Let's reinvent travel.
Leisure Lab is a think tank and media lab to promote break-even tourism. We conduct research, publish news articles and create inspirational travel stories to help bring about positive change in the way we travel. Just as importantly, we engage in meaningful discussions with travel industry stakeholders to find out how they can contribute to break-even tourism—and we help them tell their stories. Let’s reinvent travel.
Introducing break-even tourism.
A mere one per cent of Earth’s travel destinations receives 99 per cent of all tourists – an unfair and highly destructive rate. We believe that the travel industry can only flourish if it is in balance. Travel should be an exchange – you’ve got to give a little, take a little. That’s why we strive for break-even tourism, a form of tourism in which the gains and strains are distributed more evenly. Working together, we want to reset the travel industry’s shared values and start a movement to give wing to a new kind of travel. To get things started, we use a simple formula:
Rethink + Create = Change
Rethink.
Let’s talk. What are your ideas for break-even tourism for your business or organization? What’s your role? We evaluate your travel vision and sharpen it where necessary. In doing so, we take into account the latest travel trends and the four guiding principles of break-even tourism.
Create.
Once your vision is clear and up to date, we check into our lab to find the best way to express it to the public. This may result in online or print content but also, for example, a media campaign, webinar or event. All our projects are custom-made to fit your needs. It’s what we excel in – we’ve been doing this for years.
Change.
The word has spread; your target audience is aware of the impact of break-even tourism and your role in it. Your company or organization manages to meet new travel needs. And as a result of your actions, a large group of travelers will change their behavior. Good for you, and even better for the world.
Rethink.
The four guiding principles of
break-even tourism
Break-even tourism starts with you. Even a small intervention in your business operations or vision can have a major impact. Any travel organization with a desire to do good can make a contribution. These four guiding principles pave the way for break-even tourism:
An even distribution of people.
Dare to think differently. Go left when everybody else is going right. This mentality leads to a more even distribution of travelers across time (traveling outside the high season) and space (traveling to an alternative destination, the other 99%).
An even distribution of knowledge.
Open yourself up to the locals and their knowledge to get to know your destination better. What’s more, by listening and asking questions, you create a human connection that is ultimately the only way to stop the polarization of modern society. We are not as different as we may think.
An even distribution of money.
Travelers' money still too often ends up in the wrong pockets. But by doing due diligence and working with local stakeholders, the travel industry can contribute to the growth of local economies. Think, for example, of locally-owned hospitality businesses, guides, and operators.
An even distribution of experiences.
In the case of travel, less is often more. Do you make sure your customers take their time to genuinely experience a destination? If you can help them get out of the bucketlist mindset and into the here-and-now mindset, you are making everyone’s travel experiences more valuable and impactful.
The latest travel trends and research.
Interested in what we and other experts have to say about break-even tourism? Read our LAB REPORTS, detailing the latest break-even tourism trends, listen to our Break-Even Sessions PODCAST to meet the movers and shakers of the sustainable travel world, and check out our FIELD NOTES about inspiring new travel destinations and activities.
Create.
Media content.
We’d be happy to discuss and help create the right content to make break-even tourism come alive for your target audience. The Leisure Lab team has over 25 years of experience in travel journalism, both behind the desk and in the field. Through our work for the leading Dutch-language travel magazine Columbus Travel, among others, we’re up to speed about the latest trends and destinations. What’s more, we have the right local contacts, media and PR professionals, and creative talent at our disposal to share your interpretation of break-even tourism with your target group. Our extensive network covers the globe – we know the right people in the right places.
Campaigns.
We’re committed to working with a wide range of initiatives and campaigns that contribute to break-even tourism. For example, in collaboration with Campspace, the Leisure Lab team has launched the #staylocal campaign to encourage local tourism and entrepreneurship in the Netherlands.
Change.
In the words of the immortal American writer William Arthur Ward: "The pessimist complains about the wind, the optimist expects it to change, and the realist adjusts the sails." We can only change the future of travel if we rethink our values and create opportunities for others to share those values. Let’s rise to the occasion together.
About us.
Leisure Lab was founded by Tim Bilman, Tom Aussems and Mark Mackintosh, experienced travel professionals working for Columbus Travel, the leading travel magazine in the Netherlands and Belgium. Travel is not just a job for us but our heart and soul. Through the years, we have discussed and built a common vision for the future of tourism. It’s time to share that vision with the rest of the world!
As a location scout for the (inter)national film world, Tim has explored every nook and cranny of the Netherlands. He is also a regular contributor to Columbus Travel. His photos, which highlight the intrinsic beauty of humanity and planet Earth, grace dozens of the magazine's travel features. He once accidentally dined with a prince of Brunei and was the first photographer to document the impact of climate change on the islands of Sierra Leone.
Tom Aussems
As editor for Columbus Travel, Tom has been closely involved with the content and direction of the leading Dutch-language magazine for the past five years. His encyclopedic geographical knowledge comes in handy during pub quiz rounds or on one of his many adventures around the globe, including a solo kayaking trip in the Pacific and an epic expedition in a remote corner of Iceland during the worst summer in a hundred years.
Mark Mackintosh
Land ahoy! As editor-in-chief of Columbus Travel, Mark always wants to know what’s next on the horizon. Which travel destinations and trends will steal our hearts and minds? No wonder, then, you can just as easily find him in a tapas bar in a back alley of a Spanish provincial town as on the edge of an Ethiopian lava lake or between silverbacks in the jungle of Gabon.
