donderdag 8 november 2012
dinsdag 6 november 2012
World Travel Monitor Forum
On 30 and 31 October the 20th World travel Monitor Forum was held in the 15th century Villa di Corliano, Pisa, Italy. More than 25 speakers from Europe, the Americas, Asia and Africa gave their points of view concerning trends and development in international travel, marketing and the effects of thedramatic changes in the world economy. These were used to developforecasts for 2013; forecasts that have proven to be very accurate. Many presentations were supported with data from the World Travel Monitor. During the second day explicit attention was given to Social Media in the Travel Business, and Sustainaility and other Mega Trends. It was during this day that Albert Postma gave a presentation ‘Long term outlook on social media in the travel industry 2030’.
Social media in tourism
During this presentation trends, developments and drivers were discussed that will affect social media in the travel business in 2030. These formed the basis for four scenarios of the role the travel industry could have taken by then. Important aim of the presentation was to raise awareness and stimulate discussion about some issues that might arise. Input for the presentation was given by a group of third years students from Stenden BBA Tourism management, namely Alexa Schetter, Barbara Milei, Carolin Gohlke, Ilka Limbach and Miriam Rau and their supervisor Michiel van der Meer. These students conducted intensive desk research and interviews with experts in Germany and The Netherlands.
Valuable input was also given by Dr. Jim Slevin (professor of organizations and social media at Stenden University and also working at the University of Amsterdam and of Roskilde), Kaija Lindroth, MA (Haaga Helia University o.A.S. Porvoo), Dr. Girish Prayag (SKEMA Business School Paris), Dr. Evangelous Christou (Alexander Technological Intistute of Tessaloniki, Greece), Dr. Ian Yeoman (European Tourism Futures Institute, The Netherlands) and Dr. JeroenOskam (programme manager European Tourism Futures Institute). In short film fragments these experts introduced statements for discussion.
Dr. Jim Slevin, Stenden University, Leeuwarden, NL
Kaija Lindroth MA, Haaga-Helia University of Applied Sciences, Provoo, Finland
Dr. Girish Prayag, SKEMA Business School, Paris, France
Dr. Evangelous Christou, Alexander Technological Intistute of Tessaloniki, Greece
Dr. Ian Yeoman, European Tourism Futures Institute, Leeuwarden, NL
Dr. Jeroen Oskam, European Tourism Futures Institute, Leeuwarden, NL
More information
maandag 5 november 2012
Future scenarios for the Notting Hill Carnival
Notting Hill Carnival faces financial difficulties
On 25 October 2012 King’s College of the University of London hosted a symposium about the Entrepreneurial Legacies of the Notting Hill Carnival. According to the webpage of the symposium the Carnival is the largest street parade in Europe and attracts over 2 million visitors. But due to festival organisers’ alleged lack of entrepreneurial and organizational skills the Notting Hill Carnival, just like other Caribbean carnivals, has been plagued by financial difficulties and a steady stream of criticism in the media; a type of discourse that is also replicated within the academic literature. Different speakers representing the carnival industry and academics challenged the discourse within popular media and within academia. The presentations were complemented by in-depth panel discussions. (http://www.kcl.ac.uk/artshums/depts/cmci/eventrecords/carnival.aspx).
Carnival has to be reinvented
In her keynote dr. Suzan Burke (University of West Indies) explained how the Caribbean Carnival, that originated at Trinidad, spread over the world, has been modified through the ages and seems at the top of its life cycle. Being at the top of the life cycle means that the Carnival has to be reinvented and the product and the process have to be innovated, says Burke. SubsequentlyRobin Croft and dr. Nigel Williams (University of Bedfordshire) talked about the changing role of technology, the change of social norms and the democratization of the media that will affect such innovation processes.Wendel Clement (Poison UK Events Limited) discussed survival strategies for niche entertainment businesses.Future scenarios
I was invited by organizer Nicole Ferdinand to address the future of the Carnival and to discuss a fewfuture scenarios of the Notting Hill Carnival. Based on the information received beforehand, Albert Postma has analysed the major issues and uncertainties and the information made clear that it is mainly internal issues that dominate. Internal issues refer to issues connected to the Carnival itself, and not so much to the demographic, economic, social, technological, ecological and legal environment. Based on this information Postma crafted a few target scenario’s that he presented at the symposium. The scenarios show how possible outcomes of uncertain development could intervene and create different direction in which the Carnival could develop. In the panel discussion ‘putting networks to work’ Postma shared his views with four other experts from the industry.In the afternoon programme Nicole Ferdinand (PhD candidate King’s College London, Dept. of Culture Media and the Creative Industries), talked about the entrepreneurial legacy of the Notting Hill masquerade bands. This was followed by a second panel discussion on the theme ‘building on the legacy – how do we get others on board’.
donderdag 6 september 2012
How to boost the water sports sector in Fryslân?
What to do when the water sports sector is decreasing? How can water sports businesses stop youth from being attracted by cheap international holiday providers and let them choose again for a sailing week in the Netherlands? Or is there a lack of innovation in the sector? Requested by the provincial government of Friesland, the ETFI is going to do research in order to increase chances in the field of water sports (holidays) in Northern Netherlands.
According to the water sports businesses in Fryslân the interest in the traditional water sports products is decreasing. It is assumed that this decline is caused by the competition with cheap holiday destinations abroad, changing consumer behavior of youngsters, and a lack of innovative power in the sector.
As the water sports sector is a major pillar of tourism in Friesland, the provincial government of Friesland wants to know which steps have to be taken to reposition the water sports sector on the target market of youngsters between 15 and 25 years of age. The province has asked Waterrecreatie Advies B.V. in Lelystad to investigate the trends in water sports. The European Tourism Futures Institute will develop scenario’s for the development of the water sports sector aimed at the youth, and will identify possible courses of action.
The ETFI part of the project entails a mismatch analysis between the current water sports supply and the demand and interest from the target group (youth 15-25 years), and identification of possible innovations that could stimulate the pull (attractive power) of water sports for this target group and increasing participation rates and repeat visitation. The objectives of the project will be achieved by means of desk research, focus group meeting with a youth panel and a workshop with entrepreneurs in the water sports business. Students of BBA Tourism Management at Stenden university will be involved.
The project will be finished in November 2012.
woensdag 29 augustus 2012
Northern Netherlands: An international tourist destination
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Especially because the Wadden area has received the UNESCO status a few years ago and the airstrip of Groningen Airport Eelde will be extended in 2012/2013 to accommodate low cost airlines like Ryan Air. As soon as the news of the airstrip extension was aired, Ryan Air signed contracts for flight connections with Milano (Italy), Barcelona (Spain) and Marseille (France) - and more connections will follow. The study entailed an extensive desk research, conducted with the help of students BBA Tourism management at Stenden university o.A.S. and a group of international interns, interactive sessions with entrepreneurs and tourism stakeholders in the region, and interviews with experts directly and indirectly associated with tourism.
On Monday August 27, the results of the project were presented to the regional press. You can find the latest press releases at http://www.kvk.nl/nieuws/er-kan-meer/.
The presentation given to the press, the booklet ‘Er kan meer’ (‘There are more opportunities’), the research report (both in Dutch) and some statistics can be downloaded at the website of the Chamber of Commerce:http://www.kvk.nl/lokale-informatie/noord-nederland/sectoren/toerisme-noord/
To read the full article of 'Eigen Bedrijf' click here.
http://www.etfi.eu/site/download/0YeSS29cr5wJ
Links to the TV and RADIO recordings and newspaper articles at:
Omrop Fryslân
RTV Noord
RTV Drenthe
Dagblad van het Noorden
Groningern internet Courant
Frieschdagblad
Pretwerk
Oldambt
Groningen dichtbij
vrijdag 25 mei 2012
ETFI @ TRAM Meeting: Effects of UNESCO World Heritage status on tourism
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.
maandag 12 maart 2012
Is booking behaviour influencing the promotion of tourist regions?
Just as in 2011 I did a curious observation at the ITB 2012. I noticed that the European countries basically presented their country and tourist regions, with some information about accommodations. But looking at overseas destinations it is interesting to see that it is mainly accommodations that present themselves, grouped per country or holiday region. General tourist information about these countries or regions is hardly available. This difference raises the question why this promotion strategy is different. At least it made me think of the investigations of the INTERREG IIIb project ‘To Learn’ in 2005-2008. Please click here for an article of the Leeuwarder Courant highlighting that topic. During the expert interviews that were held in the Netherlands it was noted that the booking behaviour seemed to change. It was said that traditionally the older consumers first chose a country or region for their holidays, which was followed by the search for a suitable accommodation within that country or region. This is in contradiction with the younger generation that starts with finding an accommodation suiting their needs, whereas the country or region comes at the second place. Although no further evidence for this trend was searched for, this would mean that to attract the younger generation destinations have to market themselves in a different way: not by promoting countries or regions primarily at fairs or websites, such as the European countries do at the ITB, but by promoting attractive accommodations, such as the overseas destinations do.
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