The City of Rotterdam has come to the forefront of the 2020 Eurovision Host City race today as the province of South Holland will reportedly contribute a substail sum of 1 million euros in order to back the city’s Eurovision bid. Hotel prices in the city have sky rocketed too according to local media reports.

The Province of South Holland is set to make a hefty contribution to Rotterdam if it holds the 2020 Eurovision Song Contest, thus making the city’s Eurovision candidacy even stronger.

The Eurovision Song Contest offers opportunities for the entire province and with this financial contribution there is some guarantee that the organization will be able organize this world-famous event in Rotterdam according to the province.

VVD member Rense Weide would like to see the visitors (circa 20,000 people are expected ) and think that the song contest can have many beneficial effects:

Hundreds of millions of people watch it every year. A golden opportunity to promote and showcase South Holland’s scenic landscapes and towns such as Kinderdijk, Keukenhof, the cheese town of  Gouda and the Royal City of The Hague. For example in the presentation postcards that are filmed to introduce the candidates.

Hotel prices soar in Rotterdam

Although the arrival of the Eurovision Song Contest to Rotterdam is far from certain, Rotterdam hotels are already counting their eggs as room prices have soared for the potential period in May. During the alleged Eurovison  weekend, some hotels are already charging hundreds of euros more for a room. Moreover, the supply is limited because companies have promised thousands of rooms to organize the mega event in May 2020.

The City of The Hague which is in close proximity has also offered its hotels to accommodate the large amount of visitors who will come to Rotterdam, if the city win the bid to host the 2020 Eurovision Song Contest.

At the request of Rotterdam Partners, the Rotterdam hotels and those in the area have blocked a total of 3,000 rooms for the delegations, Eurovision production team and accredited media, an important part of the bid book.

May and September are busy months for Rotterdam as various congresses and seminars are held in the city during that the period. The fact that 3,000 rooms have been blocked from 02-16 May in the city for Eurovision has led to the rise of hotel prices for the remaining available rooms during that period, due to the limited availability.

The 2020 Host City Bid Process

Initially a total of nine cities applied to host the 2020 Eurovision Song Contest, but only six remain in the battle now.

A total of six Dutch cities/regions are in the 2020 Host City  race: 

• Amsterdam
• Rotterdam
• Utrecht
• Maastricht / Limburg,
• Arnhem 
• Den Bosch

Breda withdrew its application yesterday, following Leeuwarden and The Hague who have also decided not to proceed with their bids. The remaining candidates have until 10 July 2019 to submit their respective proposals to the organization via the so-called bidbook. The 2o20 ESC Host City is expected to be unveiled in August.

The Netherlands will have the grand honour of hosting the 2020 Eurovision Song Contest thanks to Ducan Laurence‘s magnificent victory in Tel Aviv last May.