Summer Play area on a roof garden
28-7-2014
The last couple of weeks, I noticed that the car park where I always park wasn’t as packed as usual. In Arnhem, they have a nice solution for car parks during the summer. They created a ‘Roof Garden’. A public place or a all-in-one location, where you can hang-out, drink something, eat a ‘roof’-meal, enjoy the garden and follow a bee workshop. You can even play ping pong, practice ‘roof’yoga, see a ‘roof’-movie and exercise at the underground gym. Furthermore, it is a showroom for creatives and cultural initiatives, such as a silent disco. The design is sustainable, it uses solar energy and for example the furniture is created from wooden pallets by volunteers.
Update: 3 August was the final day, luckily we still got the pictures.
French label ‘home-made’
21-7-2014
The French government introduced a new law forcing ‘fait maison’ (home-made) where restaurants have to indicate whether they are only using home-made food. This means that they can use the mark of ‘fait maison’ when they are only using food which has not been processed or prepared before. The restaurants can be recognized by the logo of a frying pan with a little roof on top. The French government is using ‘fait maison’ to improve the state of their traditional restaurant scene.
Creative protest against anti-dancing law
15-7-2014
You’ll hear something when you listen to the Dutch Radio 1! Last week I heard a story about a protest against the anti-dancing laws in Japan from 1948. At the ‘Techno Udon-parties’ in Japan people aren’t dancing but ‘kneading’ special dough! At these parties people are provided with some Udon-dough, covered in plastic, to dance on. This way they get around the provision of the 1948 Adult Entertainment Business Regulation Law that forbids dancing in bars. The parties also exist to promote the old art of making dough. They’re even considering to bring the Udon-parties to other countries as well. ^Marjolein van Spronsen
Hospitality inspection online
14-7-2014
On 7 June the ‘Netherlands Food and Consumer Product Safety Authority’ started with the publication of the inspection results of lunchrooms. The reviews of over 1.600 lunchrooms can be found on the inspection card and the ‘horeca inspectiekaart’ app for iPhone and Android. Both systems help consumers find a lunchroom that scored high at the inspection.
acting sustainable by having fun
7-7-2014
The Green Plugin is a modular system whit which festivals can be built sustainably. It uses sustainable sources as wind-, solar- and human power. The Green Plugin has several items such as a dance floor, that gathers the energy of the people who are dancing and lights itself. Or an interactive recycling installation, where visitors can take their cups and transform them into a 3d-printed item. The Green Plugin is a initiative from UMEF (United Music Events Foundation), the Perpetual Plastic Project and Energy Floors.
Inglorious fruits and vegetables
7-7-2014
The third largest supermarket chain in France, Intermarché, introduced the campaign ‘inglorious fruits & vegetables’. The supermarket buys the ‘ugly’ fruits and vegetables that would normally be thrown away and sells it 30% cheaper. It is a win-win-win campaign: consumers get good quality fruits and vegetables for a cheaper price. The growers are paid for products that normally would be discarded and Intermarché increases its sales with this new line of products. Besides the ‘inglorious’ fruits and vegetables the supermarket sells soups and juices made from these products as well.
Intermarché launched this campaign nationwide trough billboards, social media, television and radio. In the Netherlands we have seen a number of actions to promote these ‘ugly’ products as well. In 2013 we saw the crooked cucumber action of the ladies of Kromkommer and the store Zegro in Rotterdam and in 2014 we’ve spotted the crowdfunding action for ‘kromkommer’ soups.
Dutch couple links entrepreneurship and education in Suriname
4-6-2014
Entrepreneurs Jessica Augustin and Stanley Wassenaar from Amsterdam hope to be able to open ‘their’ hotel doors: Hotel Con Corazón in Paramaribo. With the profits of the hotel they want to contribute to good education and a better future for children in Suriname. To make their dream reality, they started a crowdfunding campaign and hope to collect 10 percent of the initial capital of approximately 800,000 euros. People can contribute in different ways; give a donation, provide a loan or become a social shareholder. For information on how to contribute klik here.
No reseach Most Welcoming City 2014
15-5-2014
This year will be no research for the Most Welcoming City of the Netherlands. This article is only available in Dutch.
Hospitality game for Utrecht
15-4-2014
Utrecht Tourism has developed an online game for the hospitality industry. Entrepreneurs can train their personnel more easily with this game and track their progress. Utrecht had an average score at the ‘Most Hospitable City’ research last year, with an 11th place from the 21 cities studied. Watch the video by Shapers for an impression.
Flemish hospitality at snack wall
19-3-2014
To advertise Flanders as a tourist destination in The Netherlands, several typical Flemish delicacies came from the Dutch FEBO snack wall . Visitors treated with a flair of Flemish hospitality as well. See the video for the promotion campaign.
