CBI: Helping Tourism Entrepreneurs in Developing Countries Reach the European Market
For CBI, ETFI helped small and medium-sized tourism businesses in developing countries attract visitors from Europe. By making knowledge about the European tourism market accessible, the project supported the transition to a more inclusive and sustainable economy.
Project duration: 2019 – 2022
The challenge
Small tourism businesses in developing countries often lack reliable information about the European market: which trends matter, which niche markets are growing and what European travellers expect. Without that knowledge, it is hard to develop products that appeal to them.
CBI, part of the Netherlands Enterprise Agency, supports these businesses in line with the Sustainable Development Goals on gender equality, decent work, responsible consumption and partnerships.
Our approach
Working with research agency Molgo and Acorn Tourism Consulting, ETFI produced a yearly trend report and fact sheets on niche markets, with statistics from key European countries, practical tips, best practices and expert interviews. Because the audience was international, all texts were written in plain English and reviewed by CBI in several rounds. Albert Postma led ETFI’s contribution, with texts by Bernadett Papp, Ben Wielenga, Akke Folmer, Brigitte Nitsch and Jasper Heslinga, and support from students.
The impact
Over four years, ETFI delivered a trend report with annual updates and fact sheets on more than a dozen niche markets, from cruise, cultural and multi-generational tourism to birdwatching, accessible and regenerative tourism. ETFI also wrote a design-thinking guide on developing tourism products and contributed to webinars on product development, birdwatching and regenerative tourism.
All content was published on CBI’s market information platform, giving entrepreneurs worldwide free access to practical knowledge about the European market.
What could we discover together?
Whether you have a research question, a project idea or an interest in collaborating, we'd love to hear from you.
Contact our team!