Egbert Van der Zee

Platforms in hospitality and tourism have become a central area of academic inquiry. This growing attention can be explained by the fact that tourism is regarded as one of the industries most affected by the development of the platform economy. A growing number of studies applying a myriad of research designs have emerged, ranging from mainly quantitative modelling studies to spatial analysis of web-scraped data and, to a lesser extent, qualitative inquiries. Although the literature is expanding rapidly, a number of issues persist. As there is a strong focus on empirical work, mainly consisting of case studies, there is a lack of theoretical foundation and theory formation. The ‘what’ of the sharing/collaborative/platform economy has been widely discussed, while the ‘why’ and ‘how’ remain underexposed. To understand better how the platform economy is transforming tourism geographies, qualitative and multi- or mixed-method studies are needed, as well as studies focused on the micro or macro level. Specifically, the chapter argues that there is a need for a geographical perspective on the development and impact of the platform economy in tourism, which considers the multiple scale levels affecting and affected by the platform economy.

1. Place branding has long been a strategy for regional development. Different intellectual property rights (IPRs) have served place branding, with trademarks often playing a key role (Castaldi, 20...

Understanding human geography's development requires looking beyond high‐profile academic journals. Alternative publication circuits are spaces of experimentation and play an important role in the discipline's intergenerational reproduction. This paper narrates the 35‐year trajectory of AGORA Magazine, a Dutch–Flemish popular‐scientific early‐career publication focusing on a broad array of socio‐spatial issues. Uncovering AGORA's history guided by a network analysis of co‐occurring authors, we develop two main arguments. First, the affiliation network extracted from AGORA's archive separates the magazine's history into five eras. These periods provide a window to understand the transformations of Dutch and Flemish human geography and related disciplines during the past decades, critically reflecting the zeitgeist of research topics, approaches and ideologies. Second, we probe the value of AGORA as nursery institution for early‐career scholars, establishing myriad inter‐university and transnational connections. We conclude by assessing the value of ‘second league’ native‐language publications in the context of ongoing internationalization.

Innovaties in GIS en cartografie maken het mogelijk om de ontwikkeling van Airbnb eenvoudig in kaart te brengen. Een kritische blik blijft echter noodzakelijk.

The emergence of social media and Web 2.0 has a notable impact upon the tasks of destination managers as these platforms have developed into influential mechanisms affecting tourist behaviour. This paper shows how Destination Management Organizations (DMOs) can reap the benefits of the Web 2.0 revolution as it serves as an important source of user-generated information, bringing novel opportunities for data-driven destination management. To test the applicability of user-generated content for destination management, this paper analyses restaurant reviews from five Flemish art cities which were retrieved from the Web 2.0 platform TripAdvisor. Getis-Ord hot spot analysis revealed spatial clusters of frequently (‘hot spots’) and rarely (‘cold spots’) reviewed restaurants in four out of the five art cities. By comparing these spatial patterns, the digital footprints of tourists were uncovered and discussed with DMO directors. Found patterns appeared to reflect local policies aimed either at concentrating tourism, as in Bruges, the city with the most prominent hot spot, or spreading tourism over time and space as seen in Antwerp and Ghent where less prominent hot spots were present. The visualization proved to be a valuable input when discussing tourism management and fuelled the sharing of knowledge between the destinations.

(1) Background: This study aimed to explore and define socio-economic (SES) differences in urban school food environments in The Netherlands. (2) Methods: Retail food outlets, ready-to-eat products, in-store food promotions and food advertisements in public space were determined within 400 m walking distance of all secondary schools in the 4th largest city of The Netherlands. Fisher’s exact tests were conducted. (3) Results: In total, 115 retail outlets sold ready-to-eat food and drink products during school hours. Fast food outlets were more often in the vicinity of schools in lower SES (28.6%) than in higher SES areas (11.5%). In general, unhealthy options (e.g., fried snacks, sugar-sweetened beverages (SSB)) were more often for sale, in-store promoted or advertised in comparison with healthy options (e.g., fruit, vegetables, bottled water). Sport/energy drinks were more often for sale, and fried snacks/fries, hamburgers/kebab and SSB were more often promoted or advertised in lower SES areas than in higher SES-areas. (4) Conclusion: In general, unhealthy food options were more often presented than the healthy options, but only a few SES differences were observed. The results, however, imply that efforts in all school areas are needed to make the healthy option the default option during school time.

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