From January, the Netherlands will officially drop “Holland” from all literature and marketing materials, so the country will only be referred to be its official name.
Holland and the Netherlands were the two names that have been used to refer to the same European country. However, this will be dropped in the new year as part of a €200,000 (£170,516) rebrand according to The Sydney Morning Herald (SMH). Companies, embassies, ministries, and universities will only be able to use the country’s official name – the Netherlands – from 2020.
It comes before the country is due to host the Eurovision Song Contest and participate in the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo.
According to SMH, the country hopes that it can update its international image through the rebrand and attract more tourists in a sustainable way.
The country’s Minister for Foreign Trade Sigrid Kaag added that the rebrand will also help showcase what else the Netherlands can offer.
The Netherlands is made up of 12 different provinces. The word Holland actually only refers to two of these – Noord-Holland and Zuid-Holland – and was used by the tourist board to promote the country around 25 years ago.
Sources: The Sun, Independent.
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