Tourism sector change needs and digital accessibility

The City of Äänekoski received funding for a project focusing on the tourism sector’s change needs and digital accessibility. The project was already introduced at regional tourism group meetings and will be implemented on a fast schedule.

The project targets recovery from the coronavirus crisis, and TEM has granted it €80,000 in funding; the city’s self-financing share is €20,000, bringing the total to €100,000. Concrete actions include producing 10 digital tourism products, choosing a shared sales and marketing channel for Äänekoski’s tourism operators, and organizing a virtual launch event. We will also advance the Sustainable Travel Finland program.

The project is underway, and as of 1 Oct we have begun to contact and bring together companies and other partners relevant to the project. We have also started gathering ideas for digital products, and at the regional tourism group meetings the ideation phase got off to a strong start. The discussion was fruitful and many ideas popped up.

Tossing around ideas is still in its early stages, so you can keep suggesting them (matkailu@aanekoski.fi) through the end of this year, and we also recommend brainstorming together with other actors. Regionally, ideation groups will be launched, each with its own contact person from within the area (to be announced soon).

Once ideas for digital tourism products have been collected, the products to be implemented will be chosen by scoring them based on the following criteria; innovation, revenue model, cooperation with other local actors, sustainability, and alignment with Äänekoski’s tourism strategy. These factors are therefore worth considering already when planning the product.

After the selections, we will plan the implementation of the products and create scripts. Then we move to the production phase, where professionals in the field photograph, film, record audio, create virtual worlds, etc. Next, the product is tested and further developed.

Alongside the development of digital products, we will identify the sales channel that best meets the needs of the area’s tourism companies. In the sales channel mapping the needs and wishes of tourism operators will be taken into account. In practice, it will proceed as follows:

1. The sales channel’s operating logic now and in the future (agreement and vision together with the companies and the city)
2. Presentation of sales channels
3. Selection scoring (voting)

Between July and October 2021, we will also organize training on productizing virtual experiences, marketing digital products, and creating product cards, where unfinished or developing joint and company products will be refined to fit the chosen sales channel.

At the end of 2021, a virtual event, where the digital tourism products, the sales channel, and Äänekoski’s own companies in the Sustainable Travel Finland program will be presented. The event is expected to attract 1000 participants worldwide.