Heineken Experience Reopens
TRENDS INNOVATIONS
The Heineken Experience in Amsterdam reopened for
business after months of renovation. The Heineken theme
park evokes the past and embraces the present.
World of Heineken 39 winter 2008/2009
Situated on the edge of Amsterdam's
seventeenth century historic district, the
Heineken Experience's exterior bears silent
witness to the long history of the Heineken
brand. The fagade of the original brewery,
built in 1868, still stands, flanked on both
sides by the sleek art deco expansion that was
added to it in 1930. These historical exteriors
still proclaim, in larger than life lettering,
that a brewery lies within. A neon-sign in
the middle, lining a recently constructed
glass door entrance, betrays the building's
new function as one of Amsterdam's biggest
tourist attractions.
Every year, close to half a million tourists
from around the globe flock to the Heineken
Experience, were the Heineken brand was
born so long ago. Gerard Adriaan Heineken's
mother laid the first stone of the building
in 1867, a mere three years after her son
founded the company.
This November, the Heineken Experience
reopened after an extensive renovation
carried out by the company that also
designed parts of Disneyworld, NASA's Cape
Canaveral and Universal Studios theme parks.
The result is a one-and-a-half hour wild ride
that teaches visitors all about how Heineken
is made. The Experience is exactly what the
name implies, engaging all the senses in the
process. Visitors can taste hops and barley,
feel the heat that is used to cook the wort and
sniff up the smell of malt that used to linger
around the neighbourhood when the brewery
was still up and running.
"I still remember that smell. It left no doubt to
what was going on behind those walls," Harry
Philippa recalls. Harry is one of the few people
involved in the Heineken Experience who can
still recall the time that the brewery was still
functioning.
Today Harry is manager of Heineken Internal
Services. As the original brewery's last
controller, he oversaw its demise in 1988. It
was Freddy Heineken himself who paved the
way for The Heineken Experience. Rather than
selling off the brewery, which his grandfather
had constructed, he decided to change it into
a welcome centre for corporate relations,
which would evolve into the Heineken
Experience in 2001.
Still heavy with history, the Heineken
Experience today holds a middle ground
between the times past and modernity. A
beer draughting robot, used by Heineken
scientists to measure the qualities of brews is
on display, side by side with the trowel used
by Gerard Heineken's mother to lay the first
brick in the nineteenth century. Visitors can
tape their own souvenir videos and email
them to friends on special terminals, but also
check out historic Heineken ads from times
past. A small menu from a 19th century hotel
recalls a time that Heineken was sold for
6 guilder cents a bottle, while a video wall
celebrates the long-time sponsorship of the
UEFA Champions League.
A fitting combination, says Harry, for a brand
with a distinguished history and a bright
future. "Heineken was born in Amsterdam,
and raised by the world. The story we tell
here, is one that has not yet come to an end."
www.heinekenexperience.com
