research

RECENT RESEARCH

While the COVID-19 crisis has brought tourism to a standstill with all kinds of repercussions, at the same time the pandemic created momentum for destinations to steer tourism towards sustainable development. An opportunity presents itself for destinations that were already facing some of the negative aspects excessive tourism can bring, but also for destinations that are still in the development phase of tourism and want to integrate sustainability from the beginning. 

Even though many destinations are looking to develop tourism in a more sustainable matter, clear guidelines on how to do so are often still missing. Sustainability is a complicated and sometimes fuzzy concept. What does it mean for a destination to be truly sustainable? How can the successfulness of a destination be measured in other ways than counting visitor numbers and expenditures? What metrics can be used for that? And who needs to be involved?

As part of my Ph.D. research project at Erasmus University in Rotterdam, I  tried to find answers to these questions in co-creation with the destination itself. I did this by offering workshops based on Doughnut Economics by Kate Raworth, an economic model that envisions a sustainable society and considers both the ecological as well as the social aspect of sustainability. In collaboration with the destination, in these workshops, the theory is applied to the context of tourism. 

PUBLISHED RESEARCH

The Rotterdam way: a new take on urban tourism management.

A Research Agenda for Urban Tourism  (January 2022)
Book chapter


The impact and regulatory issues of Airbnb in a mid-sized city: Valencia (Spain).

A Modern Guide to the Urban Sharing Economy (August 2021)
Book chapter

ABSTRACT
The presence of short-term rentals has been growing rapidly in the past few years and is not only limited to the most touristic cities anymore. This chapter takes a closer look at the development of short-term rentals and its regulatory process in Valencia (Spain). Tourism in Valencia has been growing and so has been growing the presence of Airbnb apartments. Like in many other mid-sized cities, Valencia is increasingly experiencing the negative effects of Airbnb and struggling to design suitable regulatory frameworks. Most short-term rentals in Valencia are located in areas that are already rapidly gentrifying and this chapter thus explores the relationship between gentrification, short-term rentals and regulatory approaches in mid-sized cities by using Valencia as a case study. The chapter aims to show that even though Airbnb apartments might be smaller in number in some cities, the (perceived) impact and regulatory struggles are similar to those of bigger cities.

 

The consequences of being ‘the Capital of Cool’. Creative entrepreneurs and the sustainable development of creative tourism in the urban context of Rotterdam.

Journal of Sustainable Tourism (November 2020)
Academic Journal

ABSTRACT
This article analyses how creative entrepreneurs perceive the development of tourism; it looks at creative placemaking in tourism and reflects on the role of creative entrepreneurs in the sustainable development of tourism. To do so, we conducted semi-structured interviews with creative entrepreneurs in the city of Rotterdam, the Netherlands. We choose a city in an early stage of tourism development but in a more advanced stage of culture-led urban regeneration. Although Rotterdam has a long history of strategies to change its image into a creative one, only recently has the city experienced an increase in media attention and a growing number of domestic and international tourists. This offers a unique opportunity to explore tourism development at an early stage. Our results nuance our understanding of the relations between creative entrepreneurs, placemaking, and tourism. Although the creative entrepreneurs in our sample consider themselves placemakers, issues such as equality, inclusiveness, and avoiding gentrification are still not adequately addressed. From a policy perspective, this study emphasises the need to take into account the fundamental question of whose city Rotterdam is and who benefits from the urban and tourism development strategy.

Regulating Airbnb: how cities deal with perceived negative externalities of short-term rentals.

Current Issues inTourism (August 2018)
Academic Journal

ABSTRACT
In recent years, home-sharing platform Airbnb has developed into a major player in the tourism sector. It allows tourists to have authentic, off-the-beaten-track experiences in neighbourhoods previously unvisited. Although neighbourhoods can profit from increased attention and income, Airbnb and other short-term rentals (STRs) can also be disruptive to the traditional lodging industry and trigger gentrification processes; housing affordability and availability are jeopardized when housing units are turned into vacation rentals. Local governments worldwide are struggling to regulate STRs and their negative externalities. This paper focuses on key challenges cities face when dealing with STR platforms and the rationale behind different regulatory approaches. It first compares policies of 11 European and American cities and then zooms in on Denver to see how it regulates the impact of Airbnb. Most cities are relatively lenient towards STRs, with little to no (complete) prohibition. Instead, they limit the number of guests, nights and times a property can be rented, demand certain safety precautions and information provision, or require primary residency. Regulations are mostly directed to mitigate neighbourhood impacts, rather than creating a level playing field for the traditional lodging industry. Enforcement remains difficult due to the STR market’s dynamic nature and online practice.

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