Declining visitor numbers for the Schuur after corona
For de Schuur, the expansion is a way to force growth. This is necessary because visitor numbers have declined in recent years. The Schuur received 217,000 visitors in 2019, a year later this was only 100,000. This decline was largely due to the corona epidemic. It was worrying that in 2023, after the epidemic, visitor numbers were still more than 25 percent lower than in 2019.
“That’s actually not surprising,” says Matla. “The FilmKoepel opened in 2022. Then exactly what we warned about happened. The FilmKoepel’s programming had similarities with our arthouse programming, so it was inevitable that we would feel that. In the meantime, the income from film is necessary to support our other activities, such as theatre.”
Does Haarlem have potential as a film city?
This situation led to a structural deficit of approximately half a million euros per year. With more visitors, and therefore more income, De Schuur wants to turn the tide. The council and a majority in the council support that plan. The municipality has reserved an amount of 3.3 million euros for the expansion.
Text continues below the photo.