Early in the morning of Sunday May 19th 2019, after a nerve-wracking voting sequence, Duncan Lawrence was announced as the winner of the Eurovision Song Contest. This of course triggered a chain of events that eventually brought the Song Contest back to the Netherlands.
The bidding for where in the Netherlands the Contest was an intense process. Compared to similarly sized international events, what makes hosting the Eurovision Song Contest such a challenge each year is that a broadcaster only gets twelve months to take the project from winning the trophy to hosting the Grand Final.
Rotterdam first had to consider if it wanted to host this event. Alice Vlaaderen, the project director for this year’s Eurovision Song Contest on behalf of the city of Rotterdam, explains how these first steps were taken.
“We asked ourselves if this event fits our values as a city, of inclusivity, of innovation, of binding people together. We are raw in Rotterdam, people have different DNA due to our history. We have been constantly rebuilding, and we want to show that to the world”
That decision made, Rotterdam was already on the front foot compared to the six other bids in the run to host the Song Contest, thanks in the main to an excellent arena in the Ahoy and impressive public transport infrastructure. However the city still had to convince all the decision makers that their bid was the best. This process took the entire summer and it was only at the very end of August that Rotterdam was confirmed as the host city, with eight and a half months left to prepare.
Except, as you all know, the Eurovision Song Contest of 2020 did not happen. The cancellation in mid-March meant that months of planning and work eventually led to nothing. Sadly, much of the cost of the event, such as venue hire and Eurovision Village preparations, were not covered by the insurance that was acquired. It is reported that 15 million Euros was spent on plans for 2020. Yes, the 2021 Song Contest uses many of the same elements, such as at the same stage, but the bill for the city of Rotterdam is still expected to be an additional 6.9 million Euros.
And some of the work and planning that has now been in the pipeline for over a year and a half still isn’t going to happen. The most obvious one is that the audience, as a best case scenario, is going to be vastly reduced to just 3,500. That means less income in terms of ticket sales for the show, but also less people making journeys to Rotterdam, staying in hotels and eating in restaurants. Furthermore the city, while still being decorated in Eurovision regalia, misses out this year on a Eurovision Village, which is instead going online.
Of course, nobody in 2020 could know what format the Song Contest of 2021 would appear in. However the instinct here is that Rotterdam’s outcome from this will woefully miss their original expectations. The city has effectively paid twice for an event that will offer much less benefit to the city than anybody originally expected.
This is where we are today. We have a city of Rotterdam still trying to do their best with the Eurovision brand to help promote their city on the global stage. The questions I am now asking are about what activities the city is still able to run, what is the aim and image of the city they want to spread, and what impact can the Eurovision Song Contest still have on Europe’s biggest port.
Rotterdam’s Time To Shine
The City of Rotterdam is still trying to use the Eurovision Song Contest as a catalyst for events and inspiration. Under the banner ‘Open Up To Rotterdam’ numerous events and projects have taken place to take advantage of the focus that Eurovision brings to an area. The range of opportunities is vast, ranging from songwriting competitions between local schools, banners on markets and shopping streets and over 50 organisations and local businesses part of the City Program. Even though less people will be making the journey to Rotterdam, the plan is to allow Eurovision to touch all the individuals in the city, one way or another.
Furthermore, given the nature of the world in 2021, there has been a plan to make many of the features “be visible for a longer period”, says Kim Weiden, International Press Officer at Rotterdam Partners. Such examples include now the now staple of Eurovision host cities, the Eurovision-themed pedestrian crossing, but also a specially created cookbook, and artwork that will live on beyond the month of May.
Kim explains that the hosting of Eurovision in Rotterdam provides an opportunity for the city to market itself as a “lively, inclusive and surprising” destination. Within the Netherlands tourism is traditionally dominated by Amsterdam, which receives over 10 times the annual visitors than the Dutch second city, and despite Rotterdam’s tourism numbers growing pre-pandemic it is still not a traditional tourism destination – marred in part by its conception as a bustling port, the domination of Amsterdam and the lack of awareness of Rotterdam’s attractions.
To this I see a huge mirror image between the hosting of Eurovision in Rotterdam to that of Vienna in 2015. Sure, Vienna was a major tourism destination prior to the Eurovision Song Contest, but Vienna’s tourism campaign was planned out to actively encourage a fresher, younger generation of visitors. Rotterdam’s vibe today focuses on urban tourism, with modern architecture at its core. In that regard Rotterdam’s branding for the 2021 Song Contest shows many parallels to what Vienna did with the Song Contest.
Still In The Spotlight?
The question of course is if a city can still get the same boost in tourism long term, despite missing out on the many thousands who would travel to attend the Song Contest in person. Wilbert Lek, the managing director of Rotterdam Partners, is optimistic and expects “a solid growth in visitor numbers” once travelling around the world is an option more people can take up, citing the post-Eurovision success of both Stockholm and Lisbon following their recent hostings. But, Wilbert admits, it “is hard to compare the potential impact with previous cities” in these times. With less people attending and hotels still not full in the build up, the city is starting way behind those others in the potential boost from hosting.
There is some reason to be positive about the possibilities for Wilbert and the city of Rotterdam however. The 2021 National Final season generally saw an increase in viewing figures with more people staying at home and watching live television. Should that continue into May then more people will see the images from Rotterdam and be exposed to a new possible tourist destination.
Another reason to be positive is that by having an audience and using the Eurovision Song Contest as a Fieldlab test event, giving the Rotterdam Ahoy the infrastructure to host large events in this post-pandemic world. The development of features such as rapid testing on site and social distancing adaptations means that, in the crossover period out of pandemic times, the Ahoy should be able to plough ahead before others in hosting large scale events. The reputation of Rotterdam as a modern event city should only grow should the month of May be a success, and the venue is booked for many events in the remaining months that lie ahead in 2021.
And finally, there is of course the spark not just to visitors coming in, but also to local residents. The area directly around the Ahoy, Rotterdam-Zuid, is known as one of the most disadvantaged areas of the Netherlands. Hosting a major event such as the Eurovision Song Contest has been a catalyst to focus on local development and urban planning. Alice Vlaaderen explains that while redevelopment around the Ahoy was planned, Eurovision itself “gave the city an incentive to build faster” and to that sense build a legacy that goes beyond these two weeks.
Can A Host City Still Succeed In This Environment?
Time of course will tell if the Rotterdam hosting of Eurovision in 2021 can still generate the kind of successes of previous host cities. Having a ready-built arena helps with much of the cost, and while high at just over 20 million Euros, other host cities have ultimately had similar costs to burden.
Rotterdam starts off on the back foot this year however. The most obvious economic boost comes from those visitor numbers that are now dramatically lower. However after making us have to wait for an entire year, does that make Rotterdam more interesting and more exciting, with a continent ready to be surprised by a destination off the traditional tourism radar? What we do know for now is that any payback won’t come from just the two weeks when all eyes are on the city – this year the focus is on long term success.
And to that point the city is already investing in measuring the legacy of hosting the Contest beyond May. Alice Vlaaderen explains that the legacy will on one part measure the economic benefits to the city of Rotterdam, but also the social reach that the city has in the various events that took place both digitally and online.
It may take many years for that legacy to fully hit home. For you watching this very different Eurovision Song Contest next week, Alice wants Europe and beyond to see that Rotterdam is a “resilient city in the way we are organising the show to find alternatives”. This is a city that makes the best of unideal circumstances and has a history and legacy of constantly rebuilding. As the world starts its post-pandemic rebuild, does Eurovision and Rotterdam show the way forward for others to be inspired from?
Either way, the hosting of the 2021 Eurovision Song Contest will be a great case study for years to come.