Tourism development projects

Shared Experience Economy Data Framework (SEED, 1.1.2026-31.12.2027) is a project co-organized by the City of Tampere and Visit Tampere Ltd. The objective of the project is to develop a shared data repository model for the experience economy sectors, specifically tourism, events, and culture. The model will include an architectural framework and an operational model for integrating and utilizing data, and it will be validated through two Proof of Concept pilots. The project addresses the need to consolidate fragmented data from multiple sources and to enable its effective use in decision-making, development, and collaboration within businesses and public sector organizations. As these sectors often reach overlapping audiences, it is essential to improve data accessibility, reduce duplication of resource use, and enable proactive, data-driven management.

The project will be implemented through four work packages that include mapping data sources and data transfer methods, exploring platform solutions and addressing data transfer challenges, analyzing and enriching data through two pilot cases, and defining models for data sharing and utilization. Stakeholders from the experience economy sectors will be actively involved throughout all phases of the project.

As a result, the project will deliver a shared data repository model, including both an operational model and architectural framework. Two Proof of Concept pilots will demonstrate the practical feasibility of the model. The project will also evaluate and select suitable technological solutions for future development. In addition, a co-creation model will be established to strengthen collaboration across sectors. Ultimately, the project will promote data-driven decision-making and efficient resource allocation, enhancing the strategic competitiveness of experience economy actors.

Interreg Europe funded TaaS project brings together nine areas from different parts of Europe to collaborate with the aim of accelerating smart and sustainable travel business, enhancing tourism digitalization and refining related policy tools.

TAAS approach identifies innovative digital solutions across the four phases of the travel experience:

Imagining the Trip (Phase A): Digital tools utilized to spark inspiration, generate interest and select destination – transforming digital visitors to physical visitors

Planning the Trip (Phase B): tools for booking, organizing, and managing services

During the Trip (Phase C): Digital services, integrated smart city passes, micromobility apps as tools for a better visitor experience

Empowering Influence (Phase D): Social media as an ambassador for the destination.

By focusing on capacity building and improving tourism-related policy instruments of partner areas, TAAS aims to provide a model for creating smarter, more sustainable and more resilient tourism destinations.

Project partner areas: South Aegean Region GR, Tampere FI, Aspres Community of Municipalities FR, Ljubljana SL,  Fano IT,  Donegal IE,  Stockholm SE, Zuid – Limburg NE and Ungheni MD.

The three-year CliNeDest – Climate Neutral Destinations project (1.3.2025-29.2.2028), funded by the Interreg Baltic Sea Region programme, brings together eight pioneering sustainable tourism regions from the Baltic Sea and the Nordic countries and a total of ten project partners to develop climate work in their regions. Visit Tampere is the main coordinator of the project.

The development of the project will be based on a wide range of cooperation with tourism businesses and destinations, providing a significant additional resource for the tourism sector’s transition towards climate-neutral business. The project will design and develop a climate-smart toolkit, including the following elements:

1. Climate-smart business model tools for companies
2. A model for creating low-carbon visitor experiences
3. A knowledge management model for the development of climate-smart destinations
4. A training programme on how to use the toolkit for climate work in destinations

The CliNeDest project aims to promote adaptation and preparedness of the tourism sector to the impacts of climate change. At regional level, the project will provide resources for the implementation of the objectives and measures set out in the Visit Tampere Climate Action Plan and the City of Tampere Climate Roadmap for Tourism.

Project partners: Visit Tampere & City of Helsinki & Itämeri-Instituutti (The Baltic Institute of Finland)(Finland), Royal Djurgardens Society (Sweden), Pomorskie Tourist Board (Poland), Public Institution Kaunas IN (Lithuania), City of Stavanger (Norway), Commercial Fund of VisitAarhus (Denmark), Tallinn Strategic Management Office & Stockholm Environment Institute Tallinn Center (Estonia).

New business and internationalization opportunities for the sauna experience industry in Pirkanmaa (1.9.2023–31.8.2025) is a project implemented by Visit Tampere, in which the sauna experience industry, which covers sauna culture and many business sectors, is exploited from the perspective of business and innovation.

The main objective of the project is to explore, under the theme of sauna capital, how to develop and diversify the sauna business and whether companies and know-how from different business sectors can be brought together to create new business opportunities and sauna concepts, for example.

The project will result in new opportunities for cooperation and internationalization in the sauna sector, as well as common service models and concepts for Tampere and Pirkanmaa. The project will also help to create an operating model and plan for the sauna experience ecosystem in Tampere and Pirkanmaa.

Visit Tampere leads this project (Jan 1 2024 – Dec 31 2024), set to enhance the local operators’ readiness to sell their culture- and experience-driven products and services in international travel markets. This is done by increasing the companies’ digital competences, as well as their understanding of international customer profile and behavior.

The main objective of the project is to enhance the region’s culture and experience field’s preparedness to conduct profitable business in international travel markets: by producing a data-driven market research focusing on customer behavior and digital channels, and by organizing trainings to help local companies put the findings in practice. The focus will also be on tightening the collaboration in the local culture and experience network in general.

As the result of the project the Tampere region’s culture and experience supply will boost its presence in digital sales channels, and will increasingly take into account the international travelers’ needs. The collaborations between the local companies concentrate on product development and will lead to internationally-minded service models and concepts. The project will also build bridges towards international sales networks, such as tour operators, thus preparing the ground for increased sales opportunities for the region’s culture and experience supply.

The joint Lakeland Finland thematic network project (October 1, 2021 – September 30, 2023), initiated at the beginning of October 2021, involving five provinces, continued the collaboration that has been ongoing since 2018 among the provinces of Western Lakeland in Finland. The project aimed to capitalize on the natural strengths of these provinces — congestion-free environments and responsibly produced tourism services under safe conditions — making them easily accessible to individual international customers (through digitalisation). The measures implemented in the project addressed the need arising from changes in tourism demand due to the COVID-19 situation by developing the product offerings of small and medium-sized enterprises, the purchasability of tourism products, and digital expertise.

KOVA – Towards Responsible Experiences (March 1, 2022 – August 31, 2023) was a project aimed at supporting businesses in the Pirkanmaa region’s experience economy and tourism sector in enhancing their adaptability and promoting sustainability.

Sustainability advancements in the project were achieved by offering high-quality, free-of-charge guidance and training to businesses. The businesses were supported in developing plans that were compatible with the ‘Think Sustainably’ service and the Sustainable Travel Finland program.

The project was implemented by Ekokumppanit, the University of Tampere, and Visit Tampere.

VIRMA (Virtual Tourism) –project (April 1, 2021 – August 31, 2023) developed new service models and concepts utilizing digitalisation for tourism, event, service, and experience industry businesses whose business opportunities had been significantly reduced by COVID-19 and the subsequent ‘new normal’ era.

The goal of the project was to develop new and sustainable business opportunities from virtual tourism and the possibilities offered by digitalisation.

The main executor of the project was Tampere University of Applied Sciences. Visit Tampere participated as a co-executor.

VIRMA project helped your tourism business find new ways to conduct business using virtual technology and helped XR companies find partners in the tourism industry. The project compiled a model to assist tourism businesses, aiding them in leveraging the possibilities of the virtual world. This model was particularly helpful for tourism industry businesses looking to use virtual technology for marketing, branding, or enhancing their visibility.

The project was a project coordinated by Visit Tampere, which developed service concepts encouraging low-carbon mobility for tourists in cooperation with key tourist destinations and businesses in Pirkanmaa area. The co-executors of the project were the Finnish Baltic Sea Institute and the University of Tampere.

The carbon footprint of tourist mobility is a key sustainability challenge for tourism in Pirkanmaa area. At the same time, the importance of sustainability and low carbon emissions continually increase in tourists’ choices. Pirkanmaa had the opportunity to meet these expectations through systematic service development and collaboration among stakeholders.

The Sustainable Tourism Hub project (2018 -2020), aimed to help develop the renewing Särkänniemi area into a low-carbon leading destination in the experience economy, in collaboration with the Five-Star Center program and Särkänniemi.

Visit Tampere coordinated the project implementation, and the co-executors were Ekokumppanit, the Finnish Baltic Sea Institute, Tampere University of Applied Sciences, and the University of Tampere.

This joint project between Helsinki, Turku, and Tampere, which continued until the end of 2021, aimed to reduce carbon dioxide emissions in the tourism industry by developing smart solutions and new operational models that utilized data for use by tourism industry stakeholders.

The main executor of the project was the City of Helsinki, with partners including Forum Virium Helsinki, the City of Turku, and Visit Tampere Oy.

With the Digitrack project funded by the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment (TEM), Visit Tampere’s partner companies aimed to make their services more available and comprehensively offered through digital sales channels. The project, which continued until the end of 2021, focused particularly on ancillary products that interest individual event and conference attendees. The sales platforms included Bókun, which enables agreements with international online tour operators, and Johku, designed for domestic customers.

The project’s objective was to prepare for international event and conference tourism in the post-COVID-19 era. However, with the prolonged state of emergency, marketing and other resources could be redirected towards domestic visitors as well. The productization work was done in collaboration with a selected consultant to provide partner companies with a ready-made solution for offering their products through digital sales channels.

The project focused on responsible products that met international standards, following the tourism strategy. Additionally, a data platform was created for data-driven management. The project also conducted pilots for sales, marketing, and data utilization. As a result of the productization work in the project, a productization handbook or detailed guidelines for international productization were created, which companies could continue to use even after the project ended.