Like a marker pen on a map, the Covid-19 pandemic drastically highlighted the persisting existence of borders that used to play an ever decreasing role in people´s perception and behavior over the last decades. Yes, inner European borders are open in normal times. Yes, people, goods, services and ideas are crossing the border between Germany and the Netherlands freely. Yet we see that the border can turn into a barrier again quickly and effectively and it does so in many dimensions, some of them being not easily visible. Barriers hinder growth, development and exchange and in spite of our progress in creating a borderless Europe, borders still create barriers in many domains. Differing labor law, social security and tax systems, heterogeneous education models, small and big cultural differences, language barriers and more can impose severe limitations on people and businesses as they cross the border to travel, shop, work, hire, produce, buy, sell, study and research. Borders are of all times and will therefore always exist. But as they did so for a long time, huge opportunities can be found in overcoming the barriers they create. The border must not necessarily be a dividing line between two systems. It has the potential to become a center of growth and progress that build on joint efforts, cross-border cooperation, mutual learning and healthy competition. Developing this inherent potential of border regions asks for politics, businesses and research & education on both sides of the border to work together. The research group Cross-Border Business Development at Fontys University of Applied Science in Venlo conducts applied research on the impact of the national border on people and businesses in the Dutch-German border area. Students, employees, border commuters, entrepreneurs and employers all face opportunities as well as challenges due to the border. In collaboration with these stakeholders, the research chair aims to create knowledge and provide solutions towards a Dutch-German labor market, an innovative Dutch-German borderland and a futureproof Cross-Border economic ecosystem. This collection is not about the borderland in times of COVID-19. Giving meaning to the borderland is an ongoing process that started long before the pandemic and will continue far beyond. The links that have been established across the border and those that will in the future are multifaceted and so are the topics in this collection. Vincent Pijnenburg outlines a broader and introductory perspective on the dynamics in the Dutch-German borderland.. Carla Arts observes shopping behavior of cross-border consumers in the Euregion Rhine-Meuse-North. Jan Lucas explores the interdependencies of the Dutch and German economies. Jean Louis Steevensz presents a cross-border co-creation servitization project between a Dutch supplier and a German customer. Vincent Pijnenburg and Patrick Szillat analyze the exitence of clusters in the Dutch-German borderland. Christina Masch and Janina Ulrich provide research on students job search preferences with a focus on the cross-border labor market. Sonja Floto-Stammen and Natalia Naranjo-Guevara contribute a study of the market for insect-based food in Germany and the Netherlands. Niklas Meisel investigates the differences in the German and Dutch response to the Covid-19 crisis. Finally, Tolga Yildiz and Patrick Szillat show differences in product-orientation and customer-orientation between Dutch and German small and medium sized companies. This collection shows how rich and different the links across the border are and how manifold the perspectives and fields for a cross-border approach to regional development can be. This publication is as well an invitation. Grasping the opportunities that the border location entails requires cooperation across professional fields and scientific disciplines, between politics, business and researchers. It needs the contact with and the contribution of the people in the region. So do what we strive for with our cross-border research agenda: connect!
Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to get a better understanding of the influence of terrorism on risk perception and attitudes of the German travel behavior toward Turkey as a destination in crisis, which has been considered one of the biggest losers for 2016. Design/methodology/approach: The research process involved an online self-administered method created with one of the leading research and web-based survey tools called Qualtrics. This tool has been considered useful to reach a wider target, the questionnaire filled in by 305 respondents. Findings: The findings revealed a strong tendency of a low safety perception among the sample toward Turkey. Furthermore, a large proportion indicated a strong unlikelihood of traveling to the country within the upcoming 12 months independently of a past travel experience. In addition, Turkey and Egypt were the countries perceived as most unsafe among the mentioned destinations. Research limitations/implications: The majority of the respondents of the study were aged between 50 and 59 years and were employed as commercial employee, office or administration workers. The outcomes might be different for a higher sample size with a tendency of various demographic characteristic such as age and profession. Furthermore, the study should be repeated while focusing on respondents with accompanied children on holidays, which only made up a minority for the present research study. Originality/value: To the best of the knowledge, this is the first study to examine the influence of terrorism on risk perception and attitudes of the German travel behavior toward Turkey and their risk reduction strategies/preventive measures.
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For German-speaking tourists, an Oriental market (in Arabic: souq) is an exotic place representing the ‘Otherness’. Referring to this Oriental context, the article aims to answer the following questions: What are the tourists’ imaginaries and social narratives and what is the role that cultural brokers play? Gaining insight into the imaginaries and on-site performances of German-speaking tourists of a mega-cruise liner will contribute to the discussion of imaginaries and embodied performances in general as well as the mediation and the construction of space. The research reported upon in the article is part of a larger field study (2012–2014) in Souq Muttrah, the oldest and formerly main market in Oman. Participant observation, photography and in-depth interviews with different types of tourists, local customers, cultural brokers and on-board employees were conducted and marketing material was analysed. Results indicate that in the marketing material, the tourists are already beginning to travel backwards in time. During their visit to the souq, the multi-sensory performances and embodied imaginaries are enhanced by stories of the Arabian Nights. Cultural brokers play an essential role in ‘localizing’ the tourist experience. They adjust their own identities and direct the tourists’ performances at different stages, similar to an Oriental theme park, for example, they stop at a frankincense shop.
The projectThe overarching goal of DIGNITY, DIGital traNsport In and for socieTY, is to foster a sustainable, integrated and user-friendly digital travel eco-system that improves accessibility and social inclusion, along with the travel experience and daily life of all citizens. The project delves into the digital transport eco-system to grasp the full range of factors that might lead to disparities in the uptake of digitalised mobility solutions by different user groups in Europe. Analysing the digital transition from both a user and provider’s perspective, DIGNITY looks at the challenges brought about by digitalisation, to then design, test and validate the DIGNITY approach, a novel concept that seeks to become the ‘ABCs for a digital inclusive travel system’. The approach combines proven inclusive design methodologies with the principles of foresight analysis to examine how a structured involvement of all actors – local institutions, market players, interest groups and end users – can help bridge the digital gap by co-creating more inclusive mobility solutions and by formulating user-centred policy frameworks.The objectivesThe idea is to support public and private mobility providers in conceiving mainstream digital products or services that are accessible to and usable by as many people as possible, regardless of their income, social situation or age; and to help policy makers formulate long-term strategies that promote innovation in transport while responding to global social, demographic and economic changes, including the challenges of poverty and migration.The missionBy focusing on and involving end-users throughout the process of designing policies, products, or services, it is possible to reduce social exclusion while boosting new business models and social innovation. The end result that DIGNITY is aiming for is an innovative decision support tool that can help local and regional decision-makers formulate digitally inclusive policies and strategies, and digital providers design more inclusive products and services.The approachThe DIGNITY approach combines analysis with concrete actions to make digital mobility services inclusive over the long term. The approach connects users’ needs and requirements with the provision of mobility services, and at the same time connects those services to the institutional framework. It is a multi-phase process that first seeks to understand and bridge the digital gap, and then to test, evaluate and fine-tune the approach, so that it can be applied in other contexts even after the project’s end.Partners: ISINNOVA (Italy), Mobiel 21 (Belgium), Universitat Politechnica deCatalunya Spain), IZT (Germany), University of Cambridge (UK), Factualconsulting (Spain), Barcelona Regional Agencia (Spain), City of Tilburg(Netherlands), Nextbike (Germany), City of Ancona (Italy), MyCicero (Italy),Conerobus (Italy), Vlaams Gewest (Belgium)
Client: European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT) The European Institute of Innovation & Technology, a body of the European Union founded to increase European sustainable growth and competitiveness, has set up a number of Knowledge and Innovation Communities (KIC). One of these Communities is on climate change (Climate-KIC). In 2013, Climate-KIC in the Netherlands approved funding for the IMPACT project (IMPlementation & Adoption of Carbon footprint in Tourism travel packages). This ‘pathfinder’ project aimed to assess the viability of and market for a comprehensive carbon calculator. Such a calculator would enable enterprises in the wider travel industry to determine the carbon dioxide emissions, the main cause for climate change, of tourism products and include ‘carbon management’ in their overall policy and strategy. It is generally expected the cost for fuel and carbon will significantly rise in the near en medium future. The calculator will not only cover flights, but also other transport modes, local tourism activities and accommodations. When this pathfinder project finds interest for carbon management within the sector, we aim to start a much larger follow-up project that will deliver the calculator and tools. The IMPACT project was coordinated by the research institute Alterra Wagenigen UR, the Netherlands. Partners were: - Schiphol Airport Group, Amsterdam, The Netherlands- Technical University Berlin, Germany- TEC Conseil, Marseille, France- TUI Netherlands, Rijswijk, The Netherlands- NHTV Breda University for Applied Sciences, The NetherlandsThe project ran from September 2013 to February 2014.
This project aims to analyse, measure and communicate climate-friendly (and regular) travel options to important medium-haul European tourism destinations for the German market, including islands. It should contribute to the reduction of tourism emissions by increasing the share of rail and bus in German origin-destination transport, in part via a handbook for travel agencies.
