1. The economic and social
relevance
of heritage sites
Alphen aan den Rijn, The Netherlands
April, 2013
Janneke Kuysters

2. Short introduction
Leisure economy, policies and projects

3. 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!

4. Which playing field?
• Economic: the role of heritage sites in the leisure
economy
• Society: jobs, citizen pride,
sense of place, dynamic and inspiring environments

5. Leisure economy?
• Stakeholders
• Relevance/ interest
• Limited supply
• Value
• €

6. 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.

7. Leisure demand (2)
• Residents and tourists
• Increasing the value of demand: 3 ‘buttons’:
– Length of stay
– Number of visitors
– Amount spent

8. Leisure: supply (1)
• Day and stay: different markets, different volume
• 3 types of business: commercial, cultural and non-
commercial

9. 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.)

10. 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)

11. 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.

12. 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%.

14. Example 3: Generated value
watersports
Bron: NBTC-NIPO Research, kostenpanel.
Shops and restaurants/ bars benefit most

15. Example: Vecht

16. Another example: Great Loop

17. 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

18. 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

19. 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

21. Sail-through museum

22. 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

23. Questions?
Leisure Result
0031(0)30-2250011
www.resultants.nl
Janneke.Kuysters@resultants.nl