THE NETHERLANDS – In a recent interview, chairperson of the trade association Rotterdam Hotel Combinatie, Roel Dusseldorp revealed that it was immediately after Rotterdam re-affirmed as Eurovision 2021 host city, organisers blocked 3,000 rooms for the delegations.
“We immediately agreed on this with Sietse Bakker. On that basis, we keep the same number of rooms available for the participants of the Eurovision song contest, journalists and the organisation itself. In principle, each delegation will simply stay in the hotel that was booked for the last year. If it is possible to have an audience to Ahoy around that time, then we can, of course, add rooms on top of that. […] The Eurovision Song Contest could just be the start of a return to our normal life. Then it would be a great pleasure if this could be a success in May. It is an uplifting prospect at a time when many entrepreneurs have long lost faith. The current lockdown adds even more pressure, now that the restaurants in the hotels have to remain closed. We can count the number of guests on one hand. We are now purely open out of service.”
In a few weeks, EBU will finalise its decision over which scenario Eurovision 2021 will take place in Rotterdam.
