NHL Stenden University of Applied Sciences Speciality : Tourism & Hospitality
programme: Tourism Management

As a second-year tourism management student at the NHL Stenden, I can happily say that my overall experience at the NHL Stenden has been very positive so far. I especially appreciate the practical and hands-on approach the study offers and how almost all modules are connected to real projects in cooperation with real clients. They not only help you to understand what the industry expects and how it works but also shows you the purpose of the study, at all times. We are able to study a variety of topics throughout our study preparing us for the general world of business, management and marketing, always connected to our client projects. While the number of courses can be time consuming, I know it will be worth it and teaches us the necessary basics for the projects. I also enjoy how international the campus and study are, connecting with people and cultures preparing you for an international work environment, while finding amazing friends. Most lectures are supportive and genuinely want to see you do well. Its furthermore a very personal environment with small classes and first name bases. However, the study is based on a demanding schedule most of the time and connected to quite a few tests. It can be a big workload when it’s time for deadlines and the test week and it would be nice if they would be even more practical evaluations, then test. Overall, I am very happy with the study, and I am glad I chose this program. I am looking forward to plenty of opportunities to grow personally and professionally and would recommend the study to everybody who is eager to learn about the tourism business or is looking for a study where that prepares them for the world of management and marketing without study only business economics.

I’m a third-year tourism management student. I studied in Leeuwarden for 2,5 years and I’m currently spending a semester abroad in Bangkok.
My experience at NHL Stenden has been very positive. I’ve had the chance to study with international students, and I enjoyed working in small project groups. Getting to work with real clients was a valuable part of my studies, as it helped me develop practical skills. The program wasn’t too focused on theory, which I actually liked because it gave us more time to work on practical projects.
NHL Stenden is a great place for personal development. Over the past three years, I’ve learned a lot about myself, especially thanks to the strong focus on personal reflection at NHL Stenden. I also really appreciate the opportunity to study abroad. The application process was smooth and I felt well-prepared for this experience.
Overall, I really enjoyed my time studying in Leeuwarden and I already miss it.

I did my bachelor’s degree in Tourism Management at NHL Stenden, Leeuwarden, and I have never regretted it. I did the short track program which meant that I have already finished a toursim education in my home country and could finish the bachelor at NHL Stenden in only 2 years. And I have enjoyed every part of these two years.
NHL Stenden is quite different then to conventional universities. They use the DBE (Design Based Education) system as their way of learning, which basically means that you are working with real life clients and examples and learn your materials through that. You barely have any exam you have to study for 5 months in advance and it is not your typical theoretical study. This was exactly what I was looking for as I was never the theoretical type but I could still get my academic degree.
On the plus side the teachers are very friendly, helpful, supportive and nice in the tourism area. Yes, it can be frustrating if they don’t give you tips on how to work with the client, but how else would you learn if they would do the work for you. One downside I have encountered is the organization of the university itself. Sometimes, they don’t get the planning right and you end up in a classroom that is meant for 25 students, eventhough your course consists of 40. But I heard this can be the case in every university in Europe.
To end on a positive note, NHL Stenden is very international and if you look for international connections with other students or professor’s this is exactly the place for you!

If you hate theory and want to study a tourism program that uses a practical approach, then this study from NHL Stenden is for you.
The approach of a practical tourism study program is great. Yet, the program itself may also still need a little more practice. As a student in the “guinea pig” year of tourism management, I have studied in both approaches: the Problem Based Learning and the Designed Based Education approach. With the change from one to the other system, you could tell the tutors were as clueless as the students regarding how to teach the right content. Depending on the tutor’s motivation, you either received a lot of help and insights or you would have more questions than answers. Yet, I believe the longer the DBE system is in use, the better the study program will be.
Besides this, I love my study program and the university. The university itself is very open, inclusive and international. The tourism management course gives a great insight into the tourism industry and sustainability and helps you become a tourism professional. I especially love working in groups together on real-life projects. We work together with DMOs, NGOs and other tourism organisations. Yet, I would have wished for some more known and perhaps international organisations since it is a tourism program. Nevertheless, the internationalism of the course is amazing as there are a variety of nationalities taking the course, and you learn a lot from each other and how to work with each other. And, of course, I love the international opportunities we get by studying abroad on grand tours or exchanges, and I love being able to write my thesis on the other side of the world.
Overall, I really enjoy the practical approach as it helps me learn the theory better and gives me real-life experience, yet the study program may need a little practice itself.