Attractive Hardwoods- Best practise in tourism development, marketing and sustainable management of Attractive Hardwoods -

Background

• Dec 2007: Sulęczyno seminar, Poland• 2010-2013: Hardwoods are good project, South Baltic programme• 2013-2014: Nature Hardwoods, EUSBSR seed money project• 2015-2016: Hardwood ecotourism, Swedish Institute

Attractive Hardwoods- Best practise in tourism development, marketing and sustainable management of Attractive Hardwoods -

Lead Partner: Swedish Forest AgencyProject leader: Ola Runfors, ola.runfors@skogsstyrelsen.seCommunication officer: Oriana Pfister, oriana.pfister@skogsstyrelsen.seFinancial manager: Ingegerd Andersson, ingegerd.andersson@skogsstyrelsen.se

Project budget: 1.4 million EuroDuration: 1 July 2016 – 30 June 2019Project partners: PL (2), LT (1), SE (3)Funding: Interreg South Baltic, European Regional Development FundFlagship project: European Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region, EUSBSR

Our forests are unique resources which need sustainable long-term management. They have unique nature values and a huge unexploited economic potential for tourism and outdoor recreation.

Why is this project needed?

Attractive Hardwoods - big potential for tourism

Huge possibilities for increasing the number of visitors – in and off season -

Joint challenges:1. Lack of knowledge of tourists needs/interest2. Mistuned and fragmented sectorial approaches in managing hardwood assets3. Weak knowledge of hardwood tourist attractions among potential visitors4. Low interest of commercial operators involving hardwood ecotourism products

and services

Challenges need a cross-border and cross-sectorial approach (tourism, nature conservation and forestry)

Who will do the work?

Project partnerssupported by

• Associated Partners• (Target groups)• EUSBSR policy area co-ordinators/flagship• Euroregion Baltic• Interreg South Baltic, Dominika Butkiewicz

Associated Partners

1. Visit Blekinge AB Sweden

2. Blekinge Archipelago Sweden

3. Ronneby municipality Sweden

4. Regional Directorate of Environmental Protection, Gdansk Poland

5. Samogitian Rural Tourism Organisation Lithuania

6. Lithuanian Fund for Nature Lithuania

7. Plunge district Municipality Lithuania

8. Telšiai State Forest Enterprise Lithuania

9. State Service for Protected Areas under the Ministry of Environment Lithuania

10. Scanian Landscape Foundation Sweden

Project at a glance

On the project road

• Workshop Sweden 20-21th September• Film production• Tourist products and services• Mapping of tourist operators• Hardwood tourism strategy

Workshop 1. Case-to case benchmark seminar - supply solutions (A4.4)

SWOT

• Divided in four groups – see next slide

• Mixed nationalities

• 20-25 minutes group discussions

• strengths, opportunities, weakness and threats

• cross-border and off-season tourism.

• Presentations in the whole group

Output: Seminar report with conclusions based on group discussions and presentations.

Group 1Group leaderViktorija Rumsaite

• Niklas Kämpargård

• Zbigniew Popławski

• Lars Sällström

• Šarūnas Mikašauskas

• Patrik Hellsberg

• Anders Rosell

Group 3Group leaderOriana Pfister

• Emese Bálint

• Ramūnas Lydis

• Joanna Jarosik

• Maria Brzozowska

• Jörgen Garnegård

Group 2Group leaderPiotr Neubauer

• Per-Arne Olsson

• Sandra Kasmauskienė

• Monika Frankowska

• Daniel Ottosson

• Jonas Warhammar

• Simone Wenzel

Group 4Group leaderOla Runfors

• Mattias Holmquist

• Giedrė Šadeikatė

• Adam Jasciek

• Heleen Podsedkowska

• Leif Wictorén

Workshop 2. Forming the first draft of the Attractive Hardwood strategy

Several efforts ongoing in Sweden to develop tourism strategies

• The Swedish Ecotourism Association (50 companies, workshops and more) – 4 quarter 2017

• The governmental investigation Sweden's tourism industry - a comprehensive policy for experience-based growth - 4 quarter 2017

• Attractive Hardwoods – ”Joint strategic plan for boosting the cross-border ecotourism in the South Baltic hardwood areas” – 1 quarter2019

”Four seasons – four reasons”

”How do we come in contact with travel agencies?”

”International competetiveness”

”Our resource can be spoiled by the forestry over a night! How do we make agreements with land owners?”

Which picture of Sweden do we want to market?”

Workshop 2. Forming the first draft of the Attractive Hardwood strategy

Aim: Identification of action areas necessary to boost the cross-border tourism and off-season offers

• Divided in four groups – LT, PL + 2 SE

• 40 minutes group discussions

• Which actions are needed?

• Why are they needed?

• How can actions be carried on (in practice)?

• Cross-border and off-season tourism.

• Presentations in the whole group

• For your help – see programme agenda – “Possible action areas…..”

Output: Seminar report with conclusions based on group discussions and presentations.

Action area - example

Action area 1

The hardwood tourism potential

Aim# Describe the uniqueness of hardwoods# Position the coastal South Baltic as a region with high nature and recreational values# Local people are aware and acting as good ambassadors for marketing of the region

Actions1:1 Identify the unique values of South Baltic Hardwoods1:2 Telling the hardwood story1:3 Labelling of top-of-the-line hardwoods

Internal project meeting

• See next slide

WP1

• Steering group meeting – December or January• Skype meeting• Financial matters

WP2

• Movie• Exhibitions• Communication guidelines• A2.1 Forest days (promised 5)

WP3

• Joint strategic plan (main output)• Reasons to go (Deliverable 3.1)• Network members (Deliverable 3.2)• National stakeholders meetings• A3.3 Mapping of visitors at nature centres• A3.4 Action in pilot areas methodology (what do we need?)• A3.5 seminar blueprints in hardwood ecotourism (SE PP2, autumn 2018)

WP4

• Tourist products (17, main output)• Excel matrix filled in• Pilot sites (3, deliverable 4.1, 4.2, 4.3 • A4.5 seminar Ecotourism product quality (SE PP2, Sept 2018)• A4.6 Study trips to LT, PL• A4.8 Nature guides, LT

WP4

Excel matrix filled in

PP1:PP2:PP3:PP4:PP5:PP6:

WP5

• Main output: increased numbers of commercial operators involved in marketing of hardwood ecotourism activities• Deliverable 5.1 – 50 contacts with travel agencies• Deliverable 5.2 Web portal• Deliverable 5.3 Recommendations for successful marketing – report

• A5.1 Mapping of tourist operators (list ready 2017, later add new contacts)• A5.2 Contacts with travel agencies/tourism operators• A5.3 Development of web portal• A5.4 Data compilation for the web portal• A5.5 Overview of best practise marketing results