André Rieu, one of the most famous musicians of the world was born and raised in Maastricht. André’s life is music, music is what he is always passionate about. As a child he was already fascinated by the world of music at a very early age. His dream is to make the whole of classical music accessible for everyone. André Rieu: “I hope I may be given many more years to make people happy with my music!”
André Rieu and his Johan Strauss Orchestra give concerts all over the world among which city’s such as Santiago, Barcelona, Munich, London, Lisbon and many more. Every year André Rieu also gives his famous concerts on the Vrijthof, the most famous square in the city centre of Maastricht. The concerts take place for four days, three weeks on a row. Every year the city of Maastricht is booming, as soon as André Rieu kicks off his concerts!
When you’re visiting Maastricht during the Rieu concerts the city screams Rieu, but that’s not the only reason why Maastricht in booming during the Rieu concerts. In a recent study on behalf of the Municipality of Maastricht and carried out by Zuyd University of applied science, the actual value and economic spin-off of the Rieu concerts has been researched. The results of this research are amazing as the research shows that in the year 2018 the Rieu concerts attracted 152.900 visitors to the Vrijthof and the surrounding terraces. Half of them came from the Netherlands, the rest mainly from Germany, Great Britain and Belgium. Per series of concerts, the visitors leave a total of 29.603.000 euros in de city of Maastricht. The organization of André Rieu Productions also leaves money behind in Maastricht, namely 490.000 euros per year, which makes the total economic spin-off of the Rieu concerts for the city of Maastricht 30.145.000 euros per year.
On behalf of Maastricht, Hospitality alderman of Maastricht, John Aarts is very impressed by these numbers. “Of course, we already knew that the Rieu concerts were very valuable to the city of Maastricht, but the actual figures that are now known are absolutely impressive”. André Rieu himself is especially proud of the spin-off of his concerts: “I am very happy that we make so many visitors, from the Netherlands and all other places around the world, happy with our concerts every year. And of course, I am proud that the concerts generate international recognition for the beautiful city of Maastricht”.
Source: WijLimburg
