IAB report ‘The Rotterdam Way’ presented to Alderman Kasmi

The City Council aims to develop a broad and long term vision on the role tourism should have in the city of Rotterdam. Their starting point is that ‘every Rotterdammer should profit from tourism’. This means that tourism is not a goal in itself, but that it should contribute to the larger ambitions the city has: ambitions in the area of economic development, but also in the areas of sustainability, liveability and the identity of our city. The IABx report will be important input ion the road towards this new vision.

General recommendations

In the report, the experts of the International Advisory Board advise to talk of the ‘visitor economy’ rather than just tourism, as not all visitors to the city are tourists. People travelling for work, to visit a congress or family are also temporary visitors. A broader scope and holistic view will bring more aspects into view. The IAB also advises Rotterdam to include and actively involve  neighbourhoods and communities. A new vision should, in their view be a combination of top-down and bottom-up approaches and be based on four main recommendations, each with a set of specific sub-recommendations.

The full (Dutch) article can be read here. Download/view the IABx Tourism report here.