On Thursday 11 December, the public event Possibilities for Regenerative Tourism took place at Pakhuis de Zwijger. The gathering was part of a multi-day programme on regenerative tourism within the European ConnAct project, a collaboration between Pakhuis de Zwijger, the Municipality of Amsterdam and Inholland University of Applied Sciences. Researchers, students, policymakers and professionals came together to explore how tourism can contribute to urban liveability, wellbeing and social cohesion.

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Regenerative tourism: a different way of thinking and working

Central to the evening was the question of what regenerative tourism means in practice. Rather than a fixed definition, it was discussed as a different way of thinking and working: place-based, long-term, and rooted in close relationships with local communities and ecosystems. Regeneration was framed as a process that grows through hyper-local, small-scale experiments, in which learning, testing and co-creating with residents help build lasting value for place.

From theory to practice: pioneers and policy

Roos Gerritsma (Urban Leisure & Tourism Lab) reflected on regenerative thinking inspired by living systems and demonstrated how this approach is embedded in applied research and education. Anouschka Trauschke highlighted the role of regenerative pioneers in Amsterdam and the wider Metropolitan Region, where small-scale initiatives show how tourism can contribute to local value creation.

Concrete examples, including neighbourhood initiatives, locally rooted food projects and Buurthotel, illustrated how tourism can strengthen neighbourhood identity and social connection. The role of policy was also addressed, with the Municipality of Amsterdam emphasising the importance of trust and societal value over quick or easily measurable returns.

Regeneration also requires inner change

The evening also featured a short embodied intervention by researcher Jimena Diamint. Through a guided mindfulness exercise, participants were invited to reflect not only cognitively, but also physically and emotionally on their relationship to tourism, place and one another. This intervention explicitly connected regenerative tourism to inner change and shifts in mindset.

Learning and designing in the city

Students from the Urban Leisure & Tourism Lab presented projects from Amsterdam Noord, including a successful night market at Buikslotermeerplein, where local makers, projections and neighbourhood-based interventions were used to strengthen social connection, safety and pride of place.

Part of a multi-day programme

The event at Pakhuis de Zwijger was part of a broader programme. It followed a session at the Urban Leisure & Tourism Lab, presented by lab coach Zac Woolfitt, and was preceded by the Regenerative Tourism Hack: a mini-hackathon at Inholland University of Applied Sciences, organised and facilitated by ENSUT project manager Luca von Prittwitz and Jimena Diamint. During this session, students, researchers, professionals and EU partners explored how AI can contribute to a regenerative and inclusive visitor economy, and where alternatives are needed that place human connection, creativity and democratic values at the centre.

Regenerative tourism as a shared exploration

The evening demonstrated that regenerative tourism is not a buzzword, but a shared exploration that grows at the intersection of research, education, policy and practice.

More information and a recording of the event are available on the Pakhuis de Zwijger website.

With the Christmas break almost upon us, many people’s thoughts are turning towards a carefree getaway. But for people with disabilities it can be far from carefree. The degree of accessibility at the destination, the accommodation, and transportation are all aspects that they have to take into account. For many years Veroniek Maat ran a travel agency and worked on improving accessibility and inclusion. She’s now taken it a step further by doing a professional doctorate (PD) on the subject.

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Veroniek studied tourism at Wageningen University in the Netherlands and was able to do an internship in New Zealand. While she was there, she met a professor who was researching accessibility in the field of tourism, which made her question why this topic wasn’t covered in her own studies. “People with disabilities are often confronted with a double burden. They face obstacles while travelling, and there is little information available about accessibility during the journey and at the destination. It makes them unsure about what they can expect.” On her return to the Netherlands, the issue really bothered her. She wrote blogs about it and set-up a specialised travel agency called Accessible Travel Netherlands.

An obligation to be more inclusive
After ten years, Veroniek decided to transfer her company to another travel agency. Now, as a PD candidate at Inholland University of Applied Sciences, her current mission is to encourage the travel industry  to improve accessibility. “There are two types of travel companies,” she explains. “Some are specialists who focus exclusively on bespoke travel requirements, while others are regular travel agents who offer very little in this area.

And between the two is a sizeable gap in which people struggle with relatively expensive custom and accessible travel options. I intend to raise awareness in the mainstream travel industry about a moral and legal obligation they have to be more inclusive. After all, it also makes economic sense to make travel more inclusive, because now many potential travellers  are simply staying at home.”

National policy
The objective of Veroniek’s PD research is to make the mindset and offering of mainstream travel companies  more inclusive and to help specialised providers  to professionalize. “Stronger collaboration between both types of travel companies is key to closing the service gap for people with disabilities Veroniek has several interventions in mind that could help her achieve her objective. “At a macro level it’s about national policy, in which I am focusing on, among others, the Netherlands’ Ministry of Economic Affairs and the ANVR, which is the country’s travel-sector association.”

Travel agents and travellers
Together with the ANVR’s Platform Aangepaste Vakanties (Adapted Holidays Platform), Veroniek is collaborating with several travel agents to raise awareness and create educational tools,  e-learnings for example. She is also committed to supporting knowledge sharing between the specialized accessible travel agents. “And it goes without saying, of course, that I am also focusing on the travellers themselves,” she assures. “Creating a learning community , I am addressing individual travel challenges and emotions towards travelling and the travel industry.”

Adapted programme
Students in Inholland’s Tourism Management programme will also play a part in Veroniek’s research. “From this academic year onwards, the programme has been updated to include regenerative, smart, and inclusive tourism. Students can follow guest lectures from sector specialists and join field trips where they assess accessibility at locations such as hostels or event venues. These experiences not only deepen their awareness but also give them practical skills they can carry into their future careers — or use to highlight accessibility gaps within the industry.”

Systemic co-design
Working for the New Urban Tourism research group, Veroniek is developing a book aimed at raising awareness among professionals by offering practical tools to create accessible travel options. “The book an intervention in itself,” she explains, “and its impact is something I intend to investigate as part of my PD research.”

Her research approach is rooted in design thinking: she begins by defining the core problem, then develops and tests interventions with the stakeholders involved. “It’s also an example of systemic co-design — one in which, within a learning community of policymakers, travel agents, and people with disabilities, we address issues at the macro, organizational, and individual levels.”

Individuals, not the masses
The fact that she is bringing together a diverse group of people in the learning community can also be seen as an intervention — as well as a step toward raising awareness. “Too many people remain unaware of the challenges faced by individuals with disabilities. But once you have seen them, they cannot be unseen. My greatest hope is that the ongoing transition in tourism will place greater focus on individuals rather than the masses. Accessible travel for everyone is an essential part of exactly that.”

Read more about Veroniek's research project (in Dutch)

Last week, Roos Gerritsma, associate professor at ARC Research Center, presented the first phase of her Professional Doctorate (PD). This presentation serves as the foundation for her further PD trajectory towards urban regenerative tourism.

During a positive and constructive discussion, Roos reviewed her portfolio with professor Dr. Ko Koens (Inholland), professor Dr. Karoline Wiegerink (Hotelschool The Hague), senior project manager Anne Ruiter (Department of Land & Development at the Municipality of Amsterdam), and managing director of Insights & Marketing Strategy Maya Janssen RDM (amsterdam&partners).

Her portfolio covered all the steps she has taken in the areas of data management, in-depth studies, lab innovations, self-reflections, and her paper: Activating an urban regenerative tourism approach: practices and interventions via a living lab setting in Amsterdam North. This paper, which is both theoretical and practice-oriented, forms the basis for her further case study.

Roos Gerritsma: “I am now about a quarter of the way through my PD trajectory. Over the past 15 months, I have been able to elaborate on the core elements of my study, which are reflected in the title of my paper. During the assessment, this provided a great starting point for exchanging ideas from different perspectives. It also confirmed what I will be focusing on in the coming years, namely: the relationship between co-creating interventions – in this case, Amsterdam Noord – and how this can influence a more general, systemic level. I will test my Loops for Labs model and measure the impact and effects we achieve with it as Urban Leisure & Tourism Lab Amsterdam.”

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Roos Gerritsma and Donagh Horgan, lableads of the Urban Leisure & Tourism Lab in Amsterdam and Rotterdam, contributed to the newly released book Tourism Interventions: Making or Breaking Places. This book discusses ways to positively influence tourism. It provides students, researchers, and academics with new ideas on how to sustainably develop and manage tourism so that destinations can better withstand future challenges.

Roos and Donagh wrote Chapter 9 titled: ‘The Urban Leisure and Tourism Labs as Incubators for Sustainable Tourism Interventions: Sharing Insights from Educational Research Perspectives on Regenerative Placemaking in Amsterdam and Rotterdam.’ 

This chapter describes a case study in the Netherlands, where the first tourism living labs were established in Amsterdam and Rotterdam. These labs offer a unique environment for creating positive tourism interventions and involve a wide range of stakeholders. They encourage collaboration between the public, private, and community sectors, and view students as key partners. The chapter discusses the challenges and opportunities of the labs in their early years and showcases some of the most impactful ideas, such as the BMX-routes Zuidplein and the Inclusive Welcome Path. It emphasizes the importance of collaboration, experimentation, and continuous feedback for successful urban tourism interventions.

According to Frank Radstake of ANVR, developing a new sustainability ambition for the travel sector is important and urgent: “There is a political and social reality that we as travel companies have to deal with such as the Paris Climate Agreement, the blending obligations for airlines in 2030 and the UNWTO Glasgow Declaration. In addition, there are also moral and ethical reasons why we will have to work on this. Above all, there is also an economic necessity; if we want to continue to have a 'license to operate' in the future, we will have to undergo a transformation to a sector where intrinsic sustainability, equality and inclusiveness are the norm.”

Read the entire news release here.

On September 15 and 16, Guido Stompff, professor in Design Thinking, and Roos Gerritsma, associate professor in Societal Impact Design, were present at the SMARTDEST final conference in Barcelona, on behalf of the entire Inholland team that has been working on the Amsterdam case for this EU H2020 project for the past 3.5 years. Also on the team were our Creative Business Research Center colleagues Swen Waterreus, Ko Koens, Donagh Horgan and Ellen Bulthuis. 

On Friday, September 15, Roos presented the work that zooms in on insights gained around the unclear field of who all is (not) involved in developing new tourism policy. On the basis of almost 30 interviews with various stakeholders, it became evident that there is no clear picture about this and that this once again indicates the complexity of shaping such a policy. The obvious way to do this in the Netherlands is through participatory methods, but participants in such processes increasingly fail to see the point. ‘Cuckoo-clock participation’, in which a party comes to collect or bring information once, is not helpful either, but it is common. Congressmen from cities like Vienna, Lisbon, Naples and Barcelona recognized this. One of the questions we continue to ask from our Research Center is: how then? Can our Urban Leisure & Tourism Labs in Amsterdam and Rotterdam change this? Three policy makers from the City of Amsterdam also traveled with us; we will explore these questions with them in the coming years. 

On Saturday, Guido was the moderator of the public debate that was led by him around four central themes. Representatives from various backgrounds were invited, ranging from activists, scientists and journalists to the hotel industry, and managing director Maya Janssen participated from amsterdam&partners. Among other things, she explained that amsterdam&partners focuses on the common interest in helping to shape the city in which we want to live, work and recreate. These were fascinating conversations, during which we realized once again that the more southern countries seem to focus more explicitly on the political arena and the importance of the ‘urban commons’. These were fascinating conversations, once again realizing that the more southern countries seem to be focusing more explicitly on the political arena and the importance of the 'urban commons' (shared facilities in a city, such as infrastructure, hospitals, parks, etc.). 

European cities are changing rapidly and increasingly becoming a 'mobility hub' of a mix of temporary users (from expat to exchange student, from resident to tourist), with all the consequences that this entails. This phenomenon will also remain on the research agenda for colleagues in the New Urban Tourism research group in the coming years. 

In the coming weeks, all research data will be collected from all cities, you can find more information via this link: www.smartdest.eu

Even during the quiet summer months, the international media knew where to find professor New Urban Tourism Ko Koens. He was interviewed by The New York Times about the intention of the Amsterdam city council to no longer allow cruise ships to moor in the city center, at the Passenger Terminal Amsterdam right next to Central Station. This is to deal with the pollution and the large number of tourists brought by the more than one hundred cruise ships that visit Amsterdam every year.

And nonprofit online magazine Reasons to be Cheerful also wanted to hear Ko's views in an article about Barcelona's strategy to combat over tourism.

The New York Times: “Party time is over”
Ko Koens says in the article:

Reasons to be cheerful: “Barcelona’s bold strategy”

The article includes the following quotes from Ko:

The lectors’ platform, Sustainable Urban Tourism, has been granted a subsidy of €100,000 by the SIA. Tasked with researching how to develop forms of tourism that will contribute to a more sustainable urban living environment, this platform has united researchers from twelve Dutch knowledge institutions. Based on a joint research and innovation agenda, they are working together in conjunction with local, as well as national and international, partners. 

Unique transdisciplinary collaboration 
At the moment, the Sustainable Urban Tourism lectors’ platform comprises 16 professors and researchers from 12 knowledge institutions*. These participants come from a variety of academic backgrounds, including tourism, geography, business innovation, design, psychology, architecture, marketing and the creative industry. The diversity they all bring is key to acquiring a better understanding of urban tourism, particularly now that it has become an increasingly integral part of contemporary cities. 

Tourism as more than just an ecosystem 
Transdisciplinary collaboration between different educational platforms makes it possible to analyse tourism as a social phenomenon, as opposed to just an economic sector. Adopting such a perspective is both innovative and essential in addressing the question of how ambitious visions for the future of tourism can be translated into real-world change. The theme of sustainable urban tourism, as well as regenerative tourism, is in line with the wider social development that now accompanies urban tourism. Cities, national tourism organisations and the European Commission are currently united in the way they perceive a future in which the tourism ecosystem will transition to a position that will make a much broader contribution to inclusive growth and prosperity. The lectors’ platform intends to fuel this transition by using joint research and design to place more emphasis on how it will all be realised. ‘The tourism ecosystem is becoming increasingly complex,’ insists Karoline Wiegerink, Professor City Hospitality Hotelschool The Hague. ‘It demands visible value creation for a wide range of stakeholders. And not just tourists, but residents and entrepreneurs in particular.’ 

Joint research and innovation agenda 
The aim of the platform is to collaborate with local, national and international partners on the basis of a joint research and innovation agenda and then learn how tourism can be used to improve places and the local way of life. These partners include municipalities, provincial authorities, destination management organisations (DMOs), museums, hotels, the Netherlands Bureau for Tourism & Conventions (NBTC) and other, international, partners. To maximise its social impact, the platform has joined forces with the Centre of Expertise Leisure, Tourism & Hospitality (CELTH), whose focus is on increasing knowledge and making the broader leisure economy more sustainable. ‘The knowledge and insights that are being developed by the lectors’ platform are necessary to help increase the positive impact the hospitality industry has in cities,’ says Menno Stokman, director of CELTH. ‘This will help realise the objectives of the broader Agenda-Conscious Destinations and Perspective 2030 Destination Netherlands.’ 

* Participating knowledge institutions: Inholland University of Applied Sciences (lead), Breda University of Applied Sciences, Hotelschool The Hague, NHL Stenden University of Applied Sciences, Rotterdam University of Applied Sciences, The Hague University of Applied Sciences, Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences, Saxion University of Applied Sciences, Utrecht University, Wageningen University, Erasmus University, Eindhoven University of Technology 

Between 7 and 9 March Berlin will be hosting the ITB, Europe’s largest tourism trade fair. Ko Koens, Professor of New Urban Tourism, will be there, as will several colleagues from the brand new Expertise Network Sustainable Urban Tourism (ENSUT) and students from the Creative Business Faculty. At the invitation of the NBTC (Netherlands Board of Tourism & Conventions) he is to give a presentation on sustainable tourism and international research recently carried out into it. ‘Tourism must make cities better places for their residents, local businesses and the natural environment,’ he insists.

ENSUT will take to the international stage in Berlin well before its official kick-off, which is not until May this year. Among other topics, visitors to the ITB will discuss sustainable tourism in urban areas. But what exactly is ‘sustainable tourism’? According to Ko, it’s a concept that says there is much more to tourism than an economic model that churns out as many overnight stays as possible. ‘It’s about striking the right balance between planet, people and profit, thereby also ensuring that tourism remains viable in the future.’

What’s in a name?
Paradoxically, when it comes to making tourism more sustainable, the term sustainable tourism itself can be counter-productive, continues Ko. ‘People are often under the misconception that sustainability means no longer being able to travel by air, or that they should not go on holiday as often’ he explains. ‘It generates resistance, which is hardly conducive to bringing about a change in behaviour. We need a different narrative, one that emphasises the opportunities. It’s about being more conscious of travelling and the enjoyment that we derive from it: taking in that special experience that travelling offers.’

Improved by tourism
Truth be told, Ko doesn’t think that sustainable tourism goes far enough. Tomorrow’s tourism, he explains, should be ‘regenerative’. Cities need to be made better places for their residents, local businesses and the natural environment. Tourism should help to improve the quality of life in city districts, make public transport profitable, maintain and thus preserve cities’ heritage, and contribute to energy transition. ‘The first step towards realising all this is to assemble all stakeholders per location so they can share their perspectives. Then it’s a matter of ownership: establishing who will take the lead in developing regenerative tourism. Actually, these are the key themes that drive ENSUT.’

Mostly proponents of regenerative tourism
In a survey of residents of Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Copenhagen, Berlin and Barcelona recently carried out by ENSUT, some 62 per cent of respondents were in favour of regenerative tourism, with 23 per cent being undecided. Residents of these cities believe that, in addition to local government and the business community, they themselves also have an active role to play. However, so far they have seen too few initiatives that could actually involve them.

Ten million German tourists
Martin Pohl, Market & Insight Manager of NBTC in Germany, says that sustainability is a cornerstone of Perspective 2030, a vision paper written with the input of more than 100 stakeholders from the tourism sector. ‘In 2030 the Netherlands expects to welcome 10 million visitors from Germany, which constitutes both an economic opportunity and an ecological threat,’ he cautions. ‘The challenge lies in using the right distribution policy and making sustainable choices to steer it all in the right direction. But it also involves a change in behaviour: a shift from taking many short breaks to fewer, but longer, holidays that offer more time and quality at the destination.’

Educating with new knowledge
Martin agrees with Ko that, in itself, striving for sustainability is not enough. He is convinced that regenerative tourism should be the overall goal for the future and that research into how to put this into practice is very important. ‘There is a large sustainability lab on the Greek island of Rhodes, for example, and the value added by a network like ENSUT definitely shouldn’t be underestimated. Through education, it facilitates the transfer of new knowledge to tomorrow’s professionals, the people who are set to be the pioneers of regenerative tourism.’ Picking up the thread, Ko adds that educational institutions can start applying regenerative tourism on the basis of positive framing and viable business cases. ‘This will then either become the norm, or a specific study specialisation of tourism programmes.’

Not just the younger generation
Fourth-year Communications student, Lance Herweijer, is one of the students welcoming visitors to the ENSUT desk in Berlin. When asked whether he is consciously preoccupied with sustainable travel, he concedes that he finds it a somewhat vague term. This is mainly because sustainability covers so much, including the discussion about emissions, for example. ‘It also seems to imply that we should travel as little as possible, which I don’t agree with,’ he says. ‘Nowadays I think more about how I travel. Perhaps that might be part of the solution: we should all make more conscious choices and do more to preserve the authenticity of the destination. And that’s a responsibility that’s not just borne by the younger generation.’