The Netherlands is all set to regain its position as a hub for travel, trade and education in Europe for India for multiple reasons, including the improving air connectivity.

THE FIRST encounter with Alphonsus Stoelinga, Ambassador of the Netherlands to India, Nepal and Bhutan may not surprise you as he naturally greets us with ‘Namaste’. But as he speaks about the trade and tourism between the two nations, one is bound to believe his love for the language that he not only speaks Hindi fluently but learnt it before he became the Ambassador in August 2012.

In his media interaction in the capital recently, Stoelinga clearly stated the importance of the Netherlands in India and how India is an important economy for trade, commerce and tourism. “Holland has seen many big companies in the past 100 years like Philips, Unilever and Shell that came to India and many like Tata Steel, Infosys, Apollo Tires and the like that have exchanged trade and have built tie-ups in Holland. We have also continued to support farmers in agriculture and set up supply chains for Indian companies. We represent the interests of central, regional and local Dutch government institutions, cultural and scientific institutions, business community and of Dutch citizens in India, either residing here or travelling in India,” he said.

With the fastest developing economy of India, Stoelinga sees many Dutch companies doing business with India, either by exporting from The Netherlands to India or from within India, through a subsidiary or an Indian partner. “I believe there are still many unused opportunities. Though smaller in size than India, The Netherlands has a lot to offer in interesting products, know-how and experience. The Indo-Dutch cooperation can lead to a win-win model and more and more Indian companies discover The Netherlands as the ‘gateway to Europe’ with over 150 Indian companies established in The Netherlands,” he informed. He further stated that not only businessmen but also artists, students and scientists have taken steps to the diverse country.

The Netherland is all set to regain its position as a hub for travel, trade and education in Europe for India for multiple reasons, including the improving air connectivity. With the tremendous growth in traffic between India and the Netherlands since the joint venture partnership between Air France KLM and Jet Airways came into being in 2016, the ambassador informed that one can travel from any point in India to any city in Europe through Schiphol airport on Jet Airways ticket.

“Over 30 percent increase in visa application since this partnership has come into effect as compared to 32,000 visas being processed in 2014, last year the consulate processed over one lakh visas,” he said. Jet Airways has been operating flights from Delhi, Mumbai and Bengaluru to Schiphol; and KLM Dutch operates a direct flight to Mumbai.

Some of the positive factors including Brexit, a post-election scenario in the US, etc. have made Holland a preferred destination for Indians in Europe. “Quite a number of Indian businesses setting up offices in Amsterdam and other cities in the Netherlands has more than doubled since the Brexit crisis erupted; the quality of education in the Netherlands is good with 95% of the Cambridge quality at 50% of the cost, so the cost of living is one-third. Hence there has been over 30% growth in student traffic to Holland education centres,” he said.

The problems related to long delays in visa processing will ease soon. The Ambassador said that extra staff has been deployed from the VFS office at the Embassy to cut down on the delays in the light of the ensuing holiday season rush.

However, Netherlands is a small cosmopolitan country with so much to offer in terms of history, heritage, art and museums, landscaping, etc. “Schiphol Airport offers wedding planning for unique ceremonies so you can get married in a hangar or atop the Skyport building for a view of landing aircraft,” he said.

Speaking at the roundtable, Sanjeet, India Representative for Netherlands Board of Tourism & Conventions (NBTC), discussed broad strategies for India market with a focus on luxury travel market from India because of the growing interest among hi-end luxury travellers for art, paintings and also diamonds. “The marketing and promotional strategies will be more digital and will be worked out in consultations with other partners like Schiphol Airport, Jet Airways, and KLM.”

For trade engagement, NBTC will organise a 3-city roadshow in the month of August this year which will cover cities which are currently served by the airline partners,” he said.

As per the destinations, Stoelinga highlighted Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Groningen, Haarlem, Utrecht, Maastricht, Hague and Delft as a few must-do places in the kingdom.