What happened with the Netherlands destroying millions of flowers? What is the reason?

It is currently the tulip blooming season. According to foreign media reports, on March 22, suppliers to the national flower market in the Netherlands were forced to destroy millions of flowers in a single day. So, what's the matter with the Netherlands destroying millions of flowers? What is the reason?

Netherlands destroys millions of flowers

1. What happened with the Netherlands destroying millions of flowers?

As the epidemic spreads, romance has become meaningless. Correspondingly, the Dutch flower market has lost out in the competition with daily necessities. According to a report by the European Union Network citing the European Union News Agency on the 22nd, due to the impact of the new crown pneumonia epidemic, the national flower market in the Netherlands has encountered the biggest crisis in a century, and suppliers have been forced to destroy millions of flowers in a single day. It is reported that it is currently the tulip blooming season, and the global demand for flowers has dropped sharply due to the new crown pneumonia epidemic, causing the Dutch flower market to suffer the worst crisis in a century.

2. Why did the Netherlands destroy millions of bouquets of flowers?

The Royal Netherlands Bulb Flower Growers Association pointed out that with the spread of the new coronavirus in continental Europe, European consumers currently seem to be more keen on buying food and daily necessities, and flowers are no longer a necessity in people's lives. Now people need toilet paper to cope with the epidemic, and flowers have become insignificant in people's lives.

Van Hee, spokesman for the Royal Botanical Gardens Group, a large Dutch flower wholesale market, said that in the face of reduced demand in the flower market, the only solution is to destroy these flowers. Klein, chairman of the Royal Dutch Bulb Flower Growers Association, said the outbreak of the new coronavirus epidemic has caused the closure of a large number of flower shops and businesses. The crisis will make it the worst time of the year for tulip growers.

On the afternoon of March 22nd local time, the Dutch health department issued the latest report stating that in the past 24 hours, there were 573 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 43 new deaths in the Netherlands; as of that time, a total of 4,204 cases had been confirmed in the Netherlands, with a total of 179 deaths. Since not every suspected infected person will be arranged to undergo nucleic acid testing, the Dutch health department estimates that the actual number of infections will be higher than the number of reported confirmed cases.

It is understood that the flower industry is a pillar industry in the Netherlands. The Netherlands cultivates approximately 9 billion flower bulbs each year, with annual exports reaching 10 billion euros, accounting for approximately 60% of the global market. Tulips are the most widely grown flower in the Netherlands, accounting for 47% of total flower production. More importantly, behind the pillar of the flower industry is the tourism industry.

Relying on its unique tourist resources such as tulips and windmills, the Netherlands attracts a large number of foreign tourists. It is understood that about 18 million people traveled to the Netherlands in 2017, which exceeds the total population of the Netherlands. Previously, tourism development in Western Europe had stagnated, but the Netherlands was an exception, with foreign tourists increasing by 5.5% year-on-year in 2016. Last September, the Netherlands Living Environment and Infrastructure Advisory Committee also directed its criticism at the Dutch government, believing that the Dutch government had not paid enough attention to the tourism industry and had not guided its growth in the right direction in the future. The committee said the number of tourists to the Netherlands has grown rapidly over the past decade and will continue to grow significantly in the coming years. Tourism in the Netherlands generates as much revenue as construction and twice as much as agriculture.

Today, the spread of the epidemic is a shock to the world's tourism industry. The World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) said on March 13 that due to the epidemic, global tourism revenue may drop by 25% in 2020, threatening 50 million tourism-related jobs, including 30 million in Asia, 7 million in Europe, and 5 million in the Americas. If global tourism revenue drops by 25%, 12%-14% of tourism workers will lose their jobs. The association's general manager Virginia Messina called on governments to simplify visa procedures and reduce tourism tariffs. She also called on the industry to operate flexibly and allow travelers to postpone rather than cancel their trips. The tourism industry is said to account for 10% of global GDP and jobs.