The DefenceArch project created a tourism attraction consisting of existing, though almost untapped defence historical sites in the archipelago: the Gålö seal farm in Sweden close to the capital city Stokckholm, the Bomarsund fortress in Åland, the southern cape of Örö and Korpoström in Turku archipelago.

Project partnership addressed the challenges of the archipelago tourism with a multidisciplinary expertise. It used knowledge and expertise of tourism, content marketing, service design, storytelling, sustainable development, accessibility, history, ICT and digital media, construction and renovation of historical heritage. 

The experiences and approaches are well described in the final project publication “Bunkers, battles, ruins and seals: developing thematic tourism in the Baltic Sea archipelagos”.
And the jointly developed solutions are also transferred to other insular destinations.

In 2016, representatives of the project partners held cross-audits on the marketing communications, availability, services and infrastructure of all the pilots in order to specify the key project activities.
In accordance with the principle of cultural sustainability, local representatives from regional history associations and societies also participated in the work.
A sustainable development expert from TUAS gave recommendations to the destinations.
In summer 2017, customers’ opinions and ideas for the development of individual destinations were charted with the help of a survey.
In 2018, customer surveys were conducted to receive feedback on completed or current project activities.

A lot of historical and visual data were collected in the beginning of project about the destination. The collected materials were transformed into appealing stories. In result new digital content was produced about the Gålö seal station, the Bomarsund ruins, the Korpoström area and the southern tip of Örö.

There is now a story-rich and informative digital content to illustrate the destinations and their cultural heritage. The electronic brochures presenting 11 defence heritage destinations in English, Swedish and Finnish as pdfs you can find here. There are tour suggestions highlighting the history especially from the defence point of view. 

More information about the project and all destinations can be found in the project website:
https://visitdefencearch.turkuamk.fi/