Friesland Holland Travel sold to the owners of Zee van Tijd Holwerd

Sytze de Haan, Nicole van Barneveld, and Rob Fox (left to right) in front of hotel-restaurant Zee van Tijd in Holwerd, the fully renovated and restored former hotel De Gouden Klok.

Wolvega/Holwerd – On October 5, 2023, Rob Fox (44), Nicole van Barneveld (47), and Sytze de Haan (33), the owners of the hotel-restaurant and campsite Zee van Tijd Holwerd, located in Holwerd on the Wadden Sea, took over the travel activities of Friesland Holland Travel Service BV in Wolvega. With the aim of promoting their holiday accommodations and Holwerd as an attractive base for trips along the Frisian Wadden Sea coast (UNESCO World Heritage) and the northern Frisian Elfstedentocht route, as well as a visit to Ameland, they decided to purchase the travel business of Friesland Holland. Holwerd is part of the Elfstedentocht cycling route, between Franeker and Dokkum.

Director Albert Hendriks of Friesland Holland: “Fox, Van Barneveld, and De Haan want to bring their ambitions to life on a broader scale, and the Elfstedentocht arrangements, a specialty of Friesland Holland, fit perfectly into that vision. In addition, there are many already developed, but not yet marketed holiday products waiting on the shelf.” Albert Hendriks and Jana Hendriks have been running the travel company, specialized in fully organized bike, boat, and car holidays, since 1996. “We wanted to hand it over because it became too much for us. Every year, the company grew; the annual turnover was approaching a million euros. By applying the brakes, we limited the turnover to a manageable size for just two people. After a careful selection process, we handed over the travel organization to the three of them, who are experienced in hospitality and travel management. All aspects of tour operation come into play at Friesland Holland. It’s a company that keeps everything in-house to maintain control, the best guarantee for a carefree holiday.”

Skilled team
Sytze de Haan, like Fox and Van Barneveld, lives in Holwerd. He graduated from Breda University of Applied Sciences (formerly NHTV) as a tour manager and was a professional tour guide for distant destinations. He is the primary contact for Friesland Holland Travel, the trade name of ZvT-FHT BV, the newly established travel business of the aforementioned three directors.

The three have owned the hotel and restaurant Zee van Tijd (www.zeevantijd.nl) since 2020, a completely renovated and upgraded former hotel-café De Gouden Klok in Holwerd. Rob Fox and his partner Nicole van Barneveld had managed hotel-restaurant Zee van Tijd on Ameland for 17 years. In 2023, they sold the hotel-restaurant to scale back and focus on the mainland, while retaining a few holiday accommodations on the Wadden island. In addition to De Gouden Klok, which they acquired in 2020, they also added Holwerd’s village campsite to their property in 2022, aligning it with the needs of today’s holidaymakers.

The new owners of Friesland Holland Travel are currently busy updating the website www.frieslandhollandtravel.nl. They received bookings immediately after the takeover.

Friesland promotion
Albert Hendriks, a journalist by profession, says he will not be idly watching but is having a new, innovative news site built by a specialized internet company, Van der Let & Partners in Heerenveen, specifically for the promotion of Friesland as a holiday and leisure destination, as well as a producer of leisure and regional products. News reports have always been the basis for Friesland Holland’s international marketing of Frisian hospitality and recreation businesses and yacht builders. This promotion will continue with a newly organized, streamlined news site.

Relocation
The relocation of the travel organization from Wolvega to Holwerd took place in the week following October 5, 2023. The office on Hoofdstraat West in Wolvega is now in use by the other two branches of Friesland Holland, namely Friesland Holland News & Marketing and Fries Nieuws.