Tourism blooms in Netherlands

FLOWER POWER is attracting thousands of tourists to Floriade 2012, the world horticultural expo being held in The Netherlands, writes Yvonne Trueman.

The exhibition is located in Floriade Park, which covers an area of 66 hectares, of which 40 hectares are dedicated to exhibition grounds, with 7,500sq/m of indoor exhibition space.
The exhibits are grouped according to five separate themes: Relax and Heal, Green Engine, Education and Innovation, Environment and World Show Stage. 

The thematic areas are separated from each other by areas of woodland, through which connecting footpaths run. 

Taken together, the five thematic displays comprise of more than 100 exhibits, and involve plantings of 1.8 million bulbs, 190,000 perennials, 18,000 shrubs, 15,000 hedge plants, 5,000 rose bushes and 3,000 trees. 

Statistics indicate that the average visitor spends a total of seven hours at the Floriade but for those visitors whose intent is simply a glorious day out, the Floriade offers many attractions besides flowers. 

First, there is the cable car. Extending for a distance of 1.1km, at a height of more than 30m, it whisks the visitor from one side of the park to the other in five minutes. 
There are five restaurants and various kiosks and live cultural shows every day, featuring music and street theatre.
 
Other attractions include art-in-the-park, a host of children’s programmes, light shows, open-air cinema and workshops.

And, of course, there is the history of Holland, long famous for its garden plants and flowers, which it grows and markets on a commercial scale throughout the world. 

The general public and private horticulturalists have been keen to obtain and grow the beautiful flowers developed and perfected in Dutch nurseries over a period of hundreds of years.

The most famous of all its floral creations is, undoubtedly, the tulip. In 1636, for example, there occurred a phenomenon which became known as ‘Tulip Mania’ as European financial investors began to pay ever-increasing prices for Dutch tulips.

At the height of this particular financial ‘bubble’, it is said that a single tulip bulb sold for a price equal to more than 10 times the annual income of a skilled craftsman.

Of course, this aberration could not last. The bubble burst, very suddenly, in 1637, with disastrous consequences for many investors. The roots of the Dutch horticultural industry although badly damaged managed to survive and prosper over the generations and in 1960, it began to capitalise on the fame of its ‘green thumb’, by inaugurating a World Horticultural Expo, to be held every 10th year. 

The theme of this year’s Floriade is to ‘be part of nature, get closer to the quality of life’.

The event runs until October 7 and is open daily. So, if you don’t want to wait another decade, you have a few weeks left in which to make your plans for a trip to Europe.
More than two million visitors are expected by the close of play. 

If you are travelling from Bahrain, you may choose to fly on KLM, Royal Dutch Airlines to Amsterdam’s Schipol International Airport and local airports closest to the site are Weeze and Eindhoven. 

From each of these points, as well as several others, a daily shuttle service is available to the site of Floriade, for the duration of the event, in comfortable touring cars. The trip from Schipol takes less than two hours, and from the aforementioned airports, less than an hour.

Try to set aside more than one day to enjoy The Floriade. I am confident that you will find it time well spent. I certainly did!