PHOTO: JAN WILLEM VAN VLIET
Tourism in Groningen
a curious
paradox
READING TIME: 5 MINUTEs
Church near Marsum
Appingedam
Near Middelstum
PHOTO: STELLA DEKKER
PHOTO: STELLA DEKKER
PHOTO: STELLA DEKKER
PHOTO: STELLA DEKKER
PROPOSITION
Evelien Elisabeth Quint – Medical Sciences
Normality is a paved road: It’s comfortable to walk, but no flowers grow – Vincent van Gogh
TEXT: BERT PLATZER
PHOTO: MERLIJN VAN DOOMERNIK
Zef Hemel (1957) studied Social Geography and Urban and Regional Planning at the University of Groningen from 1975 to 1982. He was Deputy Secretary of the Council for Spatial Planning in The Hague, worked at the National Planning Service, was Director of the Academy of Architecture, and subsequently a board member of the Spatial Planning Department of Amsterdam. From 2012 to 2021 he held the Wibaut chair for Urban Issues, and he holds the Abe Bonnema chair at the University of Groningen and the Delft University of Technology since 2022.
What does it take to get tourism in Groningen off the ground? According to urban and
regional planner and ‘walking professor’ Zef Hemel, it is first and foremost an answer to
the question why you would want that.
With the silly season as fertile ground, a small media controversy blossomed in Groningen last summer. Consultancy firm Ginder supposedly advised the province of Groningen in a secret report that mass tourism is the only way to put the tourist sector on the map. In the newspaper Dagblad van het Noorden, the authors of Ginder tried to save the day by explaining that a doubling of the number of tourists they assumed in the report by no means implies mass tourism: the province of Groningen has the fewest overnight stays of all the Dutch provinces, and two times nothing is still not a lot. But the genie was already out of the bottle.
Tranquillity, space, and landscape
Zef Hemel, Professor by special appointment, took notice of the report with interest and understands the concern of the people living in Groningen regarding mass tourism. For the past two years, Hemel has held the Abe Bonnema chair, for which he conducts research into spatial redevelopment and revitalization strategies for partly rural, partly urban areas, particularly in Groningen and Friesland. ‘My opinion is that tranquillity, space, and landscape are of incredible value and significance for the Northern Netherlands. You don’t necessarily have to market them as tourist attractions.’
Walking tours
Hemel should know, because he conducts research for his chair position by walking in Groningen and Friesland, which gave him the obvious nickname ‘walking professor’. ‘I always walk in the company of someone. People can email me if they want to take a walk with me, These people are from all walks of life. Last week, I walked with a muskrat catcher. But I’ve also been on walks with spiritual counsellors, professors, artists, and aldermen. Then I go on walks and have conversations for about four hours. This is how I delve into the Northern Netherlands to find out what is the matter and what exactly is happening, as close to reality as possible. Literally, because I am in the field and I talk to people directly. I have been doing this for two years now.’
Eight hundred Frisian farmers
For instance, Hemel encountered eight hundred farmers in the Noordelijke Friese Wouden who maintain the landscape there and have managed to significantly lower their emissions over the past 30 years. ‘They have succeeded in keeping no more than one to two cows per hectare, i.e. 10,000 m2. That is incredibly impressive and a very concrete case on a gigantic scale that we are indeed capable of combining nature and agriculture, even livestock farming. It went wrong when we separated nature and agriculture to create the ecological main structure in the 1990s. As you see, I can provide very precise policy recommendations on where the policy has gone wrong. And I simply do that on foot.’
Tourism is an economy
Conscious and walking tourism are presented in the report of Ginder as one of the strategies to stimulate tourism in Groningen. That should be music to Hemel’s ears then, right? Not entirely. ‘Tourism is an economy. And you will not get far if you want to make an economy out of walking. Walkers are true nomads. They don’t need expensive accommodations. They walk with their backpacks and are satisfied with very modest lodgings. The Ginder report, on the other hand, talks about boutique hotel-like accommodations in world heritage locations to attract tourists.
Footpaths wiped out
Moreover, says Hemel, there are hardly any walking paths left in Groningen. ‘In the land consolidations and design of Groningen, they – have almost completely been wiped out – just like the old mass paths. There are still footpaths in Westerwolde. But besides that, there is not much left, I observe after two years of walking. I constantly walk on bike paths and worse, on land consolidation roads, where cars drive as well.
The authors of the Ginder report also acknowledge that there is not much to be earned from conscious and walking tourism alone, and that it takes a long time to develop. That is why they present overnight tourism and day attractions as strategies to actually bring in money. Both, however, need to be built from the ground up, the report reads – the province has hardly any day attractions and there are also far too little accommodation options.
Mass tourism
Hemel calls it a ‘curious paradox’: the strong point of Groningen is tranquillity and space, but if you commercialize that, you won’t have tranquillity and space any more. ‘My question is whether you should even want that kind of tourism, especially if you’re referring to it as conscious tourism, especially if you're referring to it as conscious tourism There is a lot to criticize about conscious tourism when you combine it with the strategies of day attractions and overnight tourism. Conscious tourism requires building accommodations throughout the province. And the creation of attractions is a form of mass tourism in one or more locations. In my eyes, that is at odds with conscious and walking tourism. I find the combination of those three strategies questionable, I don’t trust it.
Appreciating your surroundings
‘Interestingly, Groningen is already developing the walking tourism together with Friesland. With the Ziltepad, an initiative of Groningen Historic Churches Foundation and Stichting Alde Fryske Tsjerken (The Old Frisian Churches Foundation). Westerwolde is working on several mass paths, heading towards Schiermonnikoog. So, there are already some very interesting, small-scale initiatives in the Groningen area. I would prefer to limit myself to that, so that the people of Groningen can get to know and appreciate their surroundings.
In other words, Groningen should just accept its fate that it will never grow into a tourist magnet of any relevance? ‘That sounds so resigned. There are things you simply shouldn’t want. Then you turn a weakness into a strength.’
READING TIME: 5 MINUTES
PHOTO: JAN WILLEM VAN VLIET
Tourism in Groningen
a curious
paradox
PROPOSITION
Evelien Elisabeth Quint – Medical Sciences
Normality is a paved road: It’s comfortable to walk, but no flowers grow – Vincent van Gogh
PHOTO: MERLIJN VAN DOOMERNIK
Zef Hemel (1957) studied Social Geography and Urban and Regional Planning at the University of Groningen from 1975 to 1982. He was Deputy Secretary of the Council for Spatial Planning in The Hague, worked at the National Planning Service, was Director of the Academy of Architecture, and subsequently a board member of the Spatial Planning Department of Amsterdam. From 2012 to 2021 he held the Wibaut chair for Urban Issues, and he holds the Abe Bonnema chair at the University of Groningen and the Delft University of Technology since 2022.
Church near Marsum
Appingedam
Near Middelstum
PHOTO: STELLA DEKKER
With the silly season as fertile ground, a small media controversy blossomed in Groningen last summer. Consultancy firm Ginder supposedly advised the province of Groningen in a secret report that mass tourism is the only way to put the tourist sector on the map. In the newspaper Dagblad van het Noorden, the authors of Ginder tried to save the day by explaining that a doubling of the number of tourists they assumed in the report by no means implies mass tourism: the province of Groningen has the fewest overnight stays of all the Dutch provinces, and two times nothing is still not a lot. But the genie was already out of the bottle.
Tranquillity, space, and landscape
Zef Hemel, Professor by special appointment, took notice of the report with interest and understands the concern of the people living in Groningen regarding mass tourism. For the past two years, Hemel has held the Abe Bonnema chair, for which he conducts research into spatial redevelopment and revitalization strategies for partly rural, partly urban areas, particularly in Groningen and Friesland. ‘My opinion is that tranquillity, space, and landscape are of incredible value and significance for the Northern Netherlands. You don’t necessarily have to market them as tourist attractions.’
Walking tours
Hemel should know, because he conducts research for his chair position by walking in Groningen and Friesland, which gave him the obvious nickname ‘walking professor’. ‘I always walk in the company of someone. People can email me if they want to take a walk with me, These people are from all walks of life. Last week, I walked with a muskrat catcher. But I’ve also been on walks with spiritual counsellors, professors, artists, and aldermen. Then I go on walks and have conversations for about four hours. This is how I delve into the Northern Netherlands to find out what is the matter and what exactly is happening, as close to reality as possible. Literally, because I am in the field and I talk to people directly. I have been doing this for two years now.’
Eight hundred Frisian farmers
For instance, Hemel encountered eight hundred farmers in the Noordelijke Friese Wouden who maintain the landscape there and have managed to significantly lower their emissions over the past 30 years. ‘They have succeeded in keeping no more than one to two cows per hectare, i.e. 10,000 m2. That is incredibly impressive and a very concrete case on a gigantic scale that we are indeed capable of combining nature and agriculture, even livestock farming. It went wrong when we separated nature and agriculture to create the ecological main structure in the 1990s. As you see, I can provide very precise policy recommendations on where the policy has gone wrong. And I simply do that on foot.’
Tourism is an economy
Conscious and walking tourism are presented in the report of Ginder as one of the strategies to stimulate tourism in Groningen. That should be music to Hemel’s ears then, right? Not entirely. ‘Tourism is an economy. And you will not get far if you want to make an economy out of walking. Walkers are true nomads. They don’t need expensive accommodations. They walk with their backpacks and are satisfied with very modest lodgings. The Ginder report, on the other hand, talks about boutique hotel-like accommodations in world heritage locations to attract tourists.
Footpaths wiped out
Moreover, says Hemel, there are hardly any walking paths left in Groningen. ‘In the land consolidations and design of Groningen, they – have almost completely been wiped out – just like the old mass paths. There are still footpaths in Westerwolde. But besides that, there is not much left, I observe after two years of walking. I constantly walk on bike paths and worse, on land consolidation roads, where cars drive as well.
The authors of the Ginder report also acknowledge that there is not much to be earned from conscious and walking tourism alone, and that it takes a long time to develop. That is why they present overnight tourism and day attractions as strategies to actually bring in money. Both, however, need to be built from the ground up, the report reads – the province has hardly any day attractions and there are also far too little accommodation options.
Mass tourism
Hemel calls it a ‘curious paradox’: the strong point of Groningen is tranquillity and space, but if you commercialize that, you won’t have tranquillity and space any more. ‘My question is whether you should even want that kind of tourism, especially if you’re referring to it as conscious tourism, especially if you're referring to it as conscious tourism There is a lot to criticize about conscious tourism when you combine it with the strategies of day attractions and overnight tourism. Conscious tourism requires building accommodations throughout the province. And the creation of attractions is a form of mass tourism in one or more locations. In my eyes, that is at odds with conscious and walking tourism. I find the combination of those three strategies questionable, I don’t trust it.
Appreciating your surroundings
‘Interestingly, Groningen is already developing the walking tourism together with Friesland. With the Ziltepad, an initiative of Groningen Historic Churches Foundation and Stichting Alde Fryske Tsjerken (The Old Frisian Churches Foundation). Westerwolde is working on several mass paths, heading towards Schiermonnikoog. So, there are already some very interesting, small-scale initiatives in the Groningen area. I would prefer to limit myself to that, so that the people of Groningen can get to know and appreciate their surroundings.
In other words, Groningen should just accept its fate that it will never grow into a tourist magnet of any relevance? ‘That sounds so resigned. There are things you simply shouldn’t want. Then you turn a weakness into a strength.’
What does it take to get tourism in Groningen off the ground? According to urban and regional planner and ‘walking professor’ Zef Hemel, it is first and foremost an answer to the question why you would want that.
PHOTO: STELLA DEKKER
PHOTO: STELLA DEKKER
PHOTO: STELLA DEKKER
TEXT: BERT PLATZER