From Dina Tersago to Erik Van Looy: the BVs were welcomed on Friday evening by a broadly smiling and approachable Carl Lenaerts. The new CEO was chosen by Hans Bourlon and Gert Verhulst – the bosses of parent company Studio 100 – to make Plopsa’s corporate culture healthy again. Previous CEO Steve Van den Kerkhof was fired exactly a year ago after complaints about toxic leadership. There was an unsustainable workload, humiliation and a divide and rule policy.
Carl Lenaerts is known for a completely different approach, which he already used with previous employees such as Kinepolis and Club Brugge. “These are ‘love brands’, brands that contain a lot of emotion, sentiment and experience. I feel attracted to that and Plopsa fits in perfectly with that,” says Lenaerts. “I knew Plopsa for a while, because we had a collaboration with our outdoor cinemas at Kinepolis during the corona period. There was already a good connection with Hans Bourlon and Gert Verhulst. But it did require study work and many conversations with the entire team. In the meantime, we have created a even creative think tank, which meets every month and a half to shape all long-term plans.”
Staff from Suriname
After the dismissal of his predecessor, Koen Peeters and Koen Clement temporarily took over the torch at Plopsa. When Carl Lenaerts came on board in October 2024, many fires had already been extinguished. “Because the emotion had already been channeled, we could quickly get back to the order of the day.” He is convinced that there is no lasting damage after last year’s disastrous news.
“I try to be in the parks often and sometimes also go on an attraction. People need to see that I am accessible”
Carl Lenaerts
CEO Plopsa De Panne
“Visitors want a fun day, that is the most important thing for them. Due to the expansion we are doing, we see many vacancies among our employees. But they are also filled quickly. That is because we have made our human capital one of the strategic pillars. As an employer, we now play a more prominent role in that area. We have students here, seasonal workers, but also people who have been on the payroll for years. Our ambition is to give everyone more experience in that process and enrich the job.”
“There will always be leavers, especially among young people,” Lenaerts realizes. “But then we want them to leave us with a better filled backpack. That requires investments, but people feel that they have opportunities here.”
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At the ‘Grand opening’, CEO Carl Lenaerts – together with the mayor from ‘Samson & Gert’ – himself welcomed his guests. — © Carlo Coppejans
While vacancies are quickly filled at, say, the indoor parks in Antwerp and Hasselt, this is proving more difficult in De Panne. A solution for this is in the making. “Draw a circle on the map with a compass at our branch in Antwerp and Hasselt and you will see how many people live there. Do that in De Panne and you will largely end up in the sea,” says Lenaerts. “We are on the West Coast, so for many young Flemish people that is too far for a holiday job. We are therefore also looking towards Northern France and are even talking about a ‘cross border’ to bring employees over from Suriname. Otherwise we won’t find enough people. That is why we are going to provide about a hundred sleeping accommodations. Students from Ghent do want to come if we give them accommodation.”
Youth sentiment
Carl Lenaerts is sure that the staff now greets visitors with a real smile. “I find it priceless to walk in here in the morning and see happy faces. I try to be in the parks often. If the queues allow it, I sometimes go to an attraction, but I mainly want to have a feeling with the visitors. And a direct line with the employees. People must be able to see that I am very accessible.”
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Carl Lenaerts: “I especially want to have a feel for the visitors and a direct line with the employees.” — © Carlo Coppejans
He hopes that the visitors who will flood into the park again from Saturday will forget the vicissitudes of last year and will especially pay attention to the new emphasis. “We focus more on experience. Our characters Bumba, Maya and Plop are becoming more accessible, including through extra shows. And this summer we will be presenting a new version of the Studio 100 musical Snow White and the Summer Revue by Gert Verhulst and James Cooke. This should encourage visitors to come to the park in the evening.”
“Our target group is families, not just traditional families. We notice that, with our 25th anniversary next season, a new generation is ready to come with their grandparents. The great thing is that the parents who were the first to experience Plopsaland almost 25 years ago are returning with their grandchildren. Groups of friends with children come to experience their childhood memories. We see many teenagers at the Bumba Ride, which opened last year, because Bumba was the first figure they grew up with.” Lenaerts recognizes himself in that nostalgia. “My daughters are 20 and 23, so when we were on the coast, my wife and I would regularly come here with the kids.”
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