Tulip Fever Grips Holland

AMSTERDAM, Holland, April 29, 2007 — -- Stuck in swollen traffic around Keukenhof, southwest ofAmsterdam, Peter Almekinders cursed what he saw as one of the few drawbacks of the Dutch tulip season: tourist buses.

"I find it really annoying," said Almekinders, 22, a resident of neighboringVoorhout and a pilot working out of the nearby Schipol International Airport.

"During [tulip season], it takes my father 20 minutes longer to get to work. It'sa problem," he said.

Like Holland's renowned cheeses and wooden clogs, its tulips have earned thisnorthern European nation an international reputation.

The landscaped flowergardens at the Keukenhof attract 700,000 tourists each year, making itthe most popular attraction in the country, according to its Web site.

But what's great for tourism isn't always great for locals. And as streams oftourists pour in for views of multicolored fields, locals like Almekinders areleft helpless in their traffic wake.

For most of this country's 16 million people, the horde of tourists on their petalpilgrimage are out of view.

The tulips, along with the crocuses, narcissus andhyacinths, grow in the sandy soil found only in the Bollenstreek, the "bulbarea" area between Amsterdam and The Hague.

For residents of the region, however, the colorful shine of blossoming buds canquickly lose its appeal.

"It's always so crowded," said Judith Korbee, a lifelong resident of the Bollenstreek. "None of my friends have been there and we all live here. But I don't hate to see the tulips, it is just nonsense that they make such a fuss about oneflower."

But many other residents, including Almekinders, still love the tulip seasondespite the drawbacks of tourist frenzy.

"I started to appreciate it only when I got a little bit older. I love the smell and the view. … I'm proud of it and my grandfather was a grower," Almekinders said.

Other residents point to different reasons for disliking the tulip trade. Mostcommonly, the Dutch bemoan the stereotypes applied to them abroad. It's not theflowers, they say, just the reputation that comes with them.

"You always get asked about it overseas -- that's the downside," said HannekeLommerse, currently a resident of Amsterdam but originally from Warmond.

"It's the stereotype that you live in a [wind]mill, walk in wooden shoes and aresurrounded by tulips."

Korbee agreed. "Everybody overseas. … That's the image they would like to create ofus."

But no matter how hard Dutch residents want to distance themselves fromtheir international image as the tulip people, they fight anuphill battle.

Murari Jha, an Indian tourist, remarked that "people in India know theNetherlands by the tulip because there are lots of tulip gardens in Bollywoodmovies."

"So when I decided to come to the Netherlands, everybody told me I would have to go and visit the tulips," she said.

And with Bollywood spreading the word, the Dutch can be sure, the tourists,their traffic and their stereotypes aren't disappearing anytime soon.