The recreation industry in the Netherlands suffer from low returns on investment, a low innovation rate and a heavy regulatory burden. A particular problem is that the industry is seen as a threat to the quality of the landscape, yet at the same time that landscape is a major asset for recreation enterprises. Following calls from both the Landscape Council and a group of entrepreneurs, an Innovation Programme for Leisure and Landscape was launched in 2009. Six pilot projects have been started in which entrepreneurs invest in innovative recreation businesses and in the surrounding landscape. They were selected on the basis of sustainability, innovativeness and improvement of spatial quality.
The experience with these pilots has led to the identification of six key factors of success in the necessary restructuring of the leisure industry. One is urgency, i.e. the extent to which the project addresses an immediate need felt in the area. Others are: long-term vision, contributing to sustainability and landscape quality, knowledge, finance and time (10-15 years).
The initial results for two of the pilots were presented at the 22rd conference of the International Society for Professional Innovation Management (ISPIM) in Hamburg, in June 2011.