Embassy of The Hague celebrates 10 years

Over 130 proud Hagenaars have been dedicating themselves with passion and enthusiasm to The Hague for 10 years. The organisation, which runs almost entirely on volunteers, has been working to make The Hague a hospitable city. Exactly 10 years ago, the city hosts, in the familiar green jackets, first took to the streets of The Hague.  

The establishment

The Hague Embassy was established in 2013; an initiative of the Hague municipality and Hotelschool The Hague. At the time, the city was preparing for the biggest ever sports event in The Hague, the Hockey World Cup. The aim was to welcome all these visitors hospitably. The idea behind its establishment was to continue deploying city hosts after the World Cup and thus contribute to the hospitality experience in The Hague. 

Alderman Saskia Bruines (Economic Development and Culture): ‘The Hague Embassy not only aims to give visitors to our city a hospitable welcome, but also offers the opportunity for residents of The Hague to show their pride in their city and act as enthusiastic ambassadors of The Hague. It is an asset to the city and I am proud that this organisation has existed for 10 years.’

City pride

Exactly 10 years ago, on 16 March 2014, the city hosts ran their first service. Since then, the enthusiasm of the volunteers has always been high. Proud residents of The Hague join the organisation for various reasons: from enthusiasm for the city to contributing to hospitality. Trudi de Graaf, volunteer since 2014: ‘After one shift, the partner of a city host said: “You look so happy; you should do a shift like this more often!”

Hospitality

Creating a score of 9+ on hospitality experience, that is the mission of the Hague Embassy. The city hosts are therefore mainly posted at places where many visitors come: on the Tournooiveld, in front of Noordeinde Palace and in the summer at Scheveningen. In addition, they are extra deployable during major events. In the past 10 years, for instance, the city hosts were present at events such as the Ocean Race and the Invictus Games, and at major international conferences such as One Young World and the Nuclear Security Summit.

Marco Esser, director of The Hague & Partners: ‘Since 2020, the Hague Embassy has been part of our organisation. That fits us like a glove. The Hague Embassy's ‘friendly signposts’ give visitors to the city that extra bit of information: it completes their stay.’

Jubilee

The entire organisation will celebrate its 10th anniversary on Friday 15 March at the place where it all started, Hotelschool The Hague.