Sharon Duister

Fashion Tourism Amsterdam, a Rising Fashion City?: a Research Analysis on How to Promote Fashion in the Current City Marketing Strategy of Amsterdam Sharon Duister

Fashion tourism is a growing phenomenon worldwide. The link between fashion and tourism might not be so obvious and easy at first glance. However, the fact that the relation between these two phenomena is becoming tighter is recognized by both industries. More destinations recognize the positive influence fashion can have on tourism development. This is particularly noticeable in the fact that an increasing amount of destinations are choosing fashion as one of the core tourism products in their city marketing strategy. Emphasizing on the fashion attributes a destination possesses and translating this into the branding strategy of a destination is a way of attracting tourists by means of fashion. Attracted by this strategy are people who want to explore fashion in another part of the world either for leisure or business purposes. This research is focused on the case of Amsterdam as Fashion City. Amsterdam recognizes the importance of the creative industries for the city for decades. However, the world is not completely convinced of Amsterdam as fashion city yet. Will Amsterdam ever be able to achieve the status of recognized fashion city?