P2 Sustainable use of common resources
2.1. Natural and cultural resources developed into sustainable tourist attractions
Archipelago and Islands
01.04.2019 - 30.06.2021
€1 461 306
€1 095 980
Sustainable nature and culture-based archipelago tourism are still characterized by a large number of SMEs, public actors, uncoordinated promotion and scattered information. Thanks to Archipelago Access, Turku and Stockholm archipelagos join forces and invite Åland along to increase the attractiveness of the whole archipelago area.
Archipelago Access develops and launches a joint digital solution to offer easy access to tourists seeking travel information. It also provides a platform for user-generated content and interaction. The platform is linked to two interactive exhibitions - Utö Outdoor Exhibition in SWE and Turku Archipelago Showroom in FIN - that improve the visibility of the archipelago area as a tourist destination. Improved visibility and attractiveness, easier access to information and experiential promotion will, in turn, increase the number of visitors in the archipelago. This action is also aimed at prolonging the tourism season resulting in economic benefits for the regions. The project engages tourism operators in content production, encourages visitors to share their experiences and provides peer support to entrepreneurs.
Archipelago Access is set to kick-off a long-term development plan for increasing tourism in the archipelago. The promotion model and tools developed by the project can be later transferred and applied to other travel contexts.
Expected results
AA makes potential visitors, both local people and tourists, aware of what the archipelago has to offer and provides access to these experiences. The project establishes two new tourist attractions - the exhibitions in Turku and Utö. It is estimated that the Turku exhibition attracts 70 000 visitors a year and the one in Utö 50 000. Thus, 120 000 visitors a year will experience the exhibitions and their environmental awareness will be raised.
In addition to informing and entertaining visitors, the exhibitions have a catalyst function: to inspire, motivate and encourage people to actually visit the archipelago. The digital solution, AA's other main result, is designed to complement the exhibitions and provide the next step in customers' journey to the archipelago. It offers easily accessible information tailor-made to the needs of visitors. It is a continuation of the exhibitions and vice-versa, the exhibitions display content from the digital system. This offers an exciting fusion of physical exhibition materials with constantly changing user-generated digital content. The digital solution and exhibitions are a step towards uniting the archipelago in the minds of visitors.
No new destinations will be built in the AA project. Instead, the project activities facilitate visiting existing ones more frequently. This increases the number of visitors and contributes to economic sustainability of local tourism businesses. On the immaterial side, raised environmental awareness and appreciation of the archipelago contribute to improvements in visitor behaviour and ecological sustainability.