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Project code: A75740
Project name: Conquest of Swedish Travel Market
Policy: 1. Competitiveness of SMEs
Specific objective: 2.1. Promoting the growth and expansion abroad of SMEs
Planned completion time: Start 1.1.2021 and end 31.7.2023
Operational status: Ended
Responsible authority: Helsinki-Uusimaa Regional Council
Official name of the applicant: Cursor Oy
Organisation type: Other legal person governed by private law
Business ID: 0727178-6
Street: Kyminlinnantie 6
Telephone number: +358401902500
Postal code: 48600
City/town: Kotka
Website: http://www.cursor.fi
Project contact person's name: Anna Selänne
Contact person's position in the organisation: Projektipäällikkö
Contact person’s email address: anna.selanne(at)cursor.fi
Contact person's phone number: +358406749192
Number of applicants or subsidy transfer:
In terms of tourism, the post-Corona recovery will begin in the first phase with tourism from neighbouring areas to Finland. According to current forecasts, long-distance travel will not become active until 5-8 years later, which is why target marketing in Finland is now being focused on other Nordic countries, especially Sweden, as well as the northern region of Western Europe.
With the change in tourism caused by the pandemic, Visit Finland has made a strategic decision to launch a new market opening in Sweden. Sweden invests heavily in the sale of domestic and neighbouring travel, and the goal of Visit Finland's strategy is to bring part of this rising group of travellers to Finland. According to the vision, regional players will participate in market opening through tactical measures. Visit Kotka-Hamina is committed to this co-operation, creating an action plan in line with Visit Finland's strategy to promote the region's tourism visibility and sales.
The aim of the project is to make Etelä-Kymenlaakso and the Loviisa region an attractive and popular regional tourist destination for Swedes and other foreigners, which will increase the number of Swedish (and other international) visitors in the Loviisa region and the entire Kymenlaakso region in the long term. The aim is to increase the volume by productizing the tourism offer to match the prevailing Swedish traveller profile, and by developing the content production of the digital sales channel into the smoothest possible booking channel for travel from Sweden.
The target groups of the project are local travel companies, Swedish tour operators, cruise and transport companies, as well as public relations, media companies and influencers.
Priority measures in the early stages of the project include product development work carried out in collaboration with entrepreneurs in the area. The aim of Visit Finland's strategic market opening is to create a new image for Finland as a tourist destination, and the task of the regions is to develop and display their own unique selling points that fit the national image. In Sweden, sustainable tourism is currently highly valued, thus encouraging companies in the region to participate in Visit Finland 's Sustainable Travel program will bring significant added value to service providers in the choice of travel destinations. The offer and content of the digital marketplace will be further developed into packages especially suitable for Swedish tourists.
In addition to working with local entrepreneurs, Visit Kotka-Hamina actively participates in sales events and workshops, mainly with tour operators and DMC’s (Destination Management Companies) operating in Finland and Sweden. FAM (Familiarisation) trips are arranged for Swedish travel agency buyers, media and social influencers in the area. Public relations companies, the media and influencers will have a strong impact on the project's results, thus play an important role. Visit Kotka-Hamina will enter into direct agreements with selected Swedish PR agencies and different marketing bodies, in order to achieve visibility as effectively as possible for the specified target group, in accordance with the agreed themes.
As a result of the project well-functioning sales and marketing channels will be created for tourism entrepreneurs in the region to Sweden, and the opportunities brought by digitalisation will be utilized to increase awareness of the region. A varying selection of services of the region will be found in Swedish channels, and they will be more accessible to travellers, hence increasing the region's tourism volume and income. Tourism in the Loviisa and Kotka-Hamina regions will grow and the number of jobs in the travel sector will increase. The accomplished activities and visibility in Swedish market will also support the launched MICE sales and contribute positively to the activation of the booking base in this new segment.
The project supports equal opportunities for the sexes to participate in project activities. In customer contact, the aim is to promote mainstreaming by encouraging women-led service companies in particular to take part in project activities. Through business development, everyone's opportunities are supported on an equal footing. In terms of content, product development seeks to strengthen gender equality in the selection of target groups. Attempts are being made to involve the companies involved in the project in Visit Finland's Sustainable Travel program, which brings added value to the Swedish market.
Hankkeen varsinaiset kohderyhmät ovat: ruotsalaiset matkailijat sekä kuluttaja- että yrityssegmentillä, matkanjärjestäjät, incoming-toimistot, sosiaalisen median vaikuttajat ja perinteisen median edustajat. Toinen tärkeä kohderyhmä on Etelä-Kymenlaakson ja Loviisan alueiden matkapalveluja tuottavat yritykset ja muut paikalliset sidosryhmät.
Ruotsista saapuvan matkailun kasvusta hyötyvät myös risteily-yhtiöt, maaliikennöitsijät, autonvuokraamot, kohdealueen matkailun tukitoimintojen yritykset, kunnat sekä koko maakunnan elinkeino.
EU and State funding granted: 226 434
EU and State funding used: 226 434
Planned public funding (total): 323 476
Planned public funding used (total): 323 476
Regions: Uusimaa, Kymenlaakso
Subregions: Kotka-Hamina, Loviisa
Municipalities: Loviisa, Pyhtää, Hamina, Miehikkälä, Virolahti, Kotka
Street: PL 14, Kyminlinnantie 6
Postal code: 48601
City/town: Kotka
Planned: 2, in which women are employed 1
Completed according to monitoring information: 0.00, in which women are employed 0.00
Planned: 0, which are founded by women 0
Completed according to monitoring information: 0.00, which are founded by women 0.00
| Direct | Indirect | |
| Luonnonvarojen käytön kestävyys | 8 | 7 |
| Hankkeessa mukana olevat yritykset yritetään sitouttaa mukaan Visit Finlandin Sustainable Travel – ohjelmaan. | ||
| Ilmastonmuutoksen aiheuttamien riskien vähentäminen | 0 | -1 |
| Hankkeella ei suoranaista vaikutusta tähän asiaan, mutta matkailijoiden matkustaminen / lentoliikenne välillisesti vaikuttaa negatiivisesti ilmastonmuutoksen vähenemiseen. | ||
| Kasvillisuus, eliöt ja luonnon monimuotoisuus | 7 | 7 |
| Tuotteet rakennetaan niin, että luonnon monimuotoisuus huomioidaan. | ||
| Pinta- ja pohjavedet, maaperä sekä ilma (ja kasvihuonekaasujen väheneminen) | 0 | -1 |
| Hankkeella ei suoranaisesti vaikutusta tähän asiaan, mutta matkailijoiden matkustaminen / lentoliikenne välillisesti vaikuttaa negatiivisesti kasvihuonekaasujen muodostumiseen. | ||
| Natura 2000 -ohjelman kohteet | 0 | 0 |
| Pilotointien ja tuotteistuksen osalta ei operoida suoraan Natura2000-alueilla. | ||
| Materiaalit ja jätteet | 7 | 7 |
| Hanke on tältä osin melko neutraali, hankkeessa edistetään digitaalista markkinointia ja sisällöntuotantoa, jolloin vältytään mm. suurimmalta osin printtimateriaalien tuotannolta. | ||
| Uusiutuvien energialähteiden käyttö | 6 | 8 |
| Hanke ei suoranaisesti vaikuta uusiutuviin energialähteisiin, mutta välillisesti hankkeessa voidaan Sustainable Travel -ohjelman kautta edistettää yrittäjien tietoutta ja ymmärrystä asian tärkeyteen. | ||
| Paikallisen elinkeinorakenteen kestävä kehittäminen | 8 | 8 |
| Hankkeen kehittämistoimenpiteet pyritään toteuttamaan huomioiden kestävän matkailun periaatteet. | ||
| Aineettomien tuotteiden ja palvelujen kehittäminen | 8 | 7 |
| Hankkeessa toteutetaan digitaalisten palveluiden ja sisältöjen kehittämistä. | ||
| Liikkuminen ja logistiikka | 0 | -1 |
| Hankkeen toimenpiteiden myötä seudulle saattaa joihinkin kohteisiin syntyä ruuhkaa. | ||
| Hyvinvoinnin edistäminen | 8 | 10 |
| Hankkeessa tuotteistetaan uusia luonto- ja elämyspaketteja, jotka lisäävät ihmisten hyvinvointia. | ||
| Tasa-arvon edistäminen | 6 | 8 |
| Asiakaskontaktoinnissa pyritään edistämään erityisesti naisten vetämiä palveluyrityksiä osallistumaan hankkeen toimenpiteisiin. Yritysten kehittämisen kautta kuitenkin tuetaan kaikkien mahdollisuuksia samanarvoisesti. | ||
| Yhteiskunnallinen ja kulttuurinen yhdenvertaisuus | 7 | 8 |
| Mahdollistetaan ruotsinkielisten sisältöjen olemassaolo ja tiedon saavutettavuutta digitaalisissa kanavissa. | ||
| Kulttuuriympäristö | 7 | 9 |
| Hankkeessa tuotteistetaan uusia luonto- ja elämyspaketteja, jotka pohjautuvat seudun ja suomalaiseen kulttuuriin ja näin ollen vahvistavat olemassa olevaa kulttuuriympäristöä. | ||
| Ympäristöosaaminen | 8 | 8 |
| Hankkeessa mukana olevat yritykset yritetään sitouttaa mukaan Visit Finlandin Sustainable Travel – ohjelmaan. |
'Conquest of Swedish travel market' project was launched in the spring of 2021, when the COVID19 pandemic had caused a major upheaval in international tourism - practically stopped it completely. It was clear that long-distance travel in particular will not recover after the worst phase of the pandemic subsides, but travelers will first head to domestic destinations and then to nearby areas abroad.
Based on above, Visit Finland made a strategic decision in the winter of 2020-2021 to direct its marketing measures in the coming years to nearby markets, e.g. to Sweden. In addition to increase international tourism from a total drop-down, the goal was also to change and refresh the image of Finland to Swedish travelers, with strong, precisely defined measures and communication activities done in line with the regions in Finland.
Visit Kotka-Hamina participated in the national campaigning in the Swedish tourism market. We joined the Visit Finland marketing campaigns that promote the visibility of Finland in general, implemented in the spring of 2022 and as a follow-up campaign in the fall of the same year, and with a new campaign in the spring of 2023.
With direct, effective and precise digital advertising Visit Kotka-Hamina gained strong visibility on the Swedish market, supported by the national campaign of Visit Finland mentioned above.
The aim of the project was to make South Kymenlaakso and the Loviisa region an attractive and popular regional tourist destination for Swedes and other foreigners, which will increase the number of Swedish (and other foreign) tourists in the Loviisa region and the entire Kymenlaakso region in the long term. The increase of the volume was by productising the tourism offering to match the profile of the Swedish traveller and by developing the content production of the digital sales channel into the smoothest possible booking channel for travel departing from Sweden.
Tactical advertising was implemented in cooperation with local Swedish and Danish communications agencies. The first campaign in 2022 was implemented by BCW Global and the second the year later by Essencius A/S. The cooperation with both parties worked well and the results were very good - especially for spring and summer 2023, when the number of clicks that arrived on the website through social media and native advertising far exceeded initial expectations.
In the national digital marketing campaign implemented by Visit Finland, the Loviisa, Kotka and Hamina region was, according to the results of the analysis produced after the campaign, in the top three, and in several cases even the first, among the five other Finnish regions that participated in the campaign.
The main customer target group in our actions throughout the project was the consumer traveller segment. With the current change in the purchasing behaviour of Swedish travellers, travel agencies and group travel agents are hardly used anymore, with the exception of certain sub-segments as groups of retired and associations. For this reason, most of the marketing measures were targeted at individual travellers, also using age and demographic breakdowns. The desired tourist profile matched the image formed by Visit Finland, and the tourism environment and services in our area met the need for the profile well. The purchase behavior was also designed with that profile in mind.
The target groups for producing of tailored services and service packages were local tourism companies and entrepreneurs as well as media, journalists and social media influencers. The measures in which most of the project's resources were invested were local product development, content production for different digital channels and web sites, digital advertising, and media and influencers.