From wet hair to a year-round destination: Lalandia puts Lolland-Falster on the map

When Lalandia opened in Rødby in 1988, it was first and foremost a place where Danish families with children could head indoors when the weather turned cold and wet. But it soon became clear that the experience could be expanded.

- After visiting the water park, guests had to go back out into the cold with wet hair. So we realised that we wanted to extend the experience. In 2000, we made a major change: We began connecting all our buildings with indoor arcades, turning it into an indoor town with restaurants and shops, says Jan Harrit, CEO of Lalandia.

Since then, Lalandia has grown with more resorts and a steady stream of new activities. But the basic idea remains the same: families should want to spend time together.

We need each other more than ever

Although the wishes of families with children may not have changed dramatically over the years, the need for shared experiences has grown, Jan Harrit believes. At home, family members can easily be under the same roof without really spending time together.

- That is exactly why Lalandia tries to create a setting for being together. The sense of connection you get when you do activities together, play board games and simply have time together. That is one of the things we are good at.

Bowling and mini-golf remain popular activities, but according to Jan Harrit, the value lies in more than the activity itself. It is also about the memories families take home with them. Today, the company welcomes guests who themselves holidayed at Lalandia as children.

Now they return with their own children – and increasingly with the grandparents as well. In that way, Lalandia has become a destination for several generations at once.

Guests should experience more than Lalandia

Lalandia’s importance also extends beyond the holiday resort itself. Rødby is not somewhere Danes necessarily pass by by chance. Even so, Lalandia has attracted both Danish and international visitors to the area over the years, and once guests are on Lolland, the company wants to show them that there is more to experience.

- We are pleased that we can help generate turnover here on Lolland-Falster, create jobs and present the area in a positive way. That is something we are proud of, says Jan Harrit.

Although Lolland-Falster is sometimes spoken about in negative terms, Lalandia sees an area full of people, businesses and initiatives with ambitions. The company wants to help strengthen that more optimistic story. Not least through the many young people who get their first job at Lalandia and later take that experience with them.

At the same time, the company aims to be a workplace with room for people who may find it more difficult to gain a foothold in the labour market. This includes employees in flexible and supported jobs, as well as people who for one reason or another have been away from the labour market.

The next chapter could be written by Fehmarn

When the Fehmarn link opens, Lolland will be connected more closely with Central Europe. That could create new opportunities for Lalandia, but also a new challenge: giving the many travellers a reason to stop.

- You never know how it will develop, because the tunnel is open at both ends. So it may also be that people coming from the north simply drive straight past, the CEO explains.

Lalandia is already considering how to encourage more of them to stop. An area on the other side of the road, currently used as a temporary accommodation village for workers on the Fehmarn project, is planned to be converted into a campsite.

At the same time, Lalandia has just opened its new Adventure World, which the CEO describes as one of the resort’s major developments.

- We have taken an old sports hall and transformed it into an entirely new world of experiences. So instead of being somewhere you might have played badminton, we have created a complete jungle universe with all kinds of activities. There are lights and sounds that create the feeling of being in a jungle, so it is a complete experience.

Although much has already changed at Lalandia since it opened in 1988, there are no plans to put development on hold.

- We will continue to rethink the experience, because our guests should always have a reason to come back, Jan Harrit concludes.