The Blue Ports reviewed

In this research, the economic importance of Dutch inland ports has been further investigated. With the strong development of transport systems, inland ports become increasingly more important as nodes. Here, a detailed analysis is provided of the Blue Ports method, used in former studies, which examined how inland ports contribute in terms of economic impact to the national economy. This paper discusses various economic effects occurring in inland ports. Specific attention has been given to determine the most optimal method for monitoring these effects, considering the former economic impact studies (Blue Ports reports). The aim of the research was to propose such a method, which can be used to update the economic effects biannually. Here, also a case study has been applied, which contributed to the development of an inland port monitor. It turns out that there is still a wide gap between theory and the applicability of these theories in practice. However, a solid method is presented to monitor the economic impact of Dutch inland ports.