Netherlands wants to drop ‘Holland’ nickname in tourism makeover

Forget the name “Holland” because the Netherlands has taken drastic action against the nickname as part of a new tourism campaign.

The Netherlands no longer wants to be known as Holland.

The Western European nation, which includes the famous Dutch region, is dropping the nickname as part of a tourism rebranding effort designed to bring in more of the right kind of visitors, the Sydney Morning Herald reports.

Rather than being known for such things as Holland’s drug-culture capital Amsterdam, Netherlands government officials want to reinvent the country as a whole to promote its commerce, science and arts, the Herald says.

The Netherlands wants to drop the nickname ‘Holland’.

“From hi-tech to agrifood and from sport to culture,” Netherlands Foreign Trade Minister Sigrid Kaag says of the nation, of which Holland is the most famous part.

The Netherlands’ Board of Tourism and Conventions is also scrapping its symbol featuring a tulip, the national flower, and the word “Holland” and replacing it with a new logo that has an orange tulip and the initials “NL”.

The country has the most competitive economy in Europe and the fourth in the world, Minister of Economic Affairs Eric Wiebes tells the Herald.

This article originally appeared on the New York Post and was reproduced with permission