The tasks for the Leisure, Tourism & Hospitality – the hospitality domain – are large.
The domain grew until the Covid crisis worldwide, where it generated 10% of the global GDP. Until the Covid pandemic, we also saw strong growth of the domain in the Netherlands. This growth generated considerable money (91.2 billion in turnover and more than 800,000 jobs). The domain earned just as much money in the Netherlands in 2019 as in the construction sector and twice as much as in the agricultural sector. The Covid crisis showed that the hospitality domain is of great value not only economical, but also social.
Due to consumer demand, the domain worldwide and in the Netherlands is expected to recover quickly and to experience further growth. Increasing complexity and dynamics present the domain with a major transition task, in which ecological upper limits and socio-economic lower limits will be encountered. The knowledge and educational institutions in the hospitality domain have a qualitative research capacity to help the domain more intensively with its tasks with expertise.