adventure travel in baltic sea region
TRANSCRIPT
Trends, Challenges and Best Practices
Antje Enke & Aivar Ruukel19.-20. October 2016 - Pärnu, Estonia
Active Tourism
The Big PictureTwo clear trends:
- Growth in demand- Growth in supply
“It used to be a relatively fringe or small niche
of the overall tourism sector but today,
it has become more mainstream as
a USD 263 billion global market.”
Global Report on Adventure Tourism
The Big Picture
Prior to 2007, 52% of the tourism boards
surveyed (91 in total) noted that they did
not recognize adventure tourism as a
stand-alone sector in their destination.
That number sharply decreased to a
mere 8% in 2011 out of that same group
of tourism boards/ministries.
Adventure Tourism Development Index
Adventure Tourism Development Index
How to define Active Tourism?
In 2014, tour operators noted that
the top four trends in adventure tourism were:
- the softening of adventure travel, - customization of trip experiences, - multi-generational groups, - and cultural experiences.
Trends in Business
Basis: Nature in the Baltic Sea Region- a wide and unspoiled nature with a lot of protected areas like National Parks,
Nature Parks, Flora-Fauna-Habitat regions (FFH)
Wild Taiga, Finland
National Park Bielawieza, Poland
Soomaa National Park, Estonia
...some of them are part of the UNESCO World Heritage
Curonian Spit, Russia Skerry Coast, Sweden Chalk Coast, Germany
In difference to many established destinations thereis a low population density in theBaltic Sea Countries ...
Estonia: 29 inhabitants/km2
Lithuania: 44 inhabitants/km2
Latvia: 31,8 inhabitants/km2
Russia: 8,78 inhabitants/km2
Sweden: 22 inhabitants/km2
Denmark: 130 inhabitants/km2
Finland: 16,2 inhabitants/km2
Germany, Mecklenburg-Vorp: 69 inh./km2
Poland, Western Pomeranian: 74 inh. /km2
Here we can find wild animals in wild landscapes
We find also historical places like hanseatic towns and medieval villages.
Savonlinna, Finland
Danzig, Poland Hammershus Bornholm, Denmark St. Petersburg, Russia
Tallin, Estonia
The destinations in the Baltic Sea region have a:
- unique potential in natural and cultural environment- a lot of space and capacity for visitors - a wide variety of “Hot Spots” for tourism activities- a feeling of safety in times of instability
We have the chance to make the difference in developing tourism using our landscapes and attractions.
We can create a green and active tourism!
The challenges
1. Short summer: May - September
Marie Louise & Yukka FandtSaimaaholiday, Finland
The answer: Extend the season first in the mind of the touristic actors!
In 2004 SaimaaHoliday started the longest skating trail (18 km) of Finland
Marie Louise explain their motivation:
“The thinking behind the new idea was to sell in advance winter packages with accommodation in the hotel and in the cottages we were involved meanwhile.”
10 years later…
“ In many senses the ice trail has been a success story because we started from zero and it now attractsthousands of skaters every winter, but …
The challenges
“… most of the skaters are local people living within 100 km from Oravi so they do not bring income to the hotel and villas. In 10 years we have not been able to develop the ice trail to an internationally well known winter product.”
2. Marketing
The answer: It‘s not enough that a single company or a small network market their products to extend the season. To attract national and international visitors there
is a must to market the whole area side by side with regional/national tourism board.
The challenges
3. Progressive climate change
- last years several warm winters with long periods of plus degrees ( > 3 weeks) in Saimaa Lakeland Area
- a lot of investments in winter-equipment without income
The answer:
develop winter activities that
can be carried out every day
regardless of the weather like:
- reindeer day (by snowmobile, sledge or by foot)- guided nature walks (by foot or snowshoe)- climbing and team building
SaimaaHoliday 2017:
good mixture of activities
whole the year
SummaryChallenges: Short summer / Marketing / Climate Change / …
Answers: 1. Create attractive products by using the local opportunities like:
local guides - nature - local traditions - historical places
2. Not focusing only on summer/winter activities, finding a mixture of attractions which can be offered regardless of the weather
3. Promote the products on all levels of tourism marketing
Estoniasoomaa.com - Five Seasons
soomaa.com - Five Seasons
April 2011
August 2016
Febr
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soomaa.com - Five Seasons
Germany
www.abenteuer-flusslandschaft.de
“Bad weather trips”
- 2 nights in a charming hotel- a guided canoe-trip (max. 1,5 h)- afterwards a hot-tub to warm up- bookable from October-March
Crane Observation
- quiet new product - there were no crane observation in the Nature Park until 2014
2014: 53 participants
2015: 80 participants
2016: 110 participants
- bookable from Aug. - Oct.
Germany
GermanyBirdwatching trips to the white-tailed eagle
- a guided trip by foot or solar powered boat- information by a local guide about the biggest “hotspot” of white-tailed Eagles
in Germany- spectacular views on the flying or breeding animals or on the “youngsters” of
white-tailed eagles- bookable all year round
Swedenwildsweden.com
wildsweden.com
