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

I am a student within the IHSM degree. I think the program is well structured, with loads os supporting materials and a great teaching team!
Moreover, it is a degree that I would say its most advantageous for students who have a academic background in either Leisure, Hospitatility or Tourism. If you come with a different background it might be challenging

I would totally recommend it!

I chose the Master’s International Leisure, Tourism and Events Management and I don’t regret my decision at all. First of all, the campus is amazing and offers a variety of spaces to study or chill with your classmates. The teachers make the lecture really interactive which helps you absorb knowledge more efficiently. They are also really approachable and help you with any questions you have. Furthermore, NHL Stenden is really welcoming for international students. When it comes to students, there are a lot of internationals you can meet, which is really fun. When it comes to the campus, the student info always provides useful information for people who have more administrative issues. Overall, my experience at NHL Stenden has been really positive.

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.

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.

I chose the Master at NHL Stenden because I was interested in the management side of hospitality. However, due to a last-minute name and programme change from International Service and Hospitality Management to Sustainable Innovation in Hospitality, the content turned out to be different from what I expected. The focus is now more on sustainability, innovation, and topics like strategy and AI, instead of hospitality management. This was not what I originally planned for.
That said, I still learned a lot, especially about strategy and risk analysis with long-term thinking. Overall, the workload is manageable if you stay on track, but it can become challenging if you fall behind or only start last minute.
The teaching quality is overall good. Some lecturers are very engaged and passionate, while others rely more on presentations, but all have strong industry knowledge. The programme could be better organised at times, but all information is available if you take the time to go through it. Support is there when you ask for it, but you are expected to take responsibility for your own study.
I love the international environment. The diversity of students and lecturers creates a great experience and brings many different perspectives to group work. Also, the campus is modern and clean, and offers many good study spaces.
I would recommend this master to students interested in sustainability and innovation in hospitality, but less to those looking for a program that focuses on management.

Over the months, we wrote numerous emails regarding complaints from multiple students about the organization of the school, but each time we don’t get a decisive answer or they won’t speak and resolve their issues.
The administration takes several weeks to process a single document! Although courses are promoted well, they have little market value since they are not relevant to careers after completion of the course. It took them ages to publish grades, surprisingly, they failed many other students because the more you stay, the more you pay!