Associates

Karin Nijhuis

Karin is a specialist in online branding and marketing and in recent years has been researching critical success factors for websites and e-mail marketing in general and DMOs in particular. She co-developed the UNWTO Destination Web Watch, a global audit and evaluation benchmarking scheme for Destination Management Organisation web activities, and was managing editor of the UNWTO publication 'Evaluating and Improving Websites - The Destination Web Watch' (2005).

Karin enjoys combining her interest in history and tourism, research and business development, new media and management. She combined a Masters in Ancient History and (the Dutch Equivalent of) a Post-Graduate Certificate of Education with subsidiary courses in Management, Organisation and Policy (Faculty of Arts and Centre for Policy and Management, Utrecht University). She combined assistant teaching and research posts at Utrecht University with working for Dutch tourroperators.

Fascinated by the challenges and opportunities of New Media, she trained as an Internet developer and consultant in 1998-1999, followed courses in information strategy and post-graduate in E-Commerce with Distinction at the Erasmus University Rotterdam.

She was employed as an Internet Consultant in 1999 to join the Holland Community, a project group established to publish Holland online as tourism destination. In this role and subsequently as Head Development and Head of Consultancy & Projects of the Information & Media Services Department of the Netherlands Board of Tourism & Congresses (NBTC) she was jointly responsible for the overall strategy, development and management of www.holland.com and for many city, regional and theme sites in The Netherlands.

Since 2004 Karin has been in consultancy in The Netherlands, providing knowledge, tools and services that empower people to optimise the online branding and marketing of their organisation or company. She works with Dutch DMOs and councils. She developed a successful range of coaching programs, open and in-company trainings in the field of online branding and marketing and e-business.

Karin served in committees as the ETC New Media Group and the Working Group 'Mobile Services for Tourism' of the European Commission. She was eSolutions Track Chair of the ENTER 2004 conference in Cairo and a board member of IFITT, the International Federation for IT and Travel & Tourism (2004-2007).

Key areas of expertise

Planning and implementation of e-Business; e-marketing; Website and e-business evaluation; e-Business training.