Regional focus
be keen to explore more of what the Dutch have to offer. In a similar vein, both Dompeling and Stokkermans describe how owners are rushing to develop specific new concepts for every kind of traveller. For a country with one of the biggest industrial bases in Europe – home to several important banks and nine companies in the Fortune Global 500 – business is unsurprisingly one focus here. At the Grand Hotel Huis ter Duin, Stokkermans suggests it is the property’s 22 meeting spaces that have played a large part in the recovery after the Covid slump. And though it may not be a purely Dutch phenomenon, Dompeling says that so-called ‘experiential hospitality’ is rising in popularity too. Just a cursory glance online makes it clear what he means, with glamping sites and isolated seaside studios just some of the options available for adventurous visitors.
A different kind of tourism With so much activity happening across the country, it would be wrong to forget about Amsterdam entirely. Residents and officials may be grappling with how to stop their city from becoming a northern Venice, but that hardly means hospitality is disappearing. On the contrary, you get the impression that hoteliers are instead opening more sophisticated properties with hopes to seduce the culturally
minded travellers – and squeeze out those concerned with the Red Light District. A case in point is the Anantara. Opened last year and in a prime location opposite the Royal Palace, it offers a champagne bar and a restaurant overseen by a Michelin-starred chef. At the same time, the local government is adding on its own pressure, increasingly only issuing new permits to hotels that can prove their sustainability credentials. In short, if the dominance of Amsterdam has dampened, the lull of the pandemic has arguably given Dutch hoteliers an opportunity to reflect on what they want their industry to actually look like. With Amsterdam now focused on what Dompeling calls “different kinds” of tourism, Stokkermans hints that insiders across the country are having similar conversations. “We were forced to look at different ways of working,” he says, noting that at his property, changes are afoot everywhere, from investing in staff to environmentalism.
Stokkermans is predictably optimistic about tomorrow. “I think that when we have recovered from the current situation,” he says of Europe’s ongoing energy crisis, “we have a brighter future ahead of us, because we are able to shift to what this new society needs from us”. It’s a fair conclusion – especially if the Dutch can feel more comfortable in their own towns, as the tourists don’t seem to be slowing down. ●
_RADISSON RED MADRID
FROM LONDON HEATHROW TO JOHANNESBURG TO BRUSSELS VISIT US AT
RADISSONHOTELS.COM/RED OR GET IN CONTACT VIA
EMEADEVELOPMENT@RADISSONHOTELS.COM
Hotel Management International /
www.hmi-online.com 19
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