TDM Introduction Week 2017-18 – Feeling Home and Away

Phase 1 of the Master of Arts in Tourism Destination Management started at the end of August, when 34 students from 20 different countries were welcomed at NHTV University of Applied Sciences in Breda to start an unique year full of new challenges and experiences.

During the TDM Introduction Week 2017-2018, the students were introduced to Breda and Brabant as a destination. After a small city tour and a drink at Dok 19 on day one, the group went on an overnight trip to ‘Landgoed de Biestheuvel’, where they did soms group activities, prepared a typical Dutch dinner 'stamppot' and ended the day with drinks and games. The program for the next day included a visit to Museum Vincentre in the 'van Gogh village' Nuenen, where the students followed the tracks of the famous Dutch painter.

After the 2-days excursion, the students had the opportunity to meet the citizens of Breda, where students in groups met different citizens of Breda.

In the end, the students' task was to illustrate how their mental maps of Breda had changed throughout the introduction week as well as their reflection on the following quote from Henry Miller:“If we are always arriving and departing, it is also true that we are eternally anchored. One’s destination is never a place but rather a new way of looking at things".