A household name in the region
For more than 60 years now, Rederij van Hulst has been providing boat trips, while specializing in culinary round trips and boat-trip parties for up to 250 guests. Since its start, the company has grown into a household name for boat events in the region. The company has been pleased to also welcome an increasing number of international tourists on board. In the past few years, the cruise-line company has grown considerably. By building new boats, the company has been able to renew and extend the fleet. In Katwijk, a location was converted into a shipyard for own use, including a dock for maintenance of the company’s own boats. Since 1 January 2018, Groene Hart Cruises from Leiden/Leiderdorp has been incorporated into the company’s organization. Hans and Sonja Bosma of Groene Hart Cruises continue to be closely involved in the developments of Rederij van Hulst. Hans says, “After our merger with Rederij van Hulst, we have grown into a wonderful cruise-line company with a great offering of boat trips throughout the season.”
In 2019, Rederij van der Meer (along with their website varendfeesten.nl) too became part of the company. Gert-Jan Nell, managing director of Rederij van Hulst, explains, “By investing in expansion we have been able to complete our coverage in the region and of all cruising companies in the Groene Hart (the green heart of Holland) we have the most boarding points, including Warmond, Leiden, Leiderdorp, Lisse, Noordwijk, Noordwijk-Binnen, Sassenheim, Katwijk aan Zee and Roelofarendsveen. We are proud to have achieved all this and face the future with confidence.”
Family business
Originally, Rederij van Hulst was a real family business. Before other partners joined the company a few years ago, Mr and Mrs Van Hulst had worked hard to build the company for more than 40 years. In 2016, Mrs Van Hulst retired. Mr. Van Hulst still works for the company, together with the new cruise-line partners. His thorough knowledge and experience in the cruising business are of great value.
Welcome on board on behalf of the team of Rederij van Hulst: Gert-Jan, Juul, Henk, Hans, Sonja, Peter, Dennis and Chantal.