The success story of Plopsaland, but at what price?
Plopsa grows into a great success story, thanks to Van den Kerkhof, among others, but after the testimonies of former employees, Studio 100 is now shutting it down.
In 1999, Studio 100 takes over the ailing amusement park Meli. In 2000, the park reopened as Plopsaland, with Steve Van den Kerkhof as financial director. He later becomes CEO. It is the start of an unprecedented success story. The number of visitors is almost fivefold, to 1.7 million last year. Plopsa now has ten amusement parks. Not only in our country, but also in the Netherlands, Germany, Poland and the Czech Republic.
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More than half of the Studio 100’s turnover comes from the amusement parks. Van den Kerkhof likes to put it in football terms: from fourth provincial Plopsa has climbed to the Champions League. But the success also has a downside, when former employees accuse him of bullying, humiliation and too much work pressure. It means the end of Steve Van den Kerkhof at Plopsa.