Revisit the inspiration day

Relive the Insiders Inspiration Day 2025

| Jeske van Steen | |

On 25 February 2025, we invited the destination marketing sector to the Insiders Inspiration Day in Den Bosch. A festive day full of meetings, stories and knowledge, with this year's theme Imagine. Imagine if we could relive the day... Fortunately, we can. In this blog, we look back on the highlights of the day together.

Trend presentation by Simone Maas

After a welcome speech by Insider Servia van der Laak, Simone Maas entered the stage of the State Room of the Noordbrabants Museum. The creative strategist and Trendwatcher from Insiders took us through the latest trends in destination marketing. Her message? Explore the future with coolhunting. In other words, look for trend signals that indicate future development. Simone shared some such trend signals with us:

Make sustainability easier and more attractive for your visitors.
Apply AI in a creative and surprising way.
Give your visitors an incentive break.

'From Unesco, sustainability is an important point of view for us, so sustainable travel is too. We focus a lot on cycling and now want to focus on longer routes. So we can definitely do something with Simone's trend tip,' commented Eva de Bakker-Bleeker of Hollandse Waterlinies. 'Keep sustainability light-hearted and don't make it too heavy. Very inspiring, but also definitely useful,' said Amarens Greidanus of NS Dagje Uit.

Storytelling & experience by Olaf Vugts

Imagine doing holiday work at the Efteling when you were 14, and years later making it to director of the park. This is the story of Olaf Vugts, the second speaker we welcomed to the Inspiration Day. As a former director of Efteling, Olaf knew how to take us into the world of imagination and storytelling like no other. What lessons - among others - do we take away from the World of Wonders?

Look through the eyes of the target group. For Efteling, that's families with children. As an adult, you might pay attention to that one broken tulip in the Fakir's garden, but children don't see that. How does your target group really experience your destination?
Create memories with your visitors. Everyone knows the red-and-white-dotted mushroom in the Efteling, and undoubtedly remembers the first ride in the Python. What is the mushroom of your destination? And how do you make sure your visitors remember that very first 'ride'?

The importance of music, the success of the Winter Efteling, the power of Imagineering (imagination and technology), Olaf took us through his story with catchy anecdotes. His final message: don't be interested in the competitor. Focus instead on that 9+ rating of your own destination.

If your destination is unique, you don’t need to compete.
Olaf Vugts

Theme speeches by inspiring speakers

The morning ended with three keynote speeches, which could be attended at your choice. In the Statenzaal, Charel van Dam of NBTC introduced us to New Dutch: the story of a destination in 2050. The image of a destination changes over time, but your DNA remains unchanged. So leave your story the same and highlight other aspects - that was Charel's conclusion. Want to know more? Read the blog on the highlights of Charel's presentation.

In the yellow room, Kris Switser shared her inspiring story with the audience. Kris ended up in a wheelchair at a young age. She became the example she found herself nowhere. Through BucketKris, she let the audience travel with her. 'I found Kris' story very inspiring. We create many routes, and we can use her experience to create logical and more accessible paths,' Wouter Kaysor of Wintor commented on Kris' presentation.

Insider Judith Meinders took us into the podcast world. Her tip: find a domain that is interesting enough to tell stories about, for your brand as well as for your listeners. That can be very mundane and approachable. Visit Groningen's Microcast was a good example of this.

An afternoon of unique experiences in downtown Bossche

After a tasty lunch at Zoetelief, it was time to discover the 'Story of Den Bosch'. On the programme were nine unique experiences in the city centre of Den Bosch, from which everyone could choose a favourite:

Highlight: a climb in the tower of St John's Cathedral, with a view of the city as your reward
Spectacular: viewing projections in the Hieronymus Bosch House on the Market Square
Holy Moly: a tour of St John's, Den Bosch's gothic cathedral
Kei Vet: a workshop during which a typical delicacy from Den Bosch was made; the Bossche bol
Schon Fiske: a visit to the Carnival Museum of Oeteldonk - Den Bosch so 😉
Secretive: a tour of Den Bosch's centuries-old Swan Brotherhouse
Van 't padje: a tour of the North Brabant Museum with stories about Vincent van Gogh and Brabant
Hipperdepip: a look at the 'Supreme' exhibition at the Design Museum, telling the story of global fashion brand Supreme
Whipped up: a Bossche Bollen experience in the 'Most whipped up museum in the world'

These are the winners of the Insiders Awards

An important and annual part of Insiders Day: the Insiders Awards! 2024 saw a lot of great results, which Insider Pascal shared with us. The best achievements were rewarded with an award. Who emerged as winners?

Best-viewed website major cities: Maastricht
Best-viewed website medium-sized cities: Noordwijk
Best-viewed website small villages and towns: Harlingen
Best-viewed website large areas: VisitBrabant
Best-viewed website small areas: Land of the Peel
Website with largest increase in visitor numbers: Bladel
Website with the best quality visitors: Geldrop-Mierlo

Effort pays off, as the reactions of some of the winners of the Insiders Awards showed. ''We launched a new website in April, which took a lot of time. Great that we won the award,'' said Kiki Brouwers and Rianne Leenders of Brabant Partners. ''We have invested a lot recently. More than in previous years'', Laura Bijster of Geldrop-Mierlo revealed. With results, in other words!

Curious to find out more about the winners of the Insiders Awards? Click on the link.

Winner most outstanding campaign

'Groningen: open again' by Marketing Groningen emerged as the winner. The campaign had an important message: Groningen is accessible again after a long period of work. That message was delivered with a big wink. Groningen made excuses or humble gestures towards other cities: 'No thanks Amsterdam, soon the suitcases will be rolling down our streets again'. ''Normally we are very down-to-earth, so this campaign does stand out for us,'' was the reaction of Marketing Groningen.

Winner most innovative storytelling

In this category, Kasteel de Haar's 'Luminous Nights' project won the Insiders Award. During Luminous Nights, visitors take a walk past colourful projections that tell the story of Kasteel de Haar. The park of Castle de Haar thus transforms into the largest open-air cinema in the Netherlands, highlighting a different historical theme every year. The event shows how storytelling and innovative projection create a unique experience.

Winner strongest marketing collaboration/crossover

Marketing Leeuwarden's 'Iepen Hüske' campaign was the winner in this category. A campaign created - literally - out of ''high need'', Marketing Leeuwarden announced. After all, there was a problem in the city centre: too few public toilets. The campaign became an initiative that entrepreneurs could join - and they did so with full enthusiasm.

Winner of best 360 omnichannel approach

Deutsche Bahn/NBTC developed the best 360 omnichannel campaign: Sustainable Travel. The campaign focused on encouraging train travel to the Netherlands, specifically from Germany's North Rhine-Westphalia. 'We are proud that the cooperation with Deutsche Bahn, NBTC and Dutch cities is now entering its third year,' was the enthusiastic response. In working together also lies the strength of this beautiful campaign.

Thanks for a successful Inspiration Day!

We look back with pleasure on a successful day. An extra festive day too, as Insiders is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year! We are grateful that we were able to meet and inspire so many partners. Thank you to everyone who experienced the day with us.