Let yourself go Dutch with big discounts (press release)

In order to stimulate bookings during the global financial crisis, the Netherlands Board of Tourism & Conventions has teamed up with Expedia to launch a large-scale and ground-breaking online marketing campaign

The campaign will be rolled out in ten different markets including the UK, US and European countries (Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Germany, Belgium, Spain, France and Italy).  Other partners involved in this campaign are Amsterdam Tourist & Convention Board, Amsterdam Airport Schiphol and The Hague Marketing. This unique Value for Money campaign will offer consumers great value breaks to Holland in the current difficult economic climate.

In these uncertain times, many consumers have reduced their outgoings, which has had a direct impact on the travel industry. Consequently, the Netherlands Board of Tourism & Conventions and its strategic partners are investing more than €1million in an online marketing campaign to highlight that a visit to Holland will not only offer value for money but a great holiday as well. The campaign will run from 28 November 2008 until early April 2009.

Said Jos Vranken, Managing Director of The Netherlands Board of Tourism & Conventions (NBTC): "Tourism, business meetings and congresses are also feeling the effects of the financial crisis. Moreover the majority of visitors to Holland come from the USA, the UK and Germany where the crisis has an above average impact. Consequently a few weeks ago the NBTC decided to start an extra international marketing campaign. The campaign focuses on attracting extra visitors in the short-term and to reposition the Holland brand in the medium to long-term."

Said Thaddeus Hanscom, European Director of Media Solutions for Expedia, "We have over 60 million unique users on our sites every month, and they are engaged people looking to research, plan and book their travel. We aim to inspire travellers and we're pulling out all the stops to tell Holland's story. It's a great story - and we're committed to making sure it's successful. This is a true partnership, and we're all eager to see results."

To support the Value for Money campaign the world's largest online travel company, Expedia, is launching a dedicated Holland micro-site in the ten participating markets, offering great reasons and suggestions to travel to Holland as well as amazing offers and discounts. An online advertising campaign consisting of Holland/Expedia co-branded adverts will also run on both Expedia and key third party websites in order to drive consumer traffic to the Holland pages and to generate bookings.