Amsterdam is grappling with the repercussions of mass tourism. In fact, the city is suffering from a 'tourism surplus', with large numbers of tourists causing annoyance to local residents. Inholland University of Applied Sciences, the North Amsterdam Tourism Industry Platform (TOP) and Pakhuis de Zwijger decided it was high time to exchange knowledge. The partners joined forces to organise the Fair Tourism Urban Conference during the WeMakeThe.City (WMTC) festival in Amsterdam.

Sustainable co-creation innovations from cities throughout Europe will be presented at the Fair Tourism conference in the afternoon of Tuesday 18 June. The event will explore Amsterdam – and, more specifically, Amsterdam-Noord – from an international perspective. Amsterdam will need all its stakeholders to take responsibility and develop more inclusive and sustainable forms of tourism. How can local businesses, local government agencies and residents work together to change the way tourists spend their time and money in the city?

Digital nomadism
The day's first keynote speaker Claudio Milano, lecturer and researcher at the Ostelea School of Tourism & Hospitality in Barcelona, sees the boundaries between tourists and local residents blurring: we are seeing the rise of digital nomadism, whereby new, temporary residents flow into our cities and countries.

Charles Landry, an author and international advisor on the future of cities, also makes reference to a nomadic world: a growing number of people are travelling the globe. Businesspeople, refugees, students, tourists. Our notions of space, location and time are in flux. For example, public spaces are increasingly multifunctional and can no longer be pigeon-holed in terms of design or image. As a case in point, he mentions a Berlin bank designed to look like a meditation centre. These days, we also tend to spend more time in the virtual world than the physical one.

Meaningful encounters
Rather than focusing on the obvious problems of mass tourism, Landry takes a broader view: "How do we create meaningful encounters and relationships in a transforming world? What do we take from our environment, and what do we have to give in return?' Cities that currently hold less appeal to ambitious modern-day nomads can take fate into their own hands. 'Find your unique niches!' This will help ensure a more even distribution of travellers and residents. The two men both envisage a key role for governance. 'The political field isn't keeping pace with the changes around us", Landry explains.

The keynote speeches will be followed by contributions from Fairbnb and www.untouristguide.com, two initiatives that benefit the city and local economy. Ewout Versloot of Rotterdam and Partners will share his experiences with Rotterdam's new tourism policy, which is primarily focused around the city's needs and tourists' potential contribution to these goals. Various special projects have been established as a part of this strategy.

A home for creators
Everyone head for Amsterdam-Noord! Eva de Klerk of TOP Amsterdam-Noord explains: "We are a home to creators and many community-based initiatives. These ideas tend to attract various subcultures once they start to take shape." While she would also like to see new tourism policies, she feels these should be co-designed by the community. "We want a seat at the table in order to develop policies with municipal authorities, businesses and other stakeholders."

TOP assigned Inholland Tourism students to develop a profile of visitors to Amsterdam-Noord. As student Coen van der Meer explains, their research showed that visitors generally don't read up on Amsterdam-Noord before visiting. They basically come to see the IAMSTERDAM letters, A'DAM Tower and Eye museum, and have no idea about the other sights and activities. The students advised TOP to create a hotspot next to the Eye film museum, with features such as a large playground, fountain or arts centre.

IJamaze
Another group of students developed ‘IJamaze’, a platform that allows tourists and local residents to take part in joint activities. "Tourists get to experience an authentic part of Amsterdam-Noord, while local residents have a sense of ownership over the activities", explains student Kathleen Umbdenstov.

The conference ended with a panel debate on potential solutions to Amsterdam's tourist surplus: should we simply restrict tourism in certain areas? Perhaps we should make more efforts to involve residents in local activities? The issues prove difficult to resolve: plenty of room for further debate, in other words.

Anne’s research project focused on inclusive tourism: ‘This is an innovative tourism concept developed and applied by the ITC, the joint development agency of the United Nations and the World Trade Organization. It aims to enhance the competitiveness of the tourism sector in least developed regions such as Kayah State. Inclusiveness is achieved by working along the tourism value chain: integrating local producers and Myanmar inbound tour operators, strengthening Myanmar government institutions related to tourism and also promoting the region in international markets. The main beneficiaries are the local people of Myanmar, among them the inhabitants of Kayah State, one of the least developed regions in the country.’

Anne was asked to compile a report that explained the applied methodology of the tourism concept, its results and lessons learned and how it benefitted the stakeholders. ‘ITC uses the report I’ve written to showcase their project to potential future donor countries – in the case of Kayah State that was The Netherlands – and to share this knowledge with other experts in the tourism industry who might seek to replicate their innovative approach.’

Demanding thesis research
‘Why did I choose to study in Diemen? I wanted to study in English, and during my travels I’d met Dutch people who told me I could do an entire Bachelor’s course in English in the Netherlands. I liked Amsterdam and the programme. I also did an exchange semester in Mexico and an internship in Jerusalem during my studies.’

So impressed were Anne’s teachers with the highly ambitious and complex scope of Anne’s thesis research, which she carried out in the Netherlands, Switzerland and during a six-week stay in Myanmar, that they awarded it a perfect score. It was the first time in its history that the Inholland Tourism Department awarded a 10 for a final Bachelor’s thesis, but it was wholly merited by Anne’s outstanding performance as a tourism student. Not only that, Anne was subsequently chosen to receive a competitive VSBfonds scholarship to pursue a Master’s degree.

Future in conflict management
During her internship in Jerusalem, Anne worked for MEJDI Tours, a tour operator founded by a Jew and a Palestinian that runs trips to Israel and Palestine and promotes peacebuilding. Anne feels the experience she gained while working there to be very meaningful, and that inspired to return to Israel after graduation. Now, she is doing a Master’s in Conflict Resolution and Mediation. ‘I’m just starting to write my MA thesis about state policy influence on reproductive rights in Rwanda. I think this is important because women everywhere should be able to have control over their own bodies. After this, I would like to continue working in research and hopefully go on to do a PhD.’

Dark Tourism is the collective name for all travel to special places that are somehow connected to death, suffering or the apparent macabre. Examples include battlefields, cemeteries, prisons and even so-called ‘Torture Museums’.

The Conference saw more than 80 participants travel to Diemen to exchange knowledge and be brought up to date on the latest developments. They represented universities from the United Kingdom, Japan, the Arab Emirates, Turkey, Ireland, the United States of America, Slovenia, Mexico, Germany, Malta, Belgium and Lithuania, while interest from within the Netherlands was also substantial.

Keynotes and presentations
Professor Philip Stone of the University of Central Lancashire and director of The Institute for Dark Tourism Research (IDTR) shared his vision on dealing with death in daily life and within tourism in general. Doctor Rami Isaac of the NHTV Centre for Sustainability, Tourism and Transport, took a more in-depth look at this phenomenon and how it is regarded in the Middle East and in Palestine in particular. Nine students and alumni from the Tourism Management programme in Diemen and Rotterdam gave a presentation on their completed and ongoing research into dark tourism.

Participants could also take part in dozens of workshops on various themes related to dark tourism. These included a presentation of research results regarding the motivations of visitors of slums in South America and India (slum tourism) or, for instance, a workshop on the balance between commemoration and commercialisation. After the formal segment on the second day of the congress, participants engaged in an afternoon excursion during which they not only visited the ‘dark sides’ of Amsterdam, but also the Amsterdam Dungeon.

Challenging content
The reactions at and during the congress were very enthusiastic. Exchange student Lauren of the Erasmus University Rotterdam found the occasion 'very useful for research purposes with good substantive discussions'. Nijad, who gave a presentation on his research into cemetery tourism in London, spoke of 'a challenging event that motivated me to make the most of the experience'. Teachers Wendy and Bianca stated that 'the fascination with death is only dark if that is how you yourself experience it'.

The Dark Tourism Conference was organised in collaboration with the Institute for Dark Tourism Research (IDTR) and Atlas (Association for Tourism & Leisure Education & Research).