From estate to amusement park: the same Duinrell family has been running for ninety years. ‘A new frog sheet, that will be my last attraction’

It all started with the Natural Bown Act. He gave landowners tax benefit when they opened their estate to the public. « In 1935 my grandfather did that with our estate, » says Philip van Zuylen (62), owner of Duinrell. « That started with a playground. Then there was a restaurant in an old sheepfold, more playground equipment, ski runs on pine needles. In 1962 my father started renting out pieces of land so that people could camp. That’s how the company grew slowly. »

Duinrell has been in existence for ninety years this year. The amusement park, now also a holiday park, is on the Duinrell estate in Wassenaar and is still in the hands of the Van Zuylen van Nijevelt family. Philips son, Hugo van Zuylen (31), started in Duinrell at the beginning of this year and with that the follow -up is guaranteed.

My father always said: « My wife is not for sale, my wedding ring is not for sale and Duinrell is not for sale either »

The amusement park really took shape when the father of Philip, Hugo Graaf van Zuylen van Nijevelt, took over the estate. He did that because a businessman might buy it. Philip: « My father always said: » My wife is not for sale, my wedding ring is not for sale and Duinrell is not for sale. « 

During the youth of both Philip and his son Hugo, everything revolved around Duinrell. Philip: « If you have a company like ours, then of course that is something you always talk about at the kitchen table. My mother sometimes went crazy about it. She said, » Not always Duinrell, Duinrell, Duinrell. « 

As a boy, Philip and his father visited other parks. Or he went to fairs, including in the United States. Even when he worked for another company, he kept a bond with the park. « If a new attraction was opened, I always went to the park. Yet it was a surprise when my father asked me to come and work here. »

A little guilty, Philip canceled his job. His employer was less surprised, says De Duinrell-Volg. « Ah Philip, we knew it would happen once, » said his boss. That is now 32 years ago.

Facet

« Your father is first your father, then he becomes a buddy. And then your boss and colleague. You experience all facets, » says Philip about working with his father: Hugo Senior. « He was a very nice man, young at spirit. But you also saw that two generations do a lot of things differently. »

The company grew. And while his father was used to doing a lot himself, Philip placed a management layer between owner and implementation. « My father found that difficult in the beginning. After that he was proud. » Count Hugo died in 2018, at the age of 88.

His father did a lot by feeling and Philip actually. He can, however, put out surveys among visitors. To test whether ideas catch on. « It is a confirmation, or a motivation to pick up things. So you do it by feeling, but you check it a bit. »

You sometimes have a feeling or idea and I like to find out if that feeling is really true

The most remarkable example of that acting on feeling is the Tikibad, a swimming paradise following an American example. Hugo invested two annual transmission in the Waterpark, which was built in 1984. Philip: « I asked him if he didn’t stop sleepless nights. That didn’t happen to him. Of course it wouldn’t go wrong: he knew it was fun, right? »

And the financing used to be different, says Philip. « My father knew the bank, the bank knew him. He was so convinced and driven, they went along with that. » Philip would not dare like this. « It is a nice story, but it would not be wise now. If you make such an investment and it does not work, the company will come into the danger zone. »

Children

At Philips son Hugo it started to itch last year. He lived in Amsterdam, worked at Unilever in Rotterdam and caught himself that he often drove past Duinrell on the way back home. He has now bought his first attraction, at a fair in the United States. Construction will start this winter. What attraction it is, he still keeps secret.

Philip: « Working with your son is a privilege. I already notice that many employees think: you are the boss, but Hugo is the future. »

Where Philip still makes a lot of feeling, Hugo prefers to trust data. Philip points to a large screen in the office, an old gatehouse of the estate. Hugo put that down to show presentations.

Hugo: « That is a nice dynamic. You sometimes have a feeling or idea and I like to find out if that feeling is correct. »

I can do it a generation and then I have to transfer it to the next generation in a good way

Yet Hugo does not completely exclude his feelings. « I just got my first child. And I thought: how strange that we don’t really have facilities for that target group, parents with newborns. So I went to see how many children from under three come to Duinrell every year and what we can offer them. »

Duinrell receives around 1.4 million visitors a year. The amusement park has 110 permanent employment and about four hundred holiday and season forces. The estate covers 110 hectares, about half is now operated by the Duinrell company. The other half is forest and dune area.

The park has around forty attractions and several slides. Sometimes that goes wrong. After the water slide X-Stream was open at the beginning of 2010, a few people were injured. For example, an eighteen -year -old boy suffered a concussion and whiplash. The incidents were caused by Technical defects.

« With so many visitors a year, we realize very well that something can happen, » says Philip. « We do everything we can to ensure that the basis is in order, that your child can play safely here. » According to him, they look after each incident something wrong and how Duinrell could have prevented that.

Demolished

Your own vision for the future is still a bit premature, says Hugo. There are enough developments on the role. The Frogachtbaan, the symbol of Duinrell, is ‘Op’ after forty years and will be demolished after this season. It is actually the first attraction that really disappears. There will be a new frog sheet in return, purchased by Philip. « My last attraction, I think. »

Philip notices that visitors have become more critical. Queues create irritations. That is why Duinrell nowadays, inspired by Corona, has a maximum number of visitors per day. According to Philip, the company is therefore not missing out on sales. « We give a little less discount, which makes the average price higher. » There are fewer people, but they experience their day more pleasant, he says.

That Hugo now works at Duinrell, Philip does more than he expected. « Duinrell is not mine, I always say. I can do it a generation and then I have to transfer it to the next generation in a good way. »

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