Out of the 11-million tourist flow to Holland, the Russian share is still very small– a mere 1% in 2012. Most guests – over 9.3 million last year – come to the Netherlands from Germany. The number of Russians amounted
to just 155 thousand. But still and all, this is 5% more than in 2011. And by the
end of this year, the Dutch plan on increasing the tourist flow by at least another
10%. At a press conference in Moscow, the Minister-Counselor
of the Netherlands Embassy in Russia,
Mr. Philip de Jong, explained how they were going to do that.
According to the Dutch statistics, Russian tourists come under two almost
equal groups: 44% are tourists and 46% – businessmen. 50% have come to the country
for the first time last year; 60% stayed in Amsterdam; 65% booked their trips through travel
companies. But the number of online bookings is growing by leaps and bounds. Therefore,
strategic plans of the Dutch Alliance (comprising Netherlands Bureau for Tourism
and Congresses, flag carrier airline KLM, Amsterdam Schiphol
Airport and Amsterdam Marketing)
have been tailored for both tour operators and FITs. Particularly, Holland is cautiously starting
handing out long-term visas for the Russians; and since April, 1, travel companies
will be able to submit group visa applications on behalf of their customers who
no longer have to come to the embassy in person.
This year has been declared the year of Russian-Dutch cooperation. It
intends to celebrate the rich history of the bilateral ties focusing on three main
themes: economy, culture, and society. The Tourism Year, which starts in April,
will be covering the travel aspect of the long-standing partnership.
