There is a great need for knowledge and research in the hospitality domain – the whole of the domains of tourism, recreation, leisure, hospitality, and events. In the recommendation Valuable Tourism (Waardevol Toerisme) (2019), the Council for the living environment and Infrastructure (Raad voor de leefomgeving en infrastructuur, Rli) concludes that the current political and policy focus in the Netherlands is not proportionate to the large economic and social meaning of the hospitality domain and that the current knowledge base is small. The Rli takes the view that knowledge is the foundation for qualitatively good policy formulation and therefore recommends the implementation of a multi-year agenda for building up and maintaining a strong knowledge infrastructure.

CELTH, the Centre of Expertise Leisure, Tourism and Hospitality, is one of the 30 Centres of Expertise in the Netherlands. The purpose of Centres of Expertise is to stimulate the collaboration concerning knowledge and research between universities of applied sciences and partners in the professional field. CELTH is the only Centre of Expertise within the hospitality domain and is, therefore, the structurally independent knowledge and research partner for stakeholders in the hospitality domain, at regional, national, and international levels. In CELTH, the Breda University of Applied Sciences, NHL Stenden Hogeschool, and HZ University of Applied Sciences collaborate on a project basis, with the support of other knowledge partners.

CELTH has translated the Rli’s recommendation for a multi-year knowledge agenda into the “Agenda Conscious Destinations (Agenda Bewuste Bestemmingen, ABB). The ABB serves as a guideline for the knowledge and education partners of CELTH to develop new, relevant knowledge and skills for national and international destinations. This knowledge enables companies, governments, knowledge institutes, and other stakeholders to deal with the increasing complexity and dynamic in the hospitality domain. In addition, with the ABB – from its connecting and facilitating role – CELTH offers space for state-of-the-art applied and academic research, frames the perspective with which funding can be accessed, and provides building blocks for sustainable curriculum development in education, for the professionals of tomorrow. With this, CELTH offers a lot of added value for the position of education in the hospitality ecosystem.

Together with its (knowledge) partners, CELTH helps to distribute the philosophy of the ABB in both the internal network (education and research) and the external network (companies, governments, knowledge institutes, and other stakeholders), at regional, national, and

international levels. CELTH does this through:

• Active knowledge sharing and exchange of the philosophy with the internal and external network;

• Structurally setting out regional, national, and international calls to the external network to collaboratively develop multi-level research projects;

• Inviting schools and universities (secondary vocational education, higher professional education, and universities) to participate in the development of these research projects.

1. Introduction
2. Boundaries of the hospitality domain
3. Why focus on “Conscious Destinations”?
4. What choices does a Conscious Destination make?
5. What knowledge is required to arrive at Conscious Destinations?
6. Elaboration of core themes CELTH

   			Living Environment			Human Capital			Organisational Capacity			Smartness			Leisure Offer

   7. Relevant literature