The Spotlight High-Low Coast project at the Swedish Workshop
The Swedish Workshop gathered tour operators from 17 countries to Jönköping, Sweden, on April 24–25. The participants were invited to Sweden so that they could become inspired about the Swedish holiday experiences and hold business negotiations with the Swedish tourism industry and regional tourism companies. The goal was to create more experiences in order to cater to a foreign target group.
The Spotlight High-Low Coast project was given the opportunity to present its new products during the Swedish Workshop. These products consist of four different test product packages that, thanks to the cross-border collaboration between Finland and Sweden, offer tourists an exceptional chance to visit and experience a World Heritage site, two countries and three destinations with unique tastes, experiences, culture and handicraft – and all during just one visit! Three of the packages are directed at individual travellers, whereas one is addressed to groups.
Two of the Project Leaders, Mia Karlsson and Erja Back, outside the Elmia exhibition where the business meetings took place.
− The foreign tour operators were very interested in our region, and our day was packed with around 20 business meetings with operators from Germany, the Netherlands, England, China, India, Belgium, etc. We gave them suggestions for package tours and experiences, and discussions concerning the coming seasons have already begun, says Ms Mia Karlsson, the Project Leader of Spotlight High-Low Coast from Höga Kusten Destinationsutveckling AB.
− Many expressed a genuine interest in what we had to offer, and several of the participants didn’t even know that we have a fine ferry operating across the Kvarken. One operator is very likely to start offering World Heritage site holidays already in May 2017, adds Ms Erja Back, the Project Leader of Spotlight High-Low Coast from the Visit Umeå Tourist Center.
− The project has had a flying start, and we’re currently planning a World Heritage site menu that will be served onboard the Wasaline ferry as a celebration of the mutual site’s 10th anniversary on the Kvarken’s Finnish side. We are also drafting an information wall to be displayed onboard, states Ms Marianne Sjöström, the Head Project Leader of Spotlight High-Low Coast from the Kvarken Council.
The project is an Interreg Botnia-Atlantica project, due to end in May 2018. It is administered by the Kvarken Council, with the Municipality of Umeå, Höga Kusten Destinationsutveckling AB and VASEK as project partners.
Spotlight High Low Coast was one of the exhibitors at the 2016 Swedish Workshop.