Reflections 2025
Introduction

Over the past year, Maastricht Marketing continued to work on an economically vital and liveable city. We did so for visitors and residents alike, by cherishing our past and building a future as a city of knowledge and innovation.

In 2024, the city council made a clear choice for the future of the Maastricht brand. The City of Maastricht agreed to broaden the city brand. This not only established a recognisable identity, but also a compass: a guiding framework that - through Maastricht Marketing - helps to guard, strengthen and future-proof the city's profile.

Last year, the focus was on actively promoting this sharpened brand identity. We see that our role is changing and with it our added value is growing. Maastricht Marketing is purposefully building on Maastricht's story, image and appeal. For residents, visitors, businesses and talent. For the city of today and tomorrow. We ensure that Maastricht remains recognisable, distinctive and competitive, with quality of life as our foundation.

In May 2025, Maastricht was named the strongest city brand in the Netherlands in Hendrik Beerda Brand Consultancy's independent city and brand survey. A wonderful confirmation of the strength of our brand and at the same time a spur to continue building.

In the coming years, we will explicitly focus on activating brand extension. Together with partners and city authorities, we will propagate a broader story. Not only towards visitors and residents, but also towards companies and talent. Maastricht and its region offer more in terms of education, innovation and career opportunities than is often thought. In 2025, we made a start on positioning Maastricht as a knowledge and innovation city and cooperated in programmes to attract and retain talent - at all educational levels.

Hotel occupancy is generally very good and average spending per tourist is the highest in the Netherlands. Visitor numbers increased further in 2025. This was visible in the city and in our Maastricht Store, where more than 220,000 visitors and residents were welcomed. Explore Maastricht reached almost 210,000 people with guided tours and heritage stories. By sharing stories, appreciation grows; and what is appreciated is preserved. This contributes to strengthening our city identity.

At the same time, we see that the debate on the impact of tourism on the quality of life in the city is sharpening. The question of how best to measure that balance has not yet been unequivocally answered. Parties in the city have different perspectives when it comes to the positive and negative impact of tourism. Our task therefore goes beyond managing visitor numbers. It is about the type of visitor, about spreading in time and place and about quality over quantity.

Equally important is the reversal of perspective. Not only: what are visitors looking for? But also: who do we want to be as a city? What offer fits our identity? And how do we ensure that Maastricht remains a city where residents enjoy living, working and working? In 2026, we will intensify our efforts to provide entrepreneurs and administrators with up-to-date insights into visitor motives and trends. This will enable entrepreneurs to respond more specifically to needs and policymakers to better manage accessibility, liveability and sustainability.

Together, we continue to build a Maastricht that combines innovation and career opportunities with a high quality of life. Perfectly balanced.

I hope you enjoy reading our 2025 annual report.

Guy Vroemen
Director-director
Maastricht Marketing

Sign of Merit

In August 2025, Leontien Mees handed over the baton as managing director to Guy Vroemen. For seven years, Leontien worked energetically on the identity and reputation of the city and region. In her final period, she led the process leading to the broadening of the brand identity. At her festive farewell in the Muziekgieterij, Leontien received the Sign of Merit for the city of Maastricht from alderman Hubert Mackus. A well-deserved recognition.