The consequences of being ‘the Capital of Cool’. Creative entrepreneurs and the sustainable development of creative tourism in the urban context of Rotterdam

This article analyses how creative entrepreneurs perceive the development of tourism; it looks at creative placemaking in tourism and reflects on the role of creative entrepreneurs in the sustainable development of tourism. To do so, we conducted semi-structured interviews with creative entrepreneurs in the city of Rotterdam, the Netherlands. We choose a city in an early stage of tourism development but in a more advanced stage of culture-led urban regeneration. Although Rotterdam has a long history of strategies to change its image into a creative one, only recently has the city experienced an increase in media attention and a growing number of domestic and international tourists. This offers a unique opportunity to explore tourism development at an early stage. Our results nuance our understanding of the relations between creative entrepreneurs, placemaking, and tourism. Although the creative entrepreneurs in our sample consider themselves placemakers, issues such as equality, inclusiveness, and avoiding gentrification are still not adequately addressed. From a policy perspective, this study emphasises the need to take into account the fundamental question of whose city Rotterdam is and who benefits from the urban and tourism development strategy.