MARKETING OF TEXEL

Every year my family go to Texel four or five times. Every time I went to this island in the north of Holland, I always wondered if there is something new I could see or did. If all you have is a relatively small island, you have to be smart to promote it to keep the tourists coming the whole year around since tourism is important source of income.

What does Texel say to the tourists? You get the vacation feeling right away when you step in to the boat (connecting the mainland and Texel.) After you reach the island, you could go biking, by bus or your own car. Biking is highly promoted in Texel and there are a lot of route options for bikers. A long coastal area, through the woods, village centers, etc.

Other activities are mainly connected to farming and nature. But how to create these activities, Texel-ers are very creative.

The last time when we were in Texel, end of May, I found out about the sand sculptures exhibition with theme of "Myths." Despite the hard blowing wind by the sea, the sculptures stayed intact for weeks.

And we found out a place where families especially children can learn about handmade products such as bread, candle, soap and paper. Parents can join a tour about bir brewery. There are picnic sites, playgrounds and small farming for children. And they have an old style restaurant and a souvenir shop only selling local products. A family can spend one full day easily on a sunny summer day here.

We joined also a boat to catch prawns in the middle of the sea and to see seals in their habitat. On the boat, children can learn about sealife and different kind of fishes.

We did other things, too, which was almost obligatory everytime we were in Texel, like going to a self harvest garden, biking and swimming, but surely Texel has never run out of idea to sell its new attractions to the tourists.

I wish that Indonesia with thousand of islands could do marketing of their places as creative as Texel.