Coastal tourism destination development in Zeeland : A practice theory approach

Abstract

Table of contents Acknowledgements v List of figures, tables, and abbreviations xi CHAPTER 1: Introduction 'There's nothing more beautiful than the way the ocean refuses to stop kissing the shoreline, no matter how many times it's sent away' -Sarah Kay Chapter 1 1.1. Introduction 1.1.1. The province of Zeeland: tourism and regeneration Tourism, leisure and the province of Zeeland are inseparable. From the 19 th century onwards, visitors came to Zeeland to enjoy the landscape, touristic sites, cities and especially the coast. Tourism grew especially mid-20 th century, fuelled by an increase in income, car ownership and holidays. The estimated income from tourism and leisure accounts for 1.85 billion euros per year (Kenniscentrum Kusttoerisme, 2020). Most of these revenues are earned by businesses in hospitality, retail, mobility and recreation. Today, there are 320,000 beds for tourists, only 60,000 less than there are beds for the entire population of the province of approximately 382,000. In 2018, Zeeland accommodated 18.6 million overnight stays and 42 million day-visits. Evidently, tourism and leisure are of extreme value to the economy of Zeeland. Although external and unforeseen factors, such as the Covid-19 pandemic, influenced growth, a 50 per cent increase by 2030 is expected (NBTC, 2018).The number of overnight stays in Zeeland has not always grown; in the 1980s, there were also several years of stagnating visiting numbers. Whereas the number of overnight stays doubled in the period of 1970-1980 from 6 to 12 million, in the period between 1982 and 1988 numbers fluctuated around 14 million stays. A few years later, in 1991, the reputation and image of Zeeland was studied (Provincie Zeeland, 2000). More than half of the surveyed Dutch and Zeeland residents thought that Zeeland did not have much to offer outside the tourist season. Consequently, strategies to extend the season focused on the creation of facilities that were less dependent on the weather or not at all. Furthermore, cultural events and festivals were being organized in September and October. At the same time, due to an increase in leisure time and wealth as well as an ageing population, more people went on holidays two, three or even four times a year during the 1990s (Provincie Zeeland, 2000). A variety of strategic activities, next to the strategies already mentioned, were executed, such as rural tourism that included farmers in the tourism ecosystem, nature creation to make the province more attractive, and improving the overall quality of the tourism product, which all led to a growing number of tourists.Already more than a decade ago, the province of Zeeland saw this need to improve the product quality (Province of Zeeland, 2009:17, author's translation):´While Zeeland has got much potential in terms of accommodation for holidaymakers, recent years clearly show there are outdated accommodation facilities in the coastal zone and the landscape is cluttered. It is therefore of great importance that progress must be made in improving the qua...