The Netherlands Board of Tourism & Conventions (NBTC) is responsible for branding and marketing the country nationally and internationally. NBTC markets the country using the 'Holland' brand as an attractive destination for holidays, business meetings and conventions. To this end, NBTC uses a cooperation model that unites partners from the public and private sectors.

Marketing 'Holland' as a destination contributes enormously to attracting tourists and business travellers to our country. A total of 11.3 million visited our country in 2011 of which over 25% were business travellers. These visits are important to the Dutch economy because, in total, the hospitality sector represents an economic value of € 37 billion and provides work for over 400,000 people.

One of the tools at the NBTC's disposal for stimulating potential organisers of international association conferences and other conferences is the Pre-Financing and Guarantee Fund (VGF). The Pre-Financing and Guarantee Fund offers two facilities:

• Interest-free loans for financing the initial costs of an international conference.
• Insurances (at non-commercial rates) against possible financial risks due to unexpected reduced attendance.

Increso has been asked to further promote and brand this fund, over a two-year period, until the end of 2015. The two main objectives of this project are:

• Increasing awareness of the fund's existence
• Lead generation of international conferences for Destination Holland as a consequence of risks reduction by the fund.

More information on this fund can be found at www.vgfholland.nl.