Identifying tourists

Tourism has developed over the years into one of the main institutions in our society. It has become more global, which means that tourists can travel wherever they want, all over the world. This has caused a situation in which tourism has become something for the mass. Tourism has become mass tourism, and has become very diverse. Tourists nowadays all have different goals in their travels. Tourism has become something that is normal, an almost lowbrow activity. The term 'tourist' almost has become a negative concept (Edensor, 2009).

The globalization of tourism implies that you can find any sort of people anywhere in the world, and that any kind of people can visit places anywhere in the world. Does this translate to tourism in Groningen?

First,  mass tourism in Groningen doesn't really seem to be a thing. Of course a part of the city is designed for tourism, with hotels and the tourist information offices (VVV), but the scale on which this takes place is not as big as other cities in the Netherlands, like Amsterdam or The Hague. When walking in Groningen, you get the idea that it's more like a large village than the biggest city of the northern Netherlands. In the province, there are some places that are designed for tourism, like Bourtange, but there are no huge theme parks or other kinds of 'tourist magnets', just a few festivals around the city, like Eurosonic, Noorderzon and de Bloemetjesmarkt.

Bloemetjesmarkt in Groningen (source: grandcafegroningen.nl)

Each year, around April, a large flower festival (Bloemetjesmarkt) takes place in Groningen. This draws a lot of tourists to the city, most of which are German. This is likely, because Groningen is relatively close for Germans who want to go out for just a day or two. And of course, the occasional Asian tourist can be found wandering about.

sources:

Tim Edensor (2009). Tourism.

http://bloemenjaarmarkt.nl/

http://www.groningerkrant.nl/2016/01/massatoerisme-groningen-gaat-op-manier-gebeuren/