A former Dutch resident who now lives in Lawrence is calling on other expatriates to convince Dutch officials to relax their tourist alert on this country following a brutal sex attack on a travelling Dutch couple in Southland last month.
The Netherlands Government recently upgraded travel advisories to its citizens looking to come to New Zealand, with a warning the country had "serious crime".
Some campervan rental companies say the warning is already affecting bookings.
But Frank Buddingh, who emigrated to New Zealand from Holland 30 years ago, said his home country was no less dangerous than New Zealand and officials needed to soften their warnings for Dutch visitors thinking about coming here.
Mr Buddingh (60) lives in Lawrence and was one of the local people involved in introducing free wireless Internet in the town's business district recently.
In an email to the Otago Daily Times, he said Tourism New Zealand and others should do everything they could to help improve New Zealand's image, especially when global tourism numbers were falling because of bad economic conditions.
"Holland, on the face of it, is certainly not a less dangerous country. All sorts of things happen there that are not good as well."
A Dutch minister was in New Zealand recently and Mr Buddingh was confident he gained a positive first-hand impression that New Zealand was a country with kind people and a safe setting.
"I invite everybody - and in particular the Dutch community - to write [to] me so we can inform the Dutch Government that New Zealand is a great place to live and an excellent destination to travel, a place that values tourism and where people can feel at home."
Mr Buddingh said he would pass on all "supportive correspondence" to the Dutch Ministry of External Affairs and ask them to soften the language of their travel alert.
Anyone wanting to support his idea can voice their support by contacting him at dutchpetition@gmail.com.
The Dutch couple bailed up in the attack which sparked the Dutch travel alert were staying at a camp in the western Southland township of Tuatapere when they were awoken early on January 15.
Maakiti Joseph Tipene (25) last week admitted nine charges in connection with the incident.
The court was told he broke into the couple's stationwagon demanding cash.
The couple gave him $750 but he then raped the woman at knifepoint.
Tipene has been remanded in custody and will be sentenced in the Invercargill District Court on April 9.
