'Sustainability is a hygiene factor for the convention market'

Tourism, including business tourism, has always been a heavily fluctuating market. In times of economic downturn, visitors stay away, but, of course, it’s never been as extreme as the past two corona years. Luckily, the recovery is well underway. Jos Vranken has been at the helm of the Netherlands Board of Tourism & Conventions (NBTC) since 2007 and he has seen it all. In fact, he has been intermittently connected with the NBTC since 1990. Business tourism often seems to be taken for granted, but Vranken knows better than anyone that the opposite is true. Not only did he have to deal with the corona crisis, but right after he became the managing director, he also had to deal with the banking crisis that pushed the whole world into a recession. This hit Vranken hard, since he immediately had to start a large-scale reorganisation. Initially, the Dutch government wanted to reduce the budget for the tourism organisation by 75 percent, but thanks to the negotiating skills of Vranken and his team, it was only 50 percent. That was still a heavy hit, which led to the dismissal of four out of 10 employees.

What has had the biggest impact on you and the NBTC: the major reorganisation of 2012 or the corona crisis?

“That’s a difficult question. The massive reorganisation following the financial crisis of late 2007-early 2008 had an impact on both the organisation and me personally. In my experience, it was painful to be forced to let go roughly 40 percent of the organisation as a result of major cutbacks, a decision I felt was poorly justified. The pandemic is a completely different story. In this case, the pain was mainly felt within the sector itself." "The enormous decline in international visitors in particular, both leisure and business, is not yet over for everyone. And this is while new concerns are surfacing. For us, corona meant that activities had to be cancelled, happen much later or be adapted. We also had to develop recovery actions that we had not anticipated. Whenever possible, we supported and assisted the sector with the restart and necessary recovery.”

Does the government and politicians properly recognise the importance of the NBTC? And what about the political visibility of the market for international conventions, meetings and business events in this regard?

“The recognition of the NBTC by the government and politicians is something that has our constant attention. The NBTC sees the importance of the business visitor economy. Over the past 20 years, many cities have had their own business convention bureaus." "According to the 2019 key figure report, an international business visitor spends on average 75 percent more per person and stay in the Netherlands than a tourist on vacation. Actually, this is twofold. The spending value of a business visitor is higher than that of a tourist visitor."

'Governments are increasingly recognising the economic and social value of business events'

"The second point is legacy. What does a convention bring to the Netherlands and what is its importance? For example, the contribution to the knowledge clusters that are important to the Netherlands, with which our country wants to profile itself internationally. In the context of the new vision of the NBTC on meetings and conventions, a report was compiled on the possibility of creating new business events within the triangle of government, business and education." " Governments and politicians increasingly recognise these economic and social values. The way in which this translates into prioritisation and facilitation in practice continues to require attention, if only because the external environment is constantly changing, as are the needs in the collaborative relationship between market, government and education.”

How hard was the impact of corona on the Dutch international convention market?

“The impact was substantial. In 2020 and 2021, many business meetings were postponed or cancelled. The number of business hotel stays dropped by 62 percent. Nevertheless, a third of meetings also took place virtually.”

For a long time, people expected the business visitor economy to remain at a significantly lower level after corona. However, last summer, BNR Newsradio found out from the travel sector that business travel was starting back up faster than expected. Did this surprise you? And how do you explain it?

“No, it wasn’t surprising. This was about catching up after not being able to travel. Ultimately, it is preferable to meet in person, especially for an internationally oriented country like the Netherlands. It’s more efficient to share information, and in the end, it’s the handshake that counts. As well, you can’t have chance meetings at an online convention.”

Earlier this year, the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) reported that global travel will return to pre-pandemic levels in 2023-2024, but that the business market is growing relatively slowly. Is this still an issue? And how can business visitor traffic get more of a boost?

“In the Netherlands, we saw that in the second quarter of this year, the number of business stays was 80 percent as compared to the same quarter in 2019. As well, there’s a big difference in the types of meetings. Some types, such as sales meetings, recover faster than others, which include conferences." "If we look at the Netherlands specifically, certain groups are not yet allowed to travel. The Chinese are not allowed to travel and the Japanese are still very careful. Where travel is allowed, these groups simply come again. However, at NBTC, we’re increasingly focusing on the quality of visitors and the extent and way in which they contribute to social issues and challenges.”

To what extent has the war in Ukraine impacted the revival of business tourism?

“Recently, a new study from MMGY Global came out. The NBTC was one of the clients, together with other European countries. This study was done among meeting planners. They indicated which factors they believe currently have the most impact on booking meetings and events. The war in Ukraine isn’t at the top of that list. They are mainly concerned with the consequences of the war in the rest of Europe and the world. Geopolitical tensions are in fifth place, but with a significantly lower score than inflation, for example. That’s comparable to our own international Holiday Sentiment Monitor. It also indicates that rising prices and inflation now play a much bigger role than the war in Ukraine.”

The current economic climate is fragile. How does that affect international conventions being held in the Netherlands? And what can the NBTC do about it?

“Right now there are shortages everywhere. The consequences of scarcity and price increases have an impact on conventions that are currently taking place. These are conventions for which the Netherlands won a bid years ago and that are now taking place. In the short term, we haven’t noticed much of an impact on the number of conventions that are held in the country. In the medium term, yes, and that’s why the NBTC will continue to invest in conventions and in researching and initiating new conventions.”

The Netherlands, including Amsterdam, is a stable mid-tier player in the international convention list of the ICCA in particular. Can our country maintain this position in these uncertain times?

“Such a ranking is relative and a snapshot in history. Nevertheless, it’s an important indicator. The position in such rankings for a relatively small destination like the Netherlands is proof positive that conventions are important to our knowledge economy. As a meeting ecosystem, we cannot rest on our laurels because the competition is fierce and is growing, especially after corona, now that destinations want to urgently attract business visitors. After all, they’re all welcome guests.”

What USPs does the Netherlands have to distinguish itself in the international convention market? And how can we put this clearly in the spotlight?

“First of all, there are the ‘hygiene factors’: seven reasons why a convention should be held here. This has to do with accessibility, infrastructure, sustainability, innovation, inclusiveness, globalisation and culture/entertainment. Those are basic conditions, otherwise you don’t count. However, just meeting these basic conditions is not distinctive enough."

'The Netherlands can lead the way in the approach to sustainability, not from arrogance but from a solution-oriented perspective'

"We’ve portrayed these distinguishing factors with the Dutch brand campaign ‘Bring yourself. We’ll do the same’. Central to this, is the Dutch brand positioning, which reads: ‘Solving global challenges together in an open, inventive, and inclusive way.’ In the Netherlands, our knowledge clusters and how we connect the market, government and education are extremely valuable assets.”

The Netherlands likes to profile itself as sustainable. Will this contribute to its international position in the business meeting industry?

“Everyone has an interest in sustainability, and it should be a hygiene factor – sustainability by design. In everyday life, but also when travelling and while attending a convention. From a Dutch standpoint, there’s a huge opportunity to show that we want to lead the way. Not out of arrogance, but from the Dutch brand perspective on solving global challenges. We actively implement sustainability through our ‘Sustainability moet’ (‘Sustainability has to happen’) programme, in collaboration with partners.”

At the end of September, during the Toerisme Top, a major Dutch tourism convention, the NBTC presented the vision document ‘Towards climate-neutral tourism’. What opportunities and challenges do you see for this theme? How will the NBTC and Dutch destinations make sure that the Netherlands truly stands out in this regard?

“The vision document that was presented during the convention shows that there’s a lot of urgency to increase sustainability. It was and is one of the strategic priorities, as presented in ‘Perspective 2030’. It’s difficult to determine where we are exactly in the implementation. We need more figures and data for that. But above all, we also need action. Parties that come together in ‘coalitions of the willing’ and work together on matters where the common interest and their own interests come together." "Fortunately, we’ve also noticed that sustainability is already a hot topic within the sector. Many convention locations take sustainability very seriously. Now it’s important to push ahead and see how we can accelerate this sustainability process with the sector by encouraging action-oriented coalition forming.”

Finally, which recent convention or business event do you have the best memories of?

“I’d say the recent Toerisme Top. There as well, the various parties from the market, government and education could meet each other again physically after two years. And that was noticeable. I hope that the energy that was felt there will translate into action and urgency to further shape and substantiate the sustainable development of the Netherlands as a business and tourist destination.”