NHL Stenden University of Applied Sciences Speciality : Tourism & Hospitality
programme: International Tourism, Leisure and Events Management MA

I am a second-year Leisure and Events Management student, and for my year here, I have become accustomed to both the education and life in Leeuwarden. I managed to adjust very quickly, thanks to the Study Start Week organized by students, where I met my classmates and got to know the city very well.

The DBE (Design-Based Education) method uses a practical approach that allows us not only to work with different clients, such as SPOT Groningen, Noorderzone, and Neushoorn, but also to find solutions to the problems these companies face.

Furthermore, as a second-year student, you are required to complete a 168-hour internship. I already completed mine, together with a few classmates, as one of the organizers of this year’s field trip to Paris and Disneyland. The trip lasted five days and included around 140 participants. We also attended an inspiring lecture from the creative directors at Disney Imagineering, where they explained the work behind some of the famous Disneyland rides.

This experience has been my biggest learning curve so far, and I am grateful for the opportunity. At this university, there are many opportunities—it is up to each person to be proactive in order to take advantage of them.

Studying Leisure and Events Management at NHL Stenden is a great opportunity to work with real clients and tackle real-world challenges. The program is highly practical, and most coursework is completed in teams of 5 to 6 students. Working in a multicultural environment allows you to meet people from different backgrounds, build strong relationships, and even make lifelong friends.
However, teamwork can sometimes be frustrating, especially when cultural differences affect how tasks are approached or when some team members do not take their work as seriously as others. That being said, these challenges help shape you as a person and prepare you for professional life, where you don’t always get to choose your colleagues.
One aspect I personally appreciate about the program is that most assessments are written assignments, with only two actual tests per year. Additionally, the university itself is more modern compared to others, which enhances the overall student experience. Despite these positives, there are some drawbacks. In my experience, the coaches can be quite unorganized, often giving conflicting instructions. There have been instances where one coach told us something completely different from another, making it difficult to understand what was actually expected of us.
Another challenge is the testing system in the first two years. Some of the content covered in the exams was not adequately addressed during the semesters, and students are required to take comprehensive tests on the entire first and second year before even completing those years, making them particularly difficult to pass.
Overall, I am satisfied with my experience at NHL Stenden. While there are areas that could be improved, the positive aspects of the university outweigh the negatives.

I am not from Europe, so in the beginning, everything was very difficult for me to adapt to. The course offered me chances to volunteer and intern at some event companies in The Netherlands, which helped me improve my knowledge and skills. Besides, the field trips to UtrechtParis and Disneyland Paris were insane!! The students are very friendly, the coaches from Leisure and Tourism are approachable but still sometimes could be improved. So, despite some negative feedback, my experience at NHL was very good!!

Hello everyone, I’m a 20-year-old girl, born and raised in Germany but with Dutch roots and knowledge of the Dutch language.
Moving to the Netherlands for studying “Leisure and Events Management” at NHL Stenden felt like something that was needed for me, my personal development and self-growth, and so far I couldn’t be happier with this choice. Currently, I am in my first year, second semester, as I started my studies in February.

Being a starter in February means there is a special kind of challenge. This semester structure is mainly designed for September students, which means February intakes get neither the same level of introduction nor orientation. Since we, as February starters, have to change our year group every six months, I’ve had to adapt to new classmates quite often. This has enabled me to meet many fantastic people; at the same time, it may feel quite unconnected, in a way, because of the fact that it is rather hard to really belong to one particular year group.
Despite this, I have never experienced anything but positives from the coaches and mentors. From the very beginning, they have been so supportive and approachable; they are always making sure that one feels comfortable and encouraged to succeed. Their kindliness and guidance make a big difference, especially as I moved to the Netherlands alone. Because of them, I never felt isolated, and I always knew I could tell them absolutely everything.
About the program: I am enjoying being taught on Leisure and Events Management, and the topics are quite interesting. Besides, it helps me a lot for my future career. The study program at NHL Stenden is giving many opportunities and experiences for my future life. Because of the volunteering hours that we have to collect, is every student automatically gaining more knowledge about different event sectors. Also, the opportunity I had to visit the Johan Cruyff arena during my field trip and learn more about their sports or concert events became helpful, making me realise why I chose this study program.
What did strike me, though, was that the first two semesters were quite easy and not as demanding as I expected. But to be honest, the first semester (Sep-Feb) relates more to personal leisure, self-development, and personal life situations. Event planning will be topics for later. Although this made my transition into university life easier, I believe initial semesters should have been demanding to better prepare the student for the advanced stages of this program.

All in all, I am quite happy about my experience at NHL Stenden. The university is friendly and supportive, and even though it always has its challenges, being a February starter and all, I feel very confident and excited about the future here.

What I like most about NHL Stenden is the fact that the whole university is super international. You can perfectly get along only speaking English. Furthermore, the amount of international students makes the whole experience even more interesting. In the master course International Leisure, Tourism and Events Management we are from all different cultural backgrounds and you learn so much just from talking to everyone. Overall, the course is structured well, teachers are very knowledgeable but also easy approachable if there should be any issues. Throughout the year we had so many opportunities to attend (international) conferences and events and learn more about tourism and events in the ‘real life setting’. Furthermore, we also had fieldtrips to see how the theory we learned in class is practiced in the sectors.

The Design Based Education concept that NHL Stenden has is a great fit for me and I am a big fan of studying here! If you are looking for a place where you need to think for yourself, get to sit in small, interactive classes (approximately 20 students) and and get to learn by doing, this is the right place for you! If you are looking for information to be handed on a silver platter, NHL Stenden does not offer that.
Similarly, personal development plays a big role in most studies. I for example, need to give smeesterly presentations on my personal development which allows me to stick to goals. Yet again, if one is not a fan of self reflection and is not willing to learn that, this is not the right place.
One other big benefit I see are the international opportunities offered by NHL Stenden. No matter where you want to go, there will (usually) be a place and time to do that during the studies.
I do feel that sometimes things are a bit short notice and could be organize better, but I also got to know that you can get quite some information if you put some effort in.

The university it self has great facilities and equipment for students, is modern and bright. Overall, I feel that the student community is quite vibrant and there is always something happening if one wants to get involved. Leeuwarden is small, but offers a wide variety of leisure opportunities.

In general the university and its facilities are good and new, the teachers are usually prepared for their classes.
I chose the Master International Leisure, Tourism & Events Management program because I worked in the business events industry before I came to Leeuwarden, however, the program is not really about events. That part was just recently added and the whole program is about Leisure and Tourism. The most of the lecturers and researchers are from the tourism field and that is also why the emphasis of the course is on tourism.
I recommend the university if you would like to study in a very creative way called design based education and would like to be sorrounded by an international environment.