Eise Eisinga Planetarium fully booked daily since receiving World Heritage status
Since the Eise Eisinga Planetarium in Franeker was added to Unesco's World Heritage List, the Frisian Science Museum can hardly escape visitors. The interest is great and the number of visitors is steadily increasing.
Ja! Het Eise Eisinga planetarium is officieel Unesco werelderfgoed geworden! Vanochtend nam het World Heritage Committee een positief besluit. Wij zijn trots, en heel blij met deze erkenning voor het meesterwerk van Eise Eisinga, 20 jaar na de start van het werelderfgoed-traject. pic.twitter.com/4SId6kVJkP
— Eise Eisinga (@EiseEisinga) September 19, 2023
About a month ago, the planetarium was awarded the title of Unesco World Heritage Site. Since then, it has been fully booked one day in advance. "It's extraordinary," director Adrie Warmenhoven told Omrop Fryslân. The Frisian Planetarium, which has room for 480 visitors a day, has been operating at full capacity since the designation and has been packed every weekend.
After all, the newly received status brings a lot of curiosity. Not only the Frisians took notice, but also the rest of the Netherlands. According to Warmenhoven, it was reported in all media, be it talk shows, newspapers, or on the radio. Therefore, he is not too surprised by the boost in visitors, he told Omrop Fryslân.
One visitor told the station he immediately ordered tickets online when he heard about the World Heritage designation, NOS wrote.
The planetarium's director expects more foreign visitors to start coming in 2024. "It often takes a little longer. It depends, for example, on when tour operators and travel agencies include us in their programs. I think it will start next spring."
Despite the new status, Warmenhoven doesn't want to rest on it."We are now discussing how we will promote the status. For example, we provide education by supplying materials to schools. And we are thinking about how we can make our location even more attractive for domestic and foreign visitors," he told Omrop Fryslân.