The municipality of The Hague has dropped some serious money for an advertorial in the Rotterdam bid book for the Eurovision Song Contest. As AD reports, the city paid a staggering 25,000 euros to place a photo of the historic Kurhaus in Scheveningen in the bid book, along with a one-sentence description of the many hotels in the municipality.
The money went to the municipality of Rotterdam, which is taking on millions of euros in costs to bring the music festival to the city next year. A city councilor responsible for Economic Affairs revealed the information while answering questions from the Socialist Party and the Haagse Stadspartij.
The money transfer took place after The Hague had withdrawn its candidacy for the organization of the Eurovision Song Contest. As you’ll recall, the city threw its support behind Rotterdam shortly after that. The hospitality industry in the royal city hopes to take advantage of the arrival of thousands of journalists and Eurofans to the Netherlands. It seems that they already are — hotel prices in the city are considerably higher than normal, and many bookings have already been made.
The Socialist Party doesn’t think the bid book entry was worth it. They rightfully point out that very few people — besides those in the selection committee — will have seen it. And they’re probably Dutch anyway! They said: “If we put the page on a window of the town hall, then more people will get to see it.”
The Hague’s contribution to Rotterdam’s pockets vis-a-vis the bid book is, of course, just a drop in the ocean. The city of Rotterdam has not yet managed to fully finance Eurovision. Last week, the Dutch broadcaster NPO officially submitted a request to the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science asking for it to make a financial contribution to the organization of the Eurovision Song Contest in Rotterdam next year. The request is now at the Ministry where it’s being looked into. The details of the request and the amount involved are not yet clear. In developing its request, the public broadcaster has taken into account that the cost of the music festival will be around 30 million euros.
The costs incurred by the NPO for the organization of the music spectacle relate to the TV show and the event itself. The municipality of Rotterdam is already financing the song festival. The city has reserved an amount of 15.5 million euros, which relates to the so-called side events and visibility of the music spectacle throughout the city.
Do you think the amount that The Hague has had to pay for a photo is a bit much? Do you think Rotterdam will struggle with finances? Let us known in the comment section down below!
It just should’ve been in Amsterdam. They could’ve done it, if they wanted to. 🙁
However: since Rotterdam is the place to be, let’s give them everything they need to host a brilliant show! America First? No, Europe (and Australia) first! It’ll be streamed by Netflix in the US, so let’s show them something they never experienced! 😀
could’ve bought 25,000 copies of love don’t stream it on itunes with that
Worst trade deal in the history of trade deals ever.
Municipal government of The Hague: This is where your taxes go!
The Hague constituents: Mmm…Nope.
Well well, seem like not just Easter Europe and Israel struggle with the Soldi Soldi
Coincidentally 25,000 is also what it will cost for accomodation in Rotterdam over Eurovision weekend.