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Development strategy for Nature-based Summer Tourism
2015-2018
Contents• Nature tourism and its goals• Product supply and focal points• Strategic sectors in need of development• Target groups and marketing
Nature tourism andits goals
Vision of Nature Tourism
Finland is the best country in Europe for outdoors summer
holidays
The Core Message of Nature Tourism
Finnish Nature 24/7 - easy access to the last wilderness
of Europe
Soft adventure
Memorable experiences
Supplementaryservices
• Activities in nature• Cycling• Hiking• Paddling• Fishing etc.
• Nature experiences (bonfire excursions)• Nature photography• Wildlife observation and photography• Products connected to light and purity• etc.
• Whitewater expeditions, swimming in rapids• Boating, rowing• Golf• Hang-gliding• Water activities (e.g. jet skiing, surfing, paragliding etc.)
Product Supply
CORE MESSAGEFinnish Nature 24/7 – easy access to the
last wilderness of Europe
Mission of Nature Tourism
Nature tourism brings prosperity to all parts of
Finland in a sustainable way..
Image Building Goals of Nature Tourism• Finland is seen as a country with versatile opportunities for nature tourism.
• Finland stands out from the competition with its own nature profile
Operational and Qualitative Goals of Nature Tourism
• Large tourism and accommodation companies actively offer and sell nature tourism products
• Small accommodation businesses make use of the surrounding nature by turning it into tourism products
• Business clusters with joint sales and marketing organisations are formed around national parks and in urban environments
• Natural attractions and routes in all of Finland are turned into products according to consistent criteria, both to be offered directly to individual visitors and to be utilized by the tourism industry
• Nature tourism products and destinations have good visibility on all levels of communication
• The products are accessible and easy to book via domestic and international distribution channels
• Turnovers and numbers of customers grow in micro and SME businesses
• Nature tourism businesses operate in a sustainable manner aiming at a small carbon footprint and applying new innovations in developing their enterprise
Quantitative Goals
Number of tour operators selling Finnish nature
activities in the main target countries in Europe
+3% +10%
Number of nature tourism businesses participating in sales
activities
+5%
Number of visitors at Outdoors.fi and
outdoorsfinland.com
+10%
Annual growth in number of clicks on the activity
articles at VisitFinland.com
Number of foreign visitors in national parks
+5%
Effect on local economy, income and employment of the expenditure
of money by visitors to national parks
+4%
• Clenliness
• Versatile nature
• Silence and expanse
• Widespread network of national parks (incl. UNESCO, GEOPARK)
and good service infrastructure
• Finnishness in relationship with nature and in daily life
• The health enhancing effects of nature
Key Strengths of Nature Tourism
• Increase in the demand for activities remains strong in Europe
• Global boom of local and wild food as a part of nature tourism
• New collaboration set-ups, e.g. including and utilizing activity themes in
well-being and culture tourism
• The dense network of national parks remains largely unutilized
Opportunities of Nature Tourism
• The supply is geared too much towards groups
• Nature tourists are still seen too much as enthusiasts of extremes and not commercially
interesting. The assumption is they can move around in nature without help.
• Our own strengths are not made enough use of
• Poor accessibility and traffic connections to national parks and hiking areas
• Shortcomings in product development and inadequate supply of interesting products
• Breaches in the distribution channel
• Lack of common certification
• Marketing difficult because information about routes is scattered
Weaknesses and Challenges of Nature Tourism
Thematic Focal Points
Thematic Focal Points- Nature Activities
• The well-being effects of forests• Memorable experiences of
meals served al fresco and the gifts of nature
• The relationship of Finns with nature and nature-based cultural heritage
• MoHu target group• Undemanding; easy to find,
accessible, purchasable, consumable
• Of short duration - easy to add to an itinerary on one’s own or offered by a tour operator
• Collaboration with businesses
• Select national parks, select top routes
• The park’s customer service promise
Undemanding Activities
National Parks Pure Nature
• Nature in Finland is the purest in Europe
• Pure water, pure air• Pure exotic forests
Combining Themes
Culture in nature, Food, Well-being• Persuade the
accommodation providers to participate
• Responsibility • Quality and Security
• Targeted (families with childen, seniors )
CORE MESSAGEFinnish Nature 24/7
– easy access to the
last wilderness
of Europe
• Moving around in nature
• Pure water, air
• Well-being from the forest
• Silence
• Space
• Light
Pure Nature
• MoHu target group
• Undemanding, easy to find, accessible, purchasable and consumable
• Of short duration - easy to add to an itinerary on one’s own or offered by a
tour operator
Undemanding Activities
• Collaboration with businesses
• Select national parks, select top routes
• The parks’ customer service promise
National Parks
Combining Themes• The well-being effects of forests
• Memorable experiences of meals served al fresco and the gifts of nature
• The relationship of Finns with nature and nature-based cultural heritage
Strategic Sectors Needing Development
• Increasing the understanding of independent travel
• Increasing the number of businesses offering nature travel products
• Improving the application of the principles of quality and sustainable development
• Improving customer know-how, especially on segment level
• Utilisation of tools in different channels
• Creation of products and packages by combining themes and grouping nature activity
products into themes, e.g. gastro cycling, hiking with a theme of wild herbs
• Supporting product development carried out by private businesses
• Utilizing national parks as well as Geopark and UNESCO nature heritage sites
• Emphasising pure nature as an attraction element of the products
• Utilizing Outdoors events
Product Development
1
• Continuation of the Outdoors Finland coordination
• Continuation of the financing and work of regional Outdoors Finland activities
as well as the development of route networks and new products
• Building of networks and relations across industry boundaries to enhance
product development and marketing (e.g. Metsähallitus, the state forest
administration, and hotel chains)
Collaboration and Networks
2
• Improving visibility
• Developing the activities on the sales and agent levels
• Assisting small nature tourism businesses in entering international markets
Sales and Marketing
3
• Customer know-how on segment level
• Statistics – customer volume within nature tourism
• Follow-up research within the travel trade
• Customer profiles in Japan and China, the Asian target markets
• Research of customer information and quality experience – pilot cases e.g. new products
• The expenditure of our target group. How much is spent on nature tourism and, more precisely, on what?
• How do other important nature tourism countries carry out their product marketing
• Assessment of the effects of nature tourism, the effects of nature tourism revenue on local economy
• Efficient thematic sales channels and models of nature tourism and how they are organised in the competing countries
Research Needs
Target Group and Marketing
Target Groups
• Modern humanists (especially active families seeking experiences together) in Europe (Germany, France, UK, Benelux, Austria, Switzerland, Italy, Spain)
• Middle class, 25 to 55 years of age, in Russia (St. Petersburg, Moscow + metropolises in the European part of Russia)
• Asian tourists are the main target group of VisitFinland’s image marketing. In the future the potential of this target group for nature tourism will be studied in more detail.
Fields of Interest of Modern Humanists (Active Families)
• Wildlife observation• Fishing• Cycling• Hiking• Tours• Getting to know the local way of life• Sauna• Cruises in the archipelago and on the inland waterways• Dog teams• Reindeer programmes• Museums and historical sites• Finnish food culture• Relaxation treatments
Further information and comments
Ms. Terhi Hook
Development Manager, Finpro / VisitFinland
terhi.hook(at)visitfinland.com