Lisse (NL) – Keukenhof has successfully concluded the 2023 season. It represented a ‘welcome back’ to visitors from around the globe. The former gave the flower exhibition an 8.6. Almost 1.4 million people visited the park over the eight weeks it was open.
The majority of visitors originated from the Netherlands (20%), followed by Germany, the United States, France and the United Kingdom. Visitors from Asia have also returned, though not in pre-Covid numbers. The park welcomed visitors from over 100 countries this season.
The average number of visitors per day was very comparable with last season as Keukenhof uses arrival timeslots. This has improved travel to and from the park as well as people’s experience of the latter. Keukenhof will continue to play attention to this aspect.
Keukenhof sold out on multiple weekends including over Easter, on the day of the flower parade and the weekend of May 1st. Keukenhof’s car park welcomed many camper vans.
The number of visitors who arrived on public transport or hop-on hop-off tours increased this year.
20% visitors of the Keukenhof visitors took the Keukenhof Express straight to the park from Schiphol, Leiden, Amsterdam RAI or Haarlem.
Keukenhof works with 40 permanent employees all year round. In the season, the organization scales up to 1,000 employees.
“I am proud to be able to welcome such a large group of colleagues, year in, year out. We had no trouble recruiting staff this year,” says Jeroen Duyster, interim director.
The wonderful blooming of the park and the flowering bulb fields in the rest of the Bollenstreek [bulb growing area] once again ensured many people visited the park. Thanks to low night-time temperatures, the park remained extra colourful for an extended period of time. During the final week, the torrential rain rapidly reduced blooming.
Annually, one hundred growers supply seven million flowerbulbs for the park. This year, five new bulb growers from the area and the province of Noord-Holland participated.
Keukenhof has adopted a coordinating role with its ‘Entrepreneurs in the lead’ programme and the Bulb conference bringing businesspeople together to jointly tackle contemporary challenges.
Next year, Keukenhof will celebrate its 75th anniversary and park activities will be aligned. In 2024, Keukenhof will be open from 21 March to 12 May.