows to be organised by Holland Tourism to promote the destination in a better way. It was a great event to showcase the destination.
We have seen steady growth of Indian travellers to the Netherlands in the last couple of years. Last year we had 100,000 visitors to the Netherlands and this year we expect a 30 per cent growth. With Jet Airways connecting Amsterdam we have already noticed an increase in passenger numbers and a growing interest of travellers.
Holland is a destination with tremendous potential and a mustsee destination in Europe for all age groups. One of the problems with Holland has been the number of seats available for travellers at lower rates. Though Jet Airways has been there, we need more seats to Holland. We have been sending 50-60 passengers every month to Holland which has been constant.
We would like to see more roadshows by Holland in future and training programs across the country for the frontline agents like giving them detailed itinerary programs which will help them sell the destination. It was good to see Schiphol airport being a part of the roadshow since airports are the major points where people do last-minute shopping.
Holland has always been close to the hearts of the Indian travellers and one of the main reasons is tulips, which have always been shown in Bollywood. But the Indian traveller only knows three things: Rotterdam, Amsterdam and the tulips. There is much more that Holland has to offer. We also get demands from passengers for experiencing music festivals and Holland hosts many music festivals.
Holland has a lot of diversity and I have good memories of this country as I ran my first full marathon in Amsterdam. The country has lots to offer and with Jet Airways, it offers an edge to the incentive market. Holland needs to create awareness among the trade that the country is beyond Amsterdam with cities like Utrecht and Rotterdam. Unique adventure trails and cycling should be promoted.
Holland as a destination has a lot to offer for the Indian travellers. But it needs to get involved in promotions to create more awareness about the destination. We have been taking around 750 passengers to the Netherlands in the last year out of which 400 were only for MICE.
It is nice of the tourism board to introduce the destination to the travel trade which will help gain knowledge and promote Holland in a better way. Tourists prefer the Tulip Festival and like to see the architecture in Holland. We mainly focus on leisure and FIT clients to Holland.
Holland has always been a popular destination for any holiday to Europe. People often repeat the destination even when it comes to luxury travel. Though it is well known for its Tulip Festival there should be more media campaigns showcasing other attractions to grab the attention of Indian travellers.
Holland is one of the jewels of Europe. No itinerary to Europe is complete without visiting Holland especially Amsterdam. Indian travellers like to visit Madurodam, canal cruise, Heineken beer factory, cheese factories and the windmills. Holland has done a roadshow here after a long time, and it should keep doing these activities regularly and also promote adventure sports like cycling which is very popular there.
We would like to see more communication from Holland tourism and would like to learn more about the destination. The presentations at the roadshow were very informative and getting the airport involved was a very good initiative and should be done more frequently.