INTERIM - Integration of Tourism and Recreation in Mobility Policy
Recreational travel accounted for about 40% of all kilometers travelled in the Netherlands in 2024. However, these journeys, and the recreational or tourist traveler, are usually not included in mobility policy or data. The recreational traveler is a lot harder to recognize than the commuter. At the same time, they do use the same infrastructure and recreational destinations have the same sustainability or accessibility challenges as work or urban locations.
What was the goal of this research?
The INTERIM (Integration of Tourism and Recreation in Mobility Policy) project investigates where this separation comes from and investigates which collaborations are possible between the recreation and mobility sectors. Through five pilot regions (Kop van Noord Holland, Municipality of Schouwen-Duiveland, De Biesbosch, Hart van Brabant, and the Heuvelland region), governance barriers and opportunities will be investigated, and recreational passenger flows will be quantified on the basis of (amongst others) RESONO data analysis. This information is used to look at which forms of cooperation can contribute to a more sustainable mobility system, both for the commuter and the recreative traveler.
What method was employed?
Hybrid Delphi Investigation into governance relations and potential topics for collaboration.
RESONO and other data analysis into the recognition of the tourist in traffic flows in five pilots.
Organised workshops to set up potential collaborations between pilot stakeholders
What findings did we uncover?
Current lack of collaboration or awareness of activities from other sectors.
Strong potential in collaboration between tourism and mobility to facilitate the pursuit of sustainable transition goals
Who is the Project Team?
Prof. Nina Nesterova - Professor Sustainable Development of Tourism and Transport (BUas); Sjors Martens - Mobility researcher (BUas); Maarten Soeters - Expert (coastal) tourism (HZ)
What is the timeline of this project?
January 2026 - June 2027
Who is our main collaborating partner?
HZ University of Applied Sciences
Who is our funding partner?
Centre of Expertise Leisure, Tourism and Hospitality (CELTH )
