CELTH's new direction focuses on business and development

What is CELTH?

CELTH is a partnership between three universities of applied sciences: Breda University of Applied Sciences, NHL Stenden University of Applied Sciences and HZ University of Applied Sciences. The centre focuses on research and knowledge development within the hospitality domain. "Jos van der Sterren explains: "CELTH is the only national knowledge centre in the field of leisure, tourism and hospitality. We try to raise awareness of the importance of this domain, because it has great value for liveability, economy and employment." Anke Arts adds: "We work closely with the field and have built up a broad network. Our aim is to support the sector with relevant research, both nationally and internationally." CELTH sees itself as a connector in the sector and aims to bring policymakers, researchers, education and the industry together in relevant and urgent knowledge projects.

The challenges of a fragmented sector

One of the biggest challenges CELTH faces is the fragmented nature of the sector. Van der Sterren: "You are dealing with companies from small to large, with different, sometimes conflicting interests. Many research agencies specialise regionally or thematically, but CELTH aims to rise above regional specialisations with a national transdisciplinary agenda." That agenda of CELTH focuses on sustainable and conscious destinations. ‘We want to provide a capstone to speak as an authority on this domain at a national level, based on solid research,’ said Van der Sterren, who wants CELTH to contribute to an adaptive sector. "In the National Council for Recreation and Tourism, we work on cross-cutting themes such as digitalisation, sustainability and broad prosperity. We do this right across more specific goals such as successful business, space for recreation & tourism and successful destinations. CELTH has knowledge and expertise on many of these topics in-house or can retrieve knowledge through research." CELTH's strength lies in its approach, where several experts from different colleges work together with external parties to research and solve the issues. This gives an open and broad view of the challenges in the projects. Van der Sterren: ‘In this, too, we make the connection and see that researchers do not feel competition, but rather find it an interesting way to work together.’ CELTH is emphatically not a research and consultancy firm that can tackle problems of specific companies or organisations. ‘We act on issues that concern not only your company, but the whole industry or sector.’

Peer review and areas for improvement

Recently, CELTH underwent a peer review conducted by Katapult, the national network of Centres of Expertise. Van der Sterren: "The review was positive. We are seen as a centre of good and consistent quality, with a good reputation, also internationally. But there are also areas for improvement. We need to be more assertive in our communication and show better what we do." Another area of concern is financing. "The private sector sometimes finds us too abstract or analytical. We need to look at how we can set up project-based public-private partnerships," Van der Sterren said.

An important spearhead for the new board is strengthening the connection between research and daily practice. Arts: "In addition to more fundamental research, we want to focus more strongly on research that is closer to practice. One way of doing this is by involving students from the various study programmes more in our work. Van der Sterren: ‘These are then studies at companies, the outcome of which is scalable and the results can also be used at other companies or parts of the sector.’ At the same time, Van der Sterren wants to focus more on multi-year studies within CELTH: "We want to set up projects that run over a longer period. Students from different years can then deliver data on the same theme from individual cases that we can use to build a generic database. This way, the research touches more on practice and we connect knowledge."

Future vision: from local to international

The new board has big ambitions for the future. Arts: ‘We want to involve more colleges and position the hospitality branch more firmly.’ Van der Sterren: "There are more colleges that are active in this field, with which we already collaborate incidentally now. We would like to make this cooperation structural. We also want to connect more with other research groups active in the domain."

In the future, Van der Sterren sees CELTH as a central knowledge centre for the sector. "I hope at some point there will be an automatic thinking: if we need knowledge, we go to CELTH. That should apply at all levels: national, regional, local, public and private."

He also sees opportunities for CELTH to play a role in European policy agendas. "You have to be realistic and make choices, but we can have a targeted seat at the table in Brussels with our expertise. Our studies have already gained international exposure, for example with research on the environmental impact of tourism, strategies around overtourism and a more equitable distribution of tourism benefits."

Connecting role

One of the unique aspects of CELTH is the connecting role it plays. Van der Sterren: "Surely we have a name as a reference point. We help make connections between the sector, researchers and colleges. We are good at articulating questions and coordinating research." Arts stresses the importance of collaboration: "That is essential for solving complex issues. For instance, as mentioned earlier, we sit on the National Council for Recreation and Tourism and represent research and higher education in the Hospitality Pact. In addition, we are initiators in developing the Professional Doctorate pilot for leisure, tourism and hospitality. There, we collaborate with seven colleges in the domain and 19 candidates can work on urgent issues in our domain for several years."

Summary

With the new board, CELTH is on the eve of a new phase where it will build on what has been achieved under the inspiring leadership of previous director Menno Stokman. The focus is on broadening, deepening and strengthening the connection between research and practice. Ambitions are high, both nationally and internationally. If it is up to Arts and Van der Sterren, CELTH will become the knowledge centre for the leisure, tourism and hospitality sector, where everyone automatically goes for expertise and research. ‘We want people to think: if it's CELTH, it's good,’ Van der Sterren concludes. ‘Then we have succeeded.’ Which does not alter the fact that, in their view, there is certainly room for other research groups as well. ‘These, through their specific expertise, also add knowledge that we desperately need as a sector.’