Good practices from Central Baltic projects DefenceArch, LightsOn! and St. Olav Waterway DefenceArch, LightsOn! and St. Olav Waterway, are three of the 97 projects currently founded by the Central Baltic programme and they all belong to specific objective 2.1 — natural resources developed into...
P2 Sustainable use of common resources
2.1. Natural and cultural resources developed into sustainable tourist attractions
Archipelago and Islands
01.09.2016 - 31.05.2019
€1 534 661
€1 150 996
Project Summary:
The Archipelagos of Stockholm, Åland and Turku are well-known as natural tourist attractions. However, accessibility is still weak and the themes of cultural heritage, insular way of life and digital technology have not been highlighted enough, when planning experiences for visitors during pre-, on-site and post-visit phases. The project develops digital outputs for marketing and enrichment of visits, accessibility solutions, especially environmentally and culturally sustainable solutions, cross-border archipelago heritage tour suggestions, improved service chains and multidisciplinary development methods.
The overall objective is to develop existing, though almost untapped historical resources of the Gålö seal farm, the Bomarsund fortress, the southern cape of Örö and Korpoström into appealing and sustainable tourist destinations by increasing awareness and perceived value of these experiences.
In the end, the four pilot sites will form a themed tourism destination which will highlight the Baltic Sea defence history. Improved accessibility and experience value will increase the number of visits, the length of stay and tourism expenditure. This will revitalise business opportunities. Jointly developed solutions are also transferred to other insular destinations.
Lead Partner
Turun ammattikorkeakoulu Oy
Country: FI
Partner budget: 297.608 EUR
Amount of ERDF funding: 223.206 EUR ERDF
Project Partners
Metsähallitus / Rannikon luontopalvelut
Country: FI
Partner budget: 459.000 EUR
Amount of ERDF funding: 344.250 EUR ERDF
Visit Åland
Country: FI
Partner budget: 242.247 EUR
Amount of ERDF funding: 181.685 EUR ERDF
Skärgårdsstiftelsen i Stockholms län
Country: SE
Partner budget: 414.643 EUR
Amount of ERDF funding: 310.982 EUR ERDF
Åbolands Skärgårdsstiftelse rs
Country: FI
www.abolandsskargardsstiftelse.fi
Partner budget: 121.163 EUR
Amount of ERDF funding: 90.872 EUR ERDF
Achieved results
Project result in category -
Joint tourist attraction
Footprints of Defence in the Archipelago
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/
Project page in database
At a glance
- Guide to 11 tourist destinations “Explore the coastal past” in English, Finnish and Swedish
- Brochure BUNKERS, BATTLES, RUINS AND SEALS – Developing Thematic Tourism in the Baltic Sea Archipelagos
- Mobile App with information, podcasts and videos about four destinations
- Videos about all four destinations in English, Swedish, Finnish, French and German
- Film “Remember her name” produced for the exhibition in Korpostrom Archipelago Centre
Files
Tags
Internet presence
BUNKERS, BATTLES, RUINS AND SEALS – Developing Thematic Tourism in the Baltic Sea Archipelagos
Other media visibility
Örön linnakesaarelle tulee maanalaista bunkkerimajoitusta
App ska göra upplevelsen på Bomarsund mer attraktiv och informativ
Nu ska Örös "glömda udde" tas fram