Speaker Maikel Kruis first starts with a video to share that typical, fairy-tale Efteling experience with the visitors, who came in large numbers to his lecture. After this video, we switch to reality. BecauseMaikel Kruis is building seriously hard every day to make the Efteling a safer world. As Manager of Integral Safety, he has led the Integral Safety Department since 2023. With an entire team, he is working towards an ambitious goal: to become the safest village in the Netherlands. A safe environment in which employees and guests can work and stay. Supported by figures, he shows that this strategy delivers results.
Big with its own community
The Efteling is much more than just an amusement park. The total area covers some 400 hectares of land and includes hotels, vacation accommodation, solar panel park, Villa Pardoes, a golf course and facilities (including a café) for employees. That makes it a complex organization. "We are actually like a small village, with residents, facilities and our own community: the Eftelingers. Every day thousands of people visit the park and many guests also stay on the grounds. This creates a dynamic environment in which security requires a broad and multifaceted approach."
Mission with challenges
The Efteling was once founded with a social purpose: to offer people a place where they can forget everything for a while. That idea still forms the basis of the organization. In it, safety is not an end in itself, but a means to ensure continuity and experience. "Our mission is day after day to make the world of the Efteling safer. One of the biggest challenges is finding the right balance between visible security and the magic of the park, because you want to maintain that very experience. The presence of police or other emergency services can disrupt the experience, which is why a lot is done to handle incidents as much as possible out of sight of visitors," says Kruis.
The carefree day of guests must not be disrupted. The magic must remain."
Safety chain
To ensure safety structurally, the Efteling works according to a safety chain in which different phases succeed each other. This approach ensures that not only are incidents responded to, but that they are also actively worked on preventing them and providing good aftercare. "By making people responsible for aftercare, the chain runs much better," he says. Kuis also shows this in slides with clear numbers and colors. In 2022 there was a relatively high number of incidents (partly due to the period after corona when visitors had to get used to crowds and proximity. This led to tensions and riots). In the years since, there has been a clear decline of thousands fewer incidents on an annual basis. "By working differently and putting more emphasis on prevention, incidents have decreased significantly, while the number of visitors has increased. We are creating more calm, clarity and better cooperation."
Thick 9 from visitors
The success of the safety policy is evident not only from figures, but also from the experiences of visitors. Every year, a large representative number of guests give their opinions about their sense of safety during their visit. "Recently there has been a score of above nine. This year even already leaves a mark of no less than 9.24. Of course, we hope to maintain this. In fact, I invite everyone here in this room to come by our park to experience that feeling of safety for themselves," he exclaims spontaneously. "An unattended baby carriage just stays here - that says something about safety and culture," Cross adds.
Cooperation with emergency services
Fights, fires, resuscitations: it is sometimes daily business. Often, the Efteling can solve a lot itself. For example, its own personnel are trained to perform CPR themselves. "Cooperation with external emergency services plays an important role within the safety policy. Intensive contact and joint training have created a strong cooperation, where everyone knows what is expected of each other. So we only deploy external help in a targeted and efficient way. We have the knowledge of the park, they have the means - together we solve it. Guests' carefree day must not be disrupted. The magic must remain." Since 2015, Maikel Kruis has also been strengthening the police organization as a police volunteer. The valuable connection between his work at the Efteling and the local police is an added advantage here.
Unique look behind the scenes
The Efteling shows that safety and experience can go hand in hand. By thinking like a village, investing in prevention and cooperating with both internal and external parties, an environment has been created in which visitors feel safe and welcome. The decrease in incidents and the high rating of visitors confirm that this approach works. "Safety is invisible when it is well managed - and that is exactly the strength of the Efteling," he said.
This gave visitors to his lecture a unique insight into the safety organization behind the Efteling. "Normally we find it very important that the Efteling experience rules and not safety. Sharing this story is therefore special, because it is rare to talk openly - and outside the walls - about how we organize safety. This was the first time and probably the last." And with a final video about closing gates in a park full of magic, the Manager of Integral Security ends his contribution to eRIC.
Personal and shared mission
"What I like about this field is that so many people have the same intrinsic motivation: to make the world a little better and safer. I see this shared mission reflected in government, companies and scientists. I myself just brought children into this world. And the fact that in my current and connecting role I can and may make a contribution myself, ensures that I go to work every day with a lot of energy," she concludes enthusiastically.
