Wednesday 8 and Friday 9 June, Bianca Kluin and Ko Koens spoke at the international ATLAS seminar of the Special Interest Group ‘Urban Tourism’. This seminar brought together researchers from all over Europe in Helsingborg, Sweden, to discuss topics such as the social impact of tourism, wellness tourism and digital tourism.
Bianca told about her research in Rotterdam Zuid, for which she, together with students, spoke to many residents of Zuid. She indicated that people in Rotterdam South are generally positive about tourist developments, provided that this does not harm the local identity. Ko discussed experiences from the SmartCulTour project and the possibilities and impossibilities of co-creation, partly based on experiences from the ‘Urban Leisure and Tourism’ Lab in Hoek van Holland and Bospolder Tussendijken.
Both presentations were well received, with participants reacting enthusiastically to the developments in the city and the way in which research in the lab contributes to the further development and activities of the city. Following her presentation, Bianca even paid a short working visit to the Drottninghög district, where similar developments to those in Rotterdam South are taking place.
