Toverland amusement park in The Netherlands closed March 14, with plans to reopen based on the Dutch government’s guidelines. The park’s communication manager Tessa Maessen shares how the park is handling the spread of the coronavirus.
How have you adapted operations to protect staff from the virus?
We follow all the measures given by the Dutch government for our staff: Wash your hands with soap regularly, cough and sneeze on the inside of your elbow, use paper handkerchiefs, do not shake hands, stay at home with symptoms of the common cold or flu, limit social contacts, keep a distance of at least 1.5 meters from each other.
On top of that, our hygiene protocols have been tightened: more cleaning, back office employees are allowed to work at home. To spread our employees better, we have different start times, different lunch breaks in multiple canteens (normally we use one canteen), and toilets per department.
Have you had to adapt your communication and marketing efforts to the public? If so, how?
We stopped most of our paid communication and marketing activities. At the moment, we use our social media channels to bring the magic of Toverland to the homes of our followers.
What have you learned from your experiences that would be valuable for other members to know?
It is not an easy decision to close the doors of your theme park. But we have the social responsibility to act according to our government guidelines. The health of our guests and staff comes first. But it only works if all the theme parks take their responsibility. Good communication with your staff about the measures you’ve taken as a park is also vital. It’s also very important to keep the staff and guests involved with the park, by letting them know that you miss them and organize activities for them.
