The Floriade 2022 will end with an estimated deficit of 103.3 million euros. That amount emerges from an analysis of the provisional final settlement of the Floriade, the Almere Municipal Executive writes in a letter to the city council. The municipality is responsible for the shortfall.
The annual accounts have yet to be adopted by the general meeting of shareholders of the Floriade, but the Board is now announcing the provisional amount because the council had previously been promised that there would be clarity in April.
Never again Florida
The Floriade suffered mainly from the absence of sponsors and severely disappointing visitor numbers. It had been anticipated that 2 to 3 million visitors would arrive, but less than 700,000 came. It was one of the main reasons for the National Horticultural Council to decide at the beginning of this month never to organize a Floriade again.
It also proved very difficult to find sponsors for the world horticultural exhibition, especially after more and more reports of problems in the run-up to the event.
Court case
Almere won the Floriade in 2012. At the time, the municipality thought that a contribution of 10 million euros would be sufficient. That amount has been increased over the years, but it was only after the Floriade 2022 that the deficit would exceed 100 million euros. A court case is still pending about the construction of a residential area on the Floriade site. It is not yet known when the Almere city council will talk about the millions shortfall.
