The Tata Group is being wooed by the Mayor of Amsterdam's tourism and business promotion outfit to set up the first Taj Hotel in Netherlands' capital.
"While we do not have a specific hotel project yet, the Tata Group is one of the main companies we are in talks with as part of our aim to attract new markets of India and China to Amsterdam.
"A Taj Hotel will be more than welcome and we are open to helping the Group in every way possible," Renee van Schie, I Amsterdam's hotel development intermediary, told PTI during a tour of the city. I Amsterdam is the Mayor of Amsterdam's tourism and business promotion outfit.
"Amsterdam has set off on a very ambitious hotels policy, noticing a large appetite in the hotel market. We have proved with a number of projects, such as a new luxury hotel in a historic crane called the Faralda NDSM Crane Hotel, that we are willing to take a chance and help developers through the maze of the hotel development process," he added.
The Tata Group already has a presence in the region through its fund management company, Tata Asset Management, which was a direct result of Mayor Eberhard van der Laan's high-profile business delegation to India last year.
The city of Amsterdam had presented a bid book to Taj Hotels during the same visit, detailing the city's potential as a new destination for the well-known Indian hotel chain.
Since 2006, the city has been working to attract Indian businesses to the region and now has the fastest growing Indian population in Europe.
"The Indian community is the fastest growing foreign business community in the Amsterdam metropolitan area.
"The number of Indian companies in the Amsterdam area has grown five-fold over the last five years and today more than 75 Indian firms are active in the area," said the mayor, who has set a goal of taking at least one major business delegation to India every two years.
The number of Indian firms in the Amsterdam metropolitan area has doubled in the last 3 years alone with 80 per cent being from the IT sector, together creating 2,500 direct jobs.
"Amsterdam is an internationally oriented city, which is reinforced by Amsterdam Airport Schiphol offering daily flights from Delhi and Mumbai to Amsterdam.
"From here, there are direct connections to more than 90 countries, and all crucial business destinations within Europe can be reached within two hours flying time," the mayor said.
The year 2013 is a special year for Amsterdam as a result of the 400th anniversary of its Canal Ring and the milestone is being marked by 'I Amsterdam' through a celebration of its efforts to convert empty office spaces into new city icons.
"Mumbai and Amsterdam were declared sister cities in 2012 and we would definitely love to show off the city to the world through Bollywood. We have a dedicated Film Office which is here to help filmmakers come and shoot any time," said a spokesperson for I Amsterdam.
