René van der Duim has been focusing on sustainable tourism for four decades. Following his studies on tourism in Breda, and Sociology in Tilburg, he started teaching in Breda. He also took a position at the Recreation Foundation in The Hague. Some 25 years ago, he came to Wageningen to put international tourism on the map. With his colleagues, Van der Duim was responsible for launching the Sustainable Tourism bachelors and masters and a research programme. He was appointed special professor in 2009 and personal professor in 2015. Van der Duim retired in 2020 but remains involved in the research. ‘Education is at the core of our activities. I was mainly motivated by students from, for example, African countries. Some of which obtained their PhD and are now employed by universities in their home county. Thus, I hope to have contributed in a small way to solving the development issues. The relationship between tourism and nature conservation has my interest. Tourism could help to achieve nature conservation goals. I devoted much research to this issue.’
The corona pandemic has revealed how vulnerable the global tourism industry is. Wageningen researchers, therefore, call for a reorientation on the role of tourism in society. This would allow local economies and nature conservation in, for example, Africa to become less dependent on tourists. It could also alleviate the pressure…