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