RTL<\/a>, the province\u2019s policy shift, led by regional executive Bas Maes, also affects ongoing discussions about major cycling events such as the Tour of the Netherlands, sometimes marketed internationally as the Tour of Holland, and future national branding plans tied to Dutch cycling in 2028.<\/p>\nMaes said the debate over the term is not new in Noord-Brabant. He pointed back to 2019, when the Vuelta a Espa\u00f1a route through the province was promoted under the name \u201cLa Vuelta Holanda.\u201d \u201c\u2018It was called La Vuelta Holanda,\u2019\u201d Maes told RTL. “Then we responded, ‘We are not Holland; we are Brabant.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
He said the issue extends beyond language and into international perception. \u201cThere will be few Brabanders who say they come from Holland, but for commercial parties, such as with a sporting event, Holland sometimes sounds better. As a result, the Netherlands is promoted abroad as Holland, but we want to move away from that name recognition.\u201d<\/p>\n
The province argues that \u201cHolland\u201d correctly refers only to Noord-Holland and Zuid-Holland, even though the term is often used informally abroad in languages such as Polish, French, and Spanish.<\/p>\n
Under the new approach, Noord-Brabant will actively push organizers to avoid using \u201cHolland\u201d in event titles when provincial subsidies are involved. Maes said the province will not automatically reject events using the term but will make its position clear.<\/p>\n
\u201c\u2018Ultimately, an event with Holland in the name can still go ahead if the race has added value, but we tell organizations that a correct name is an important point for us,\u2019\u201d Maes said.<\/p>\n
The policy also affects the Tour of the Netherlands, which is sometimes referred to internationally as the Tour of Holland. Maes said the province is still in talks with organizers about renaming the event, though existing branding makes changes difficult.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe event is scheduled for three years. In the first year it was not possible to change the name. We understand it is extra difficult now, because a website and merchandise have already been made, but we are still in discussions with the organization,\u2019\u201d he told RTL.<\/p>\n
Maes added that a future rebranding effort is already planned at the national level. In 2028, when the Royal Dutch Cycling Union marks its 100th anniversary, cycling events in the Netherlands are expected to be grouped under a new name, the Dutch Cycling Festival, which aligns with the province\u2019s preferred terminology. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Noord-Brabant is moving to eliminate the use of \u201cHolland\u201d in the names of sports and cultural events it…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":504580,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[4985,101,56,54,55],"class_list":{"0":"post-504579","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-cycling","8":"tag-cycling","9":"tag-sports","10":"tag-uk","11":"tag-united-kingdom","12":"tag-unitedkingdom"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/504579","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=504579"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/504579\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/504580"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=504579"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=504579"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=504579"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}