Intro

If we want to develop and market the Baltic Sea Region jointly as an important international tourist destination, something must be done. The tourism sector is too fragmented and there is a lack of integration in both the private and the public sector. ‘How should we proceed to integrate the tourism sector in the BSR’ was the central question of the parallel session. 

Main Messages

• The concept of tourism is changing. Tourism trips are becoming increasingly shorter. Holidays are combined with business trips and visits to obtain medical treatments are coupled with sightseeing, for example etc. We have to be dynamic to invent new products and to develop the hospitality in the Baltic Sea Region. - Krzysztof Gromadowski

• Moving tourism cooperation in the cruise industry from city and port level to the country level would be the next important step. – Henrik Kahn

• Knowledge sharing and developing our marketing concept as well as bridging different places are all important next steps in creating synergies and tourism development. - Tomasz Studzieniecki

• On foreign markets the countries of BSR should work together and promote the region under one brand. – Bengt Philström  

Themes

Changing tourism

Director of Port Development and Integration with EU at Port of Gdynia Authoritiy S.A., Krzysztof Gromadowski, pointed out that the concept of ‘tourism’ has changed and that there is an emergence of new types of tourism products. Tourism trips are becoming shorter and more intense; people combine their holidays with business. There is a new concept of medical tourism often combined with visiting interesting places. The basic thing is to allow people to move between the countries, to create positive conditions and feelings for them, Gromadowski said. “We should feel as a Baltic family and develop the spirit of hospitality”. He also argued that transferring knowledge is of vital importance and stated that the Port of Gdynia is open for cooperation.

Cooperation

Director UK & Irleand, Visit Denmark, Henrik Kahn, told the audience about an initiative in the UK, built on the concept of the Baltic Cruise project, which is a successful cooperation initiative between cities and ports in the BSR. Kahn’s team is trying to move this one step further, and the next level is to initiate cooperation between the countries. Visit Cruise Baltic, which is an initiative officially launched in February, is a framework that builds on cooperation on the national level in the cruise industry. Activities that have been done are press, web and online inter-linkages with all ten nations of the project. Also, online promotion and agent training are among the activities. The cruise industry is the fastest growing tourism sector today and is expected to continue growing in the future. Kahn pointed out that a huge amount of money is spent in conjunction with the cruise-ship operations in the destination cities, spread between the ten countries. It is an easy platform for cooperation as “there is money in it for all of us”, he said. He also underlined that tourism is the best tool for branding. In fact, tourists are the best ambassadors. Kahn believes that the Baltic Sea cooperation should be further enhanced. Getting the knowledge of each other on the market place and doing activities together is very efficient, he argued.
Director of Latvian Tourism Development Agency, Uldis Vitolins, stressed that one of the reasons for the success of the Latvian tourism industry, besides the accession to the EU and low fare airlines, is the deeply integrated cooperation among the three Baltic countries. He pinpointed that when it comes to the tourism industry, these countries are partners and each year they go deeper and deeper in their cooperation process. Examples of close cooperation are the opening of common representation offices abroad, having common exhibition stands in foreign countries. In fact, they are looking for partners when they move into non-European regions. The USA and China are high on the agenda, and a Baltic Sea Region cooperation strategy to approach these regions would be an interesting possibility. He advocated more brainstorming on the promotion possibilities for Baltic Sea Region especially overseas. Common product development is also important. He underlined that a regional perspective is needed.   

What next?

Expert of the International Association of Scientific Experts in Tourism, Tomasz Studzieniecki, talked about the threat of our competitors in tourism, such as the Mediterranean area, the Black Sea and the North-East Atlantic regions. However, he stressed that in the BSR “we have competitive tourism products, but there is at the same time a need for identifying our destinations, which are currently not clear”. To promote transnational regions as destination is very difficult, he added, as they should rather be umbrellas than destinations. Studzieniecki raised the vital question: Do we need leadership or networks? He argued that there is still a need for a Baltic Sea Tourism Cooperation or a Baltic Tourism Academy, which builds on the concept of networking tourism schools in the BSR. He stressed that the only obstacle is money. Studzieniecki underlined that there is a good level of cooperation in several sectors of the BSR, but the amount of financial resources that all actors are looking for is limited. Therefore, he called for the coordination of the existing initiatives and projects in the BSR and to create more synergies. Knowledge sharing and developing the marketing concept of the BSR are very important next steps in tourism development.
President of the Baltic Sea Tourism Cooperation, Niels Lund, did not support the idea of a Think-Tank, but was in favour of more projects like the Baltic Cruise.
Associate Director of the Baltic Development Forum, Jørgen P.T. Christensen, drew attention to BDF’s branding initiative in which tourism plays a major part. BDF is not an expert on tourism, but an expert in bringing people together from all sectors and areas. BDF considers putting up a think-tank where people can discuss the possibilities of concrete actions, such as policy recommendations and better coordination between existing initiatives.      

Moderator, Former Director of Finnish Tourist Board, Bengt Philström, pointed out that if we want further cooperation in the tourism industry, the National Tourism Boards will need to work together. He proposed that BDF collects information on all the tourism projects and initiatives that exist in the BSR in order to make a clear overview of them. That way it is easier to see how to cooperate and coordinate the current projects. He also urged BDF to create some kind of platform, where the most essential ideas on how to proceed and how to promote the region to overseas areas under one umbrella could be further discussed.           

The free movement of labour continues to be both an imperative and sensitive topic in Europe. There was a general agreement that the flow of labour leads to economic and social advantages, and helps face rapidly changing demands of the globalised world.
 
Approximately 40,000 Estonians work abroad, and Andrus Ansip, Prime Minister of Estonia, pointed out that the labour circulation is a win-win situation for the Estonian economy. Not only do those Estonians send money back home, those who return, also return with new skills and know-how. Henryka Bochniarz, President of Polish Confederation of Private Employers Lewiatan, agreed with Mr. Ansip and referred to the positive results published in an EU study two years after the enlargement. But she also made it clear, that though she adheres to an open labour market, she is not in favour of an unrestricted policy on immigration. Kim Graugaard, Deputy Director General of the Confederation of Danish Industries, also said that workers from new member countries help relieve labour market shortages and bottlenecks, thereby stimulating the economies of the old members countries.

However, despite the positive impact on growth and an enormous need for increasing labour supply in Europe, some of the member countries still uphold a heavily regulated labour market due to political and regulatory barriers. Mr. Graugaard said that another obstacle, besides the political and regulatory barriers, was an old-fashioned way of thinking. Companies need to change their attitude towards cross-border recruitment, if they want to keep up with growing demands. Surveys show that the prevalent myth, that there is a flood of workers from new member countries, who emigrate with plans of a long-term permanent residence elsewhere, is wrong. Research shows that the primary reason for working abroad is to earn money in order to make a better living at home. Mr. Graugaard urged abolishing the transitional agreements imposed during the EU accession process. He suggested making work opportunities more visible by making people more aware of local employment conditions and rules.