ETFI @ TRAM Meeting: Effects of UNESCO World Heritage status on tourism

The TRAM is a Dutch-Flemish network association of instigators, coordinators, project managers, policy makers, businesses and freelancers in tourism and recreation. Main aim is to exchange knowledge and experience. TRAM organizes four meetings per year on location, and a study trip once in every three years. The last study trip was to Kuoni in Zurich, Switzerland, as in 2011 it was proclaimed as most attractive destination for development of the tourism and travel industry by the World Economic Forum (seehttp://www.weforum.org/issues/travel-and-tourism-competitiveness/index.html). A visit of Kuoni Future Lab in Zurich was one on the highlights of this trip, giving a glimpse of the travel bureau of the future (see http://www.the-detourist-100.org/en/).

The TRAM meeting on Thursday May 24th was organised in National Park Hoge Kempen in the province of Limburg in Belgium, the area where the ‘fietsknooppunten’ (bike nodes)* were invented. De Park is a former mining area, but now it provides for 100 km2 woods, heath and ponds. As such it is the largest nature area in Flanders, Belgium (www.nationaalpark.be), bordered by picturesque villages such as As and Eisden. Eisden is a beautiful example of Howard’s concept of the garden city at the turn of the 19th/ 20th century. With his concept he wanted to liberate the working population from the unhealthy living environment in the big cities. In Eijsden the miners were living in semi-detached villa-like houses in a green environment with many gardens, hedges and winding streets. Recently, National Park Hoge Kempen has applied for the UNESCO World Heritage Status.

In the morning presentations were given by Tim Bottelberghe and myself about the effects of UNESCO World Heritage status on tourism. The presentations were given during the ride of the old miners train from As to Eisden – a unique experience! Postma based his presentation on several studies among which a BBA Thesis by Karen Fokkens (Stenden university, Tourism Management) and a working paper by Hans Revier, Albert Postma and Akke Folmer (Stenden university). The use of scenario planning was demonstrated with the ETFI project ‘North-Netherlands as an International Holiday Destination’ commissioned by the Chamber of Commerce. Conclusions were for instance that expectations concerning benefits for tourism are usually exaggerated, and that there are several conditions and critical success factors at work here. One of these conditions is the support of the local population and other local stakeholders with the application for and elaboration of the world heritage status. My presentation can be found here.


* This refers to another approach to creating biking routes. The intersections of bike trails are given a number. At major intersections there is an information board with information about the area and a map on which the numbers are displayed. Along the trails the intersection points are signposted (http://www.fietsknooppunten.nl/). This makes it possible for bikers to plan their own routes along as many points as they like. The planning of a route is supported with a website (http://www.falk.nl/). By now this innovative way of route planning has distributed all over Belgium and the Netherlands and beyond.