“The Grone”, the name of the customised tour bus for visitors to the province, will escort tourists around the best sights in the wider Groningen province starting in March.
Translation by Thomas Ansell
Dagblad van het Noorden reports that the initial plan is to run two buses per week, and each bus has room for 50 passengers. Haskia Kramer, one of the members of the team behind “The Grone”, say that the bus tours may not be completely booked full when they kick off in March, “but we think that this is a good place to start.”
The tours will focus on “small places with lovely stories”, like the Verhildersum estate and the village of Noordpolderzijl. The group is considering working on thematic tours as well, focusing on local history like De Ploeg art movement and the Christmas Flood (in 1717) or industry themes such as agriculture, energy and water. The entrepreneurs behind it hope that, through beautifully told stories, they can show visitors Groningen from a different angle.
The Grone, which is primarily focused on serving tourists to the region, was part of the Let’s Gro festival in November 2018 – their participation served as the test-runs for the future. During the pilot tours, representatives from northern companies and internationals were on board to give feedback about the route and information. “Our international clients, for example, asked how long we could stay if the dikes were to break, and several also asked where they could buy souvenirs. We also found that the tourists did not make use of the TV screens in the bus, as they found the outside surroundings more beautiful.”
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