According to Tameling, it is important to determine what you want to radiate as a city, and to demonstrate this in every aspect. Rotterdam, last year’s host city, is a good example, according to him. “Rotterdam wanted to profile itself as a city where people from all over the world have built the international port city together.”
“They have consistently translated this into all kinds of multicultural activities in the programming. So they have managed to realize their ambition there. It helps if you have a coherent story. It should not be something new or surprising.”
Can you count on more tourists coming after King’s Day? “No,” says Tameling. “You see that people want to walk the royal route, but those are the hardcore fans of the royal family. For the rest, it is not very special, unless we manage to capture something that surprises the rest of the Netherlands. That they do not know that that was in Emmen.”
The city marketer sees some possibilities for Emmen. “Maybe you should use Wildlands as a framework. Then you turn the entire route into one mega-wildlands.” Or you can ignore the city of Emmen and focus on the Op Fietse van Skik cycling tour. “Imagine that you manage to convince the family. That you don’t show the city center, but you go cycling around. I think that is fantastic television.”