WORLD
Dutch government ditches Holland to rebrand as the Netherlands
Baku, October 7, AZERTAC
The Dutch government has decided to stop describing itself as Holland and will instead use only its real name – the Netherlands – as part of an attempted update of its global image, according to The Guardian.
The national rebranding, which has been signed up to by business leaders, the tourist board and central government, will be rolled out later this year.
Ministers want to shift the international focus from certain aspects of national life with which the country is commonly associated, such as its recreational drug culture and the red-light district of Amsterdam.
As part of the new strategy, the Netherlands will be the official brand at the Eurovision song contest, which takes place in Rotterdam next May, and during the Olympic Games in Tokyo in 2020.
A spokeswoman for the ministry of foreign affairs said the Netherlands needed a more uniform and coordinated national branding. She said: “We want to present the Netherlands as an open, inventive and inclusive country. We’ve modernized our approach.
“The government was taking a user-friendly and pragmatic approach to its name in order to boost exports, tourism, sport and spread “Dutch culture, norms and values”. It has been agreed that the Netherlands, the official name of our country, should preferably be used,” she added.