The economic and social relevance of heritage sites - OpenArch Conference, Archeon 2013

The economic and social

relevance

of heritage sites Alphen aan den Rijn, The Netherlands

April, 2013

Janneke Kuysters

Short introduction

Leisure economy, policies and projects

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!

Which playing field?

• Economic: the role of heritage sites in the leisure

economy

• Society: jobs, citizen pride,

sense of place, dynamic and inspiring environments

Leisure economy?

• Stakeholders

• Relevance/ interest

• Limited supply

• Value

• €

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.

Leisure demand (2)

• Residents and tourists

• Increasing the value of demand: 3 ‘buttons’:

– Length of stay

– Number of visitors

– Amount spent

Leisure: supply (1)

• Day and stay: different markets, different volume

• 3 types of business: commercial, cultural and non-

commercial

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.)

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)

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.

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%.

Example 3: Generated value

watersports

Bron: NBTC-NIPO Research, kostenpanel.

Shops and restaurants/ bars benefit most

Example: Vecht

Another example: Great Loop

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

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

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

Sail-through museum

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

Questions?

Leisure Result

0031(0)30-2250011

www.resultants.nl

Janneke.Kuysters@resultants.nl