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Number of Chinese Visitors to Keukenhof Increasing Exponentially

2008-03-05 11:39 649

LISSE, Netherlands, March 6 /Xinhua-PRNewswire/ -- The International Flower Exhibition Keukenhof in Lisse has chosen ‘China - the Olympic Games - Beijing’ as its theme for 2008. This is an obvious choice for Keukenhof, as the eyes of the world will be on the capital of China this year, and the ties between Keukenhof and China are very close. As General Manager, Piet de Vries says: "In every sense, China is a growing market for us. In 2007, we welcomed more than 20,000 guests from the People’s Republic, an amazing increase over the 8,000 visitors from the previous year. This year, Keukenhof will be open from 20 March to 18 May."

Keukenhof will be illustrating the cultural and historic significance of the Asian country in a number of ways this year. PR Manager Annemarie Gerards: "There will be an exposition of photographs of Chinese street life and an Olympic exhibition. The theme of the traditional hat show on Easter Monday will be ‘China in town’. One of our inspirational gardens has of course been infused with Chinese themes; a Forbidden Garden in flowers. During the opening ceremonies, a number of new flower bulbs with Chinese or Olympic names will be unveiled. The catering department has put a great deal of effort into creating a Chinese tea pavilion, Chinese menus and an Olympic cafe. The Olympic rings in dried bulbs will be displayed outside."

Keukenhof is traditionally one of the top-five tourist attractions for Chinese tourists in Europe.

Not only Chinese visitors, but guests from around the world come to enjoy the flower exhibition. For international guests, the old adage that "if you haven’t seen Keukenhof then you haven’t seen the Netherlands" still applies. Two-thirds of the approximately 840,000 visitors who wish to view the magnificent beauty of more than seven million flower bulbs in glorious bloom, come from abroad. A quarter of the total live in Asia.

The world’s most beautiful flower park, Keukenhof, was the brainchild of the former Mayor of Lisse and a number of flower bulb growers and exporters. It began as an open-air exhibition, and grew to become an annual event with an area of 32 hectares. The event is the number 1 tourist attraction for the number of visitors per week (approx. 100,000.)

Source: Keukenhof
Keywords: Food/Beverages
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