Pure natural environment a trump card for tourism business
Tourists select their destinations based on the content, activities and experiences offered. This is the conclusion of the sector report on activity and entertainment programme services for tourism published by the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment on 31 October 2016.
The programme services for tourism include visits, sports and physical exercise, and various kinds of other activities and entertainment. These services are offered by more than 6 100 enterprises in different parts of Finland. Their turnover is almost EUR 2.5 billion and they employ more than 12 000 people. Like other companies they also use temporary agency workers. The turnover of enterprises in the sector has been decreasing slightly, but there has been some growth in the number of employees.
- Natural environments and wellness tourism are increasingly important for the activity and entertainment programme services. The enterprises have a lot of unutilised potential in productising the surrounding natural environments to attract international tourists, says Susanna Jänkälä, Sector Manager at the North Ostrobothnia ELY Centre, who compiled the report.
Responsible practices are even more significant for tourism enterprises than before, and showing sustainable choices in the customer interface is a condition for competitiveness. In the future, when competition increases and customer demands are growing, safety will play an even greater role in travel decisions and in the products.
The development needs of enterprises include productising the supply into daily programmes and ready-made packages that are easy to purchase by travel agencies, as well as activating the sellers of packaged services. Travel agencies also wish for excursion and tour packages where light nature activities are included in the daily programmes.
Digitalisation will have to be taken into account as part of the whole service process of enterprises. Embracing digitalisation is a key condition for competitiveness, Susanna Jänkälä says. There is a need to enhance digital competence among all types of employees.
Sector report on programme services for tourism is available at www.temtoimialapalvelu.fi. You can upload the SME sector barometer on tourism here (in Finnish)
Inquiries:
Susanna Jänkälä, Sector Manager, North Ostrobothnia ELY Centre, tel. +358 40 766 5541
Esa Tikkanen, Development Director, Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment, tel. +358 50 040 5459