Efteling theme park in the Netherlands welcomed 4.68 million visitors during 2015, up on the 4.4 million guests received in the previous year.

According to the park, which is located near Tilburg in the south of the country, the increase in visitor numbers was due to the launch of a new attraction, Baron 1898, and the Efteling Bosrijk holiday village.

“With this increase in visitor numbers we have made an important step towards the five million visitors we would like to welcome in 2020,” said Fons Jurgens, president of the Efteling board of directors.

“Last year’s investments in the new attraction Baron 1898 and in our holiday village increase our capacity and prove to be successful. We have set ourselves the target to grow into an international destination instead of a one-day attraction.”

Jurgens added: “The efforts we made for this are paying off in the increase in overnight stays and the number of visitors from abroad compared to last year. Finally, the very nice weather certainly also played its part.”