Floriade aerial impression image: Floriade
The entire Board of Directors of Almere has resigned because the 2022 Floriade exhibition was unable to attract enough visitors to pay for it.
In a moving speech on Thursday, chief financial officer Julius Lindenbergh said the city needs to inject an additional 33.8 million euros into the festival. It is already reported to cost € 41.5 million.
He said he felt “powerless” at an additional cost, almost double the city’s € 17 million reserve in case the pandemic tickets were sold poorly. The city said in a news release that slightly more than 232,000 people have visited the gardening attraction since it opened on April 13, which is “significantly less” than expected. In fact, it’s one-third of the forecast.
The expected total number of visitors has been revised down from 2 million to 1.2 million, and in the worst case 800,000.
“As a city, you are fully exposed when organizing this kind of event, dealing with huge forces, some domestic and some international, and they all oppose us. It seems to be, “Lindenberg said. “I think this is terrible for the people of the city … Think about all the reductions we had to make as a result of these costs today.
“This is a message I send to people who are currently suffering from inflation and can’t afford to pay for energy. This touches me.”
Municipal administration has informed the council elected earlier this week that the Floriade Armele 2022BV company is at risk of bankruptcy. According to a survey of motivational organizations on the Sustainable Future City-themed Expo, it was really appealing to almost half of the visitors, but others were postponed with an admission fee of € 29 for the ticket, many simply due. Is getting shorter for coronavirus pandemics and higher costs at home.
review
According to the survey, “day trip locations are less visited than before Corona … and while people are more likely to choose famous attractions, social events take precedence over day trips. “
The Floriade press review was lukewarm after years of debate about whether the event should be postponed, especially due to the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on domestic and international participants. Some recent online visitor reviews have described it as “disappointing” while others have described it as a “good day.”
After bad news was revealed Thursday night, the entire council board resigned due to “great disappointment and financial drama.” In the letter, they said:’Floriade looks beautiful. The greens are great and all the pavilions are complete. The Floriade is worth visiting as many people as possible, and the city deserves it.
However, they not only expressed disappointment, but said they felt obliged to take responsibility and resign.
Coronavirus infections have increased in recent weeks, but the number of foreign visitors to the Netherlands is expected to be at most 12 million, only 50% to 90% more than in 2021. The Keukenhof Flower Garden reported 1.1 million visitors from more than 100 countries this year, down about a quarter from the record year of 2019.
The Floriade, which takes place every 10 years in another city, is scheduled to run until October 9.
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