Embed Size (px)
Citation preview
The economic and social
relevance
of heritage sites Alphen aan den Rijn, The Netherlands
April, 2013
Janneke Kuysters
Short introduction
Leisure economy, policies and projects
Topics
• Economic and social relevance: who cares?
• Influence on dialogue with stakeholders
• Importance of heritage sites seen from a new
perspective
• Change of playing field: gain more influence. Be part
of a system!
Which playing field?
• Economic: the role of heritage sites in the leisure
economy
• Society: jobs, citizen pride,
sense of place, dynamic and inspiring environments
Leisure economy?
• Stakeholders
• Relevance/ interest
• Limited supply
• Value
• €
Leisure demand (1)
• Experience becomes transformation
• Authenticity, thematic development
• Glocalisation
• Price/ value issues (axe versus cheeseknife)
• Growth: 12% of all jobs in leisure
• Amount spent by Dutchmen in the Netherlands:
€ 75 billion each year.
Leisure demand (2)
• Residents and tourists
• Increasing the value of demand: 3 ‘buttons’:
– Length of stay
– Number of visitors
– Amount spent
Leisure: supply (1)
• Day and stay: different markets, different volume
• 3 types of business: commercial, cultural and non-
commercial
Leisure: supply (2)
• Dilemma 1: space. Leisure isn’t user of space, but
co-creator of place
• Dilemma 2: funding. Investors hard to find
• Dilemma 3: quality. First growth wave wears off
• Dilemma 4: scale of companies versus profitability
• Dilemma 5: government budget cuts versus need for
development (culture, infrastructure, etc.)
Leisure industry and heritage:
opportunities • Leisure industry is labour-intensive and needs a
flexible, mostly low educated workforce. Where do
they live?
• History and transformation are a good match
because of authenticity
• Outdoor activities very popular (health, mindfullness)
• Room for product-development, also in rural areas
• Increasing importance of citymarketing
(placemarketing)
Example 1: Archeon
• Issue: low visitor safety at the entrance, due to
construction traffic.
• Research: economic relevance of Archeon and
related social impact
• Result: total spendings (direct and indirect, on-site
and off-site) € 5.2 million per year. Close to 75
related jobs in Alphen aan den Rijn.
Example 2: Muiderslot
• Issue: increased taxation on visitor numbers
• Research: social-economic relevance of Muiderslot
• Result: total spendings create close to 100 jobs
(paid and volunteer) on-site and off-site. Increase in
property value: 12,5%.
Example 3: Generated value
watersports
Bron: NBTC-NIPO Research, kostenpanel.
Shops and restaurants/ bars benefit most
Example: Vecht
Another example: Great Loop
Example 4: Rijksmuseum
• Issue: main building closed for 10 years, visitor
numbers down to less than 1 million
• Impact on Amsterdam:
Visit attraction % combination Visit culture % combination
Outdoor 45 Going out 65
Going out 29 Outdoor 30
Other attractions 24 Shopping 26
Impact on a community
• Citizen pride (ambassadors)
• Storytelling: a common theme
• Theme’s stimulate social- and
economic entrepeneurship
• Value of options to choose from:
heritage site adds to this value
• Jobs, new companies based
• Citymarketing
• (Inter-)national links
Improving the dialogue
• Heritage sites play an important role in a local,
regional and (inter-)national context
• Understanding the impact of the site for society and
local/ regional economy reveals the stakeholders
• The site creates/ adds value for stakeholders (€ or
emotional value)
• Find ways to use this value to maintain or develop
the site
Sail-through museum
How?
1. Look for the relevance in the system/ context
2. Find stakeholders and relevant subjects
3. Make it tangible, quantify (if possible) your relevance
4. Ask! A good dialogue is fuelled by transparancy
Cultural entrepreneurship can level the playing field, thereby
freeing economic and cultural investments of time,
money and energy
