Tourism

The project managed to develop partnering lake areas into a joint sustainable tourism attraction with joint values and to connect the lake tourism service products to it. In the core of the joint tourism attraction and products was the joint positioning theme/brand Nordic-Baltic Lake Trails that was developed in the beginning of the project. Joint positioning theme was utilized in the product development workshops and in developing sales manuals. Based on the joint positioning theme, a Lakesperience marketing strategy was developed.

The BATSECO-BOAT project achievements are based on making investments in altogether 11 new sewage pump-out stations, which of five are located in Finland, four in Estonia and two in Sweden. In Finland the project supported also the renovation of altogether nine old floating pump-out stations, so that those could be used for another 10 years.

At the end of project duration, the BATSECO-BOAT project has improved sewage collecting services in altogether 20 locations.

The Baltic Wings project helped to develop the Central Baltic area as a nature and birdwatching destination.

Swedish, Latvian and Åland partners put their efforts on developing sustainable birding tourism in the region with the help of marketing activities, bird guide training and long-lasting infrastructure investments, such as built birding towers, platforms and hides. Especially capacity strengthening had a major role in the project, and it was done in cooperation with local entrepreneurs, lodges, stores and local food providers.

One of the biggest global trends of today is outdoor tourism, and specially wandering. St Olav Waterway wanted to create The Nordic Camino, a peaceful alternative crossing three countries. Olav Haraldsson (995-1030) was the King of Norway, and after his death he became one of the most important medieval Nordic saints. There are very many St Olav’s churches in the north of Europe.

Project created a network of urban nature sites in Tallinn and Helsinki that can be defined as a joint tourism attraction in two capitals. Project improved, developed and constructed boardwalks and bird watching towers in Paljassaare, Kadriorg and Rocca al Mare in Tallinn, and Viikki-Vanhankaupunkinlahti and Harakka Island in Helsinki.
Target for increase of visitors was 10 000 more visitors. According to data from counters and relevant calculations partners have reported achievement of that target.

The Sustainable Gateways project developed a network of seven small boat harbours located in national parks and nature reserves in the Finnish and Swedish outer archipelago.

With the project support, the harbours became more sustainable and attractive for boaters, as they are well-managed destinations that offer good quality services. The project focus was on increasing environmental sustainability, customer satisfaction and harbour operators’ business knowledge.

The Central Baltic Area is a common tourism destination and a common tourism market. The aim of the project BOOSTED was to provide an aligned and relevant skillset for the CB region tourism industry and support it to grow as a coherent tourism destination. For this purpose, joint skills needs and gaps were identified, compared and aligned in three countries. The project’s main result is a joint curriculum and a study programme of 33 ECTS in advanced tourism business development.

Four small ports (two in south-west of Finland and two on Gotland island in Sweden made investments into service buildings and green technology. The new/improved service buildings also provide the companies running the ports an opportunity to boost the marketing of the ports. The joint marketing is visible in the website FamilyPorts. 
 

Thanks to the project, 16 small guest harbours were improved with better infrastructure and safety in four countries (most ports in Estonia and Latvia).

As its main result, the project connected several historic Hansa towns:  Cesis, Limbazi, Koknese, Kuldiga, Valmiera, Pargaujas/Straupe and Vidzeme from Latvia, Pärnu and Viljandi from Estonia and Visby from Gotland and developed a joint tourist attraction based on their Hansa history.

All participating cities made research about their Hanseatic history and heritage. It brought pride to towns and citizens to belong to a strong brand and an important European context. Through the research, also historic recipes were found and are now produced as local Hanseatic specialties.