Monnickendam is a town located between the tourist villages of Volendam and Marken. Not many people know the city from the fish smokehouses and ‘Jan Haring’ and there are hardly any tourists to be found, while it is just as picturesque as the surrounding villages. Why is it that the city on the Gouwzee is not visited? And are the Monnickendam residents waiting for buses full of tourists? Our Monnickendam reporter Isabel Kouwenoord found out.
For centuries, the villages of Volendam and Marken have been known as one of the biggest attractions in our country. By the growth of tourism in Amsterdam – the city is now even fuller than before corona – the number of visitors in Volendam and Marken is also increasing. Tourists from the Netherlands and abroad make the round of Amsterdam, Zaandam, Volendam and Marken in overcrowded buses. Monnickendam is not often visited. There are several reasons for this.
Past
The first reason is linked to the past. “Volendam has had a tourist name for centuries, partly due to the fishing industry and the art in Hotel Spaander,” says Janine Klein of Stichting Promotie Waterland. “In the 18th century, the old fishing villages around the Zuiderzee, such as Volendam, were discovered by artists. Tourism got off to a good start then.” The same applies to Marken, where Sijtje Boes was very progressive in the field of tourism for her time.
In addition, little has been done for a long time to put Monnickendam on the map. “In recent years, more has been invested in tourism. We work together with the ‘Small Town Harbors’† These are other fishing villages on the IJsselmeer, such as Edam. In this way we strengthen each other and spread the tourist flow.” The Waterland Promotion Foundation receives a subsidy from the municipality of Waterland to run the VVV information point and publish new brochures. According to Klein, that is very important. “Monnickendam is a hospitable city. Tourists should be welcomed in a friendly manner and have a good time. Then people come back.”
“Monnickendam would like to receive more tourists, but is completely unsuitable for mass tourism”
According to Janine Klein, Monnickendam’s location is advantageous. “Monnickendam would like to receive more tourists, but it is completely unsuitable for mass tourism. The bars are too small, the streets too narrow.” The city on the Gouwzee therefore prefers to focus on the individual tourist, people with time.
No time
Tim Teffer, owner of Rent & Event in Volendam, also notices this. Rent & Event rents out bicycles and scooters to various B&Bs in Monnickendam. “We often send tourists to Monnickendam. It is located along a beautiful cycling route. Residents are not bothered by the individual tourist. They cycle, stroll through the old center, have lunch and then leave again.” Hordes of tourists, as we now see in Volendam and Marken, don’t seem like anything to the owner of the rental company. “Then more facilities have to be built, such as bus stops. And the arrival of more B&Bs can affect the housing market. There will be fewer houses left for the residents.”
Why is Monnickendam always skipped by the overcrowded tourist buses? Teffer has a logical explanation for this: “Tourists simply do not have time to visit Monnickendam. The mass tourist wants to see everything in one day, from the Amsterdam canals to the Zaanse Schans. The Volendam Marken Express takes tourists from Volendam to Volendam within half an hour. Marken – and vice versa. Monnickendam just doesn’t fit in the program.”
Due to the corona pandemic, the most recent figures on tourism are not available. The municipality of Waterland expected in 2015 in the ‘Tourist Vision 2015-2025’ that the number of visitors would increase by approximately 25 percent: from 600,000 visitors in 2015 to 750,000 visitors in 2021.
According to figures from Stichting Promotie Waterland, more than 8,336 tourists visited the Monnickendam tourist information point in 2019. 52 percent of these were international, 35.6 percent were Dutch and 12.4 percent were residents of Waterland.
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