HZ Knowledge Centre for Coastal Tourism (HZ KCKT) will celebrate its twentieth anniversary in 2026. Diana Korteweg Maris was not there from the beginning, but for years she has been the face of what is perhaps the best-known research group at HZ University of Applied Sciences. "Our knowledge centre is doing very well."
Anyone walking into the open-plan office on the first floor of the HZ Tower will see many new faces in the knowledge centre. ‘We've had quite a few changes, but now we're set for a while,’ says Diana. ‘It can be difficult to find and retain good people in Zeeland. The pool you're fishing from isn't very big. Fortunately, we are an authority in the field of tourism. That attracts people, even from outside the province. We have colleagues who live in Breda, Rotterdam and Bennekom. They work here because they really enjoy the work. They often take the travel time for granted.’
HZ KCKT maintains a certain degree of flexibility in the team. This leaves room for new talent. ‘We are part of a university of applied sciences, so we also consider talent development important. We must give young people the opportunity to gain experience as researchers. It's nice to see those young researchers later on in other places.’
Guest lecturer
This year, Diana and her colleagues will welcome at least one new colleague. The knowledge centre will be working with a guest lecturer: Jeroen Klijs. He is already a lecturer at BUAS and will be joining the Zeeland knowledge centre one day a week starting this spring. Diana is delighted with his arrival. She believes that the knowledge centre connects with the professional field like no other, but that its ties with academia could be stronger. ‘For example, we write few articles for scientific journals and you don't often see us at academic conferences. Our guest lecturer will help us strengthen that academic anchoring.’
The collaboration with Klijs is made possible in part by CELTH, the centre of expertise on leisure, hospitality and tourism at HZ, BUAS and NHL Stenden. HZ KCKT has already worked extensively with Klijs. Diana herself never had any ambition to become a lecturer. ‘I'm an exception,’ she laughs. ‘If I wanted to, I would have to get a PhD. That means I would have to focus on one subject for years. I get my energy from variety and all the contacts I have in the field. There are still so many opportunities. As HZ, we can play an even bigger role in this area.’
We are reviewing our research agenda in close collaboration with the province. We will be discussing this further.
Zeeland Tourist Board
The knowledge centre has been part of HZ University of Applied Sciences since 2006. Before that, it was part of the Zeeland Tourist Board. Diana worked at the Brabant Tourist Board during that period. In that role, she got to know Margot Tempelman, who brought the knowledge centre to HZ. "It was during the period when practice-oriented research was emerging. In 2008, I started working at BUAS to set up a joint coastal tourism knowledge centre. I drove to Zeeland two days a week to shape the collaboration with HZ. A few years later, I met my partner, who is from Zeeland. I then moved to Zeeland and started working at HZ."
In the beginning, HZ KCKT was mainly concerned with monitoring tourism. We have always continued to do that, but more and more projects were added. We did all kinds of things. Later, we started to position ourselves more as a knowledge partner. We are still developing in that area." For example, HZ KCKT does not conduct research or feasibility studies for individual entrepreneurs and is more selective in what it does and does not do. The condition is that the projects must be relevant to the entire sector. A large part of the assignments come from the province, but it is also a partner in national and European projects and does many incidental projects for municipalities in Zeeland, for example.
Cooperation with the county
Diana has seen the theme change. Whereas initially the focus was mainly on “more, more, more tourism”, she and the researchers are now focusing on the impact of tourism and the balance between tourism and quality of life. ‘We are looking at our research agenda in close collaboration with the province. We will be discussing this. When I started in 2008, tourism was in a slump. Many parties then focused strongly on the development of regions such as West Zeeland Flanders. This was so successful that the balance sometimes shifted too far. We therefore also started to look at what the residents gain from it.’
For about eight years now, HZ KCKT has been conducting more research into the relationship between tourism and quality of life. For example, an initial resident survey was conducted in 2019, which was repeated two years later and will be conducted again separately on Schouwen-Duiveland in 2024. ‘Don't forget that the biggest users of our sector are the residents themselves. You want to live somewhere pleasant. Tourism makes that possible, not only for visitors, but also for residents. We take that into account in our research on balance.’
Experience the Scheldt
In addition to research into balance, “Beleefbare Schelde” (Experiential Scheldt) and “3ST”, the two ongoing European projects of HZ KCKT, are attracting a lot of attention. Within 3ST, the knowledge centre is investigating how recreational entrepreneurs can become more sustainable and all the rules that hinder or complicate this. ‘How can we make sustainability possible? That is the question we want to answer in 3ST.’ Beleefbare Schelde is a project aimed at increasing the visibility of tourism offerings throughout the Scheldt delta. ‘An additional advantage is that we hope this will reduce pressure on the coast.’
We are part of a university of applied sciences, so we also consider talent development to be important.
Knowledge transfer
One of the other priorities of the knowledge centre is knowledge transfer, not only to students, but also to policymakers and decision-makers. ‘We have a huge amount of data at our disposal, but too many people don't know how to find it yet. We want to change that and encourage integrated thinking. We don't do roadshows, but we do go to policymakers and decision-makers. We show them all the areas that are affected by tourism. We've noticed that this is received with enthusiasm.’
In the meantime, Diana and her colleagues continue to develop the HZ KCKT. Guest lecturer Klijs has an important role to play in this. She hopes that the research will become a little more focused. ‘Perhaps we have sometimes been a little too subservient to the professional field. We really want to develop new knowledge. For example, there are opportunities if we strengthen our ties with the coast, in terms of safety, but also in terms of the economy. If we do that, I also see many opportunities for even more collaboration with other research groups at HZ.’
HZ Coastal Tourism Knowledge Centre
The HZ Coastal Tourism Knowledge Centre is the leading knowledge partner in the leisure sector in Zeeland. As part of HZ University of Applied Sciences, it has access to a rich knowledge network of research, policy and practice. KCKT addresses issues faced by entrepreneurs, governments and social organisations through knowledge development and knowledge transfer. The aim is to stimulate sustainable innovation in the leisure sector in Zeeland.
Go to the knowledge centre website