E newsletter no1 1

will create a greater catchment

area.

Thinking above also soft val-

ues are important; to know each

other, building understanding

and trust between these regions.

Of course we should remember

also the economic meaning for

each region which comes due to

marketing co-operation.

What is InFAcTo?

InFAcTo-project E-newsletter

INTERNATIONAL FOOD

AND ACTIVITY TOURISM

(INFACTO)

Tourists are increasingly de-

manding linked & coordinated

activities of higher quality not

only at local level but also re-

gionally & internationally. Lo-

cal food linked to active tourism

is increasingly popular but de-

mand is for products of high

quality with an authentic experi-

ence. Few operators can provide

all that is demanded in today’s

markets thus necessitating

linked or complementary prod-

ucts, for micro-business this

means working together, coop-

eration & joint marketing.

The range of local food &

active tourism products & ser-

vices (local food, nature, cul-

ture, heritage & active tourism)

is quite wide in Häme & Estonia

but they frequently lack this

coherence & complementarity;

i n t e r n a t i o n a l l i n k a g e s

(networks) are absent or weak

there is little product develop-

ment activity especially in terms

of marketing & promotion for

the regional/international tour-

ism markets.

The INTERREG IVA Pro-

gramme places strong emphasis

on economic competitiveness

and innovation although links

between education & entrepre-

neurs are weak & cross border

exchanges require stimulation.

Additionally stress is placed on

the need for supporting real,

vital cooperation, focusing on

solving common problems in co

-operation, increasing business

start-up, entrepreneurship and

co-operation networks.

The project aims to raise stake-

holder confidence & awareness

of the factors behind starting-up

and/or diversifying in food &

act ive tourism business.

Through network development,

training in awareness of cus-

tomer preferences, market infor-

mation & increased B2B oppor-

tunities, entrepreneurs will be

incentivised & encouraged to

identify new opportunities thus

addressing the clear need for an

increased participation and role

of small and medium sized en-

terprises in the Central Baltic

Programme economy.

Cross-border added value

Added value comes from from

co-operation in research work

and results, entrepreneur, staff

and student job placement, new

partnerships and ideas for prod-

uct development, product tests

and joint trips.

It’s important to understand

different nationalities and their

habits and get new concepts of

working. In this case cross-

border food and activity tourism

developing together, joint tourist

marketing and promotion activi-

ties are important. The tourism

market for both EE and FI are

the same, and added value of

working together on joint mar-

keting and promotion activities

Inside this issue:

Project partners 2

Change in project partners 3

What has been done so far 4

Estonian FAM-trip to Finland, to Häme 6

Finnish FAM-trip to Estonia, to Saaremaa 7

Estonians and Finnish partners FAM-trip to Scotland 8

Marketing research 9

Project meetings 10

Special points of interest:

• The project has last one and a half

year

• The project has 13 partners

• Project has homepage

www.infactoproject.eu

• Project manager is Tiina Nuureto

No. 1 29 th o f Novembe r, 2011

Project par tners


Lead partner

Häme Development Centre Ltd

(Development Centre Ltd Häme)

Talaskuja 3, 13200 Hämeenlinna, Finland

Leena Puumalainen

Phone: +358 400 997914

[email protected]

Kuressaare Regional Training Centre

Kohtu 22, 93812 Kuressaare, Estonia

Marve Koppel

Phone: +372 45 24 605

[email protected]

www.ametikool.ee

Imago Ltd

Filmi 6, 10152 Tallinn, Estonia

Erki Kukk

Phone: +372 56 222 998

www.imago.ee

InFAcTo Project manager

Tiina Nuutero

Phone: +358 50 44 33 954

[email protected]

www.kehittamiskeskus.fi

Voru County Vocational Training Centre

65566 Väimela, Võru, Estonia

Reet Urb

Phone: +372 7850822

www.vkhk.ee

Non-profit Organisation Estonian Rural

Tourism

Vilmsi 53g, 10147 Tallinn, Estonia

Raili Mengel-Sünt

Phone: +372 600 9999

[email protected]

www.maaturism.ee

HAMK Univeristy of Applied Sciences

PL 230, 13101 Hämeenlinna, Finland

Merja Helin

Phone: +358 3 6466908

[email protected]

www.hamk.fi

Saaremaa Marketing Association

Kiratsi kula, 93741 Kaarma vald, Estonia

Karen Ann Allas

Phone: +37257852811

[email protected]

Center for Ecological Engineering

Tuglase 1-6, 51014 Tartu, Estonia

Merit Mikk

Phone: +372 7422051

www.ceet.ee

Kiipula Foundation / Kiipula Centre for

Vocational Education and Rehabilitation

Kiipulantie 507,14200 Turenki, Finland

Pirjo Alijärvi

Phone: +358 3 68521

[email protected]

www.kiipula.fi

Union of Rural Municipalities of Setomaa

Obinitsa, Meremäe vald, 65301 Vöru mk,

Eesti

Jelena Kikas

Phone: +372 56560504

www.setomaa.ee

RG Evans Associates

Lille 51-46, 80038 Pärnu, Estonia

Roger Evans

Phone: +372 53999421

[email protected]

Tavastia Vocational College

Hattelmalantie 8, 13100 Hämeenlinna,

Finland

Anssi Kovanen

Phone: +358 3 65811

[email protected]

www.kktavastia.fi

Estonian University of Life Sciences

Kreutzwaldi 1, 51014 Tartu, Estonia

Kaili Kattai

Phone: +372 53 414 001

www.emu.ee


Changes in project par tners

New representative in the Union of Rural Municipalities of Setomaa

New representative in the VõruCounty Vocational Training Centre

Back to the work story then Reet is really

happy that life in Estonia has changed so

much and interesting projects with smart

colleges all around the Europe have a big

influence on that. “Keep going Europe

together!”

We have a new representre in VõruCounty

Vocational Training Centre. Her name is

Reet Urb. Reet is working in Võrumaa

Training Vacational Centre as a project co-

ordinator since September. She was born

and grown up in Vorumaa, nice and

mountainous South Estonia. Later she

studied in Tallinn University of Technology

speclialisation economy and worked some

years in Tallinn City Government. Next

work was waiting Reet in Ministry of

Finance. There she worked basically with

European Regional Development Fund

projects and some other funds projects.

But now she has decided to do own best in

South Estonia and coordinate projects there.

Reet loves own work and believes that

everyday you learn something and can ship

in society if you are doing things what you

really enjoy.

On free time she likes to play volleyball,

ski, gardening and books. Positive energy

gives her funny and naughty 6 months old

Neapolitan Mastiff puppy Baruto.

A new project coordinator on behalf of the

Union is Ivika Nõgel. Ivika has long

experience as a project manager, trainer,

moderator and advisor. She holds a diploma

in English from Tallinn Pedagogical

University where upon she took up

development work in the Ministry of

Economics and Communications in 1995

where she ran a unit coordinating foreign aid.

In 2000 she moved to Otepää to run the

South-East Estonia Partnership Programme,

initiated and funded by the UK government.

She worked to launch partnership boards in

Võru, Valga and Põlva counties, which were

innovative at the time and still operate today.

Experience gained in the process helped to

launch the LEADER programme in Estonia.

In 2003-2005 Ivika managed several ESF

projects in the fields of social issues and

employment. She has compiled an

international project management manual,

led regional strategic processes and

participated in conducting a number of

studies. She excels at creating networks and

keeping them alive. She reckons her mission

is the promotion of an inclusive leadership

style in Estonia.

Ivika has a lot of friends and colleagues in

Setomaa and she holds great respect for the

local culture and an ability to work together

that local people have.

Ivika Nõgel

What has been done so far


Võru Vocational Training Centre has arranged and run 8 mentored workshops within the InFAcTo project.

The Centre for Ecological Engineering has conducted two international training seminars within the InFAcTo project.

4-5.05.2011 Marketing of local food together with Võru Vocational Training Centre (at Seedri farm in Võru County)

The lecturer in this seminar was Erik Johansen who has promoted sales of food products from the island of Born-holm in Denmark and abroad; he has launched a number of networks and has long experience in consulting busi-nesses.

The seminar covered the principles of smooth operation of a network initiated for selling local food, product develop-ment, pricing and packaging, consum-ers´ expectations at local and export markets, and various aspects of market-ing and business ethics.

On 7-8.04.2011 the training seminar was repeated on the island of Saaremaa, at GO Spa Hotel in cooperation with Kures-saare Regional Training Centre.

25.04.2011 Heritage roats in the Kubija Hotel (trainer Siiri Toomik, mentor Eda Veeroja)

The training looked at opportunities for networking, cooperation and cross-marketing. The wide target group in-cluded entrepreneurs, service staff of companies in the accommodation, food and retail sectors, petrol stations, banks, post offices, providers of active leisure, tourist guides and people with an interest in such topics. 11.06.2011 Using seasonal weeds in Metsamoori Perepark (trainer Irje Karjus, mentor Luule Lipp)

The training aimed to show how to use seasonal plants in food; network-based cooperation and cross-marketing topics were also covered. The target group comprised tourism businesses with an interest in plants in the garden or in the forest, and using them in cooking under expert guidance of experienced chefs.

The course facilitates food tourism in the region.

12.06.2011 Garden salads and dress-

ings in Alt-Lauri farm (trainer Kaja Ke-sküla, mentor Silvi Pihlakas)

The training aimed to show how to use seasonal plants in food, and in addition, covered networking, cooperation and cross-marketing topics. The target group was tourism entrepreneurs with a keen interest in plants in the garden or in the forest, and using them in their menus, and practising new skills with help from experienced chefs.

The course facilitates and promotes food tourism in the region.

09.07.2011 Homemade fermented

drinks in Rogosi Manor (trainers Tiina Kuuler and Anneli Luisk, mentor Eda Veeroja)

The course presented methods for mak-ing local drinks (home-made wines) and gave ideas on how to use local drinks on menus. The target group was tourism entrepreneurs taking an interest in mak-ing artisan-fermented liquors and using such drinks on their menus. The course

facilitates and promotes food tourism in the region.

28.07.2011 Local food emotions in Mooska farm (trainer Eda Veeroja, men-tor Luule Lipp)

The seminar taught how to smoke meat in a traditional way and explained what is experiential food provision. The target audience were entrepreneurs who wanted to try their hand at smoking meat in a traditional smoke sauna.

26.08.2011 Heritage of dairies and

opportunities for product develop-

ment in Kiidi farm (trainers Aigar Piho and Marju Kõivupuu, mentor Eda Veeroja)

This training focused on presenting dif-ferent ways of making curd cheese (sõir in Estonian) and showing how to use this dish in everyday cooking and in festive menus.

10.09.2011 Seasonal mushrooms at Viitina Nature Education Centre (trainers Toivo Tuberik and Angelika Udeküll, mentor Eda Veeroja)

The aim of the training was to extend our knowledge about mushrooms in cooking and learn to know more varieties. An essential part of training was teaching how to distinguish between edible and poisonous mushrooms, with a specific focus on an excellent edible, Gypsy mushroom (Rozites caperata). Partici-pants could learn from each other and were also trained in network-based co-operation and cross-marketing skills.

01.10.2011 Cabbage in traditional

cooking at Alt-Lauri farm (trainer Kaja Kesküla, mentor Reet Urb)

The objective of this training day was to exchange experiences in the use of sea-sonal plants and particularly cabbage. Again, participants learned from each other, and developed their skills in net-working, cooperation and cross-marketing. Participants were from local tourism businesses with an interest in local plants and practising cooking under expert guidance with a view to using new ideas in their own menus.


What has been done so far

Kuressaare Regional Training Centre has arranged and run 6 workshops and seminars within the InFAcTo

project.

Häme Development Centre has arranged trainings in Finland within the InFAcTo project.

asked to bring their promotional materi-als and in group work these were ana-lysed and feedback was given.

11.10.2011 Mushroom workshop (trainer Lilian Maastik from Mardi farm)

Training topics included issues such as how to offer mushrooming as an attrac-tive activity and carry our creative food tourism activities with the mushrooms picked, how to involve guests and give them positive emotions.

8.01.2011 How do you turn Christmas dishes into food experience? (training provider Õile Aavik, teacher of food and catering)

The seminar looked at how to turn stan-dard Christmas food into an experience, participants practised the entire process from compiling a menu through to cook-ing and serving dishes; this approach should enhance their creativity along with planning skills.

18.02.2011 Presentation of produce at fairs and markets – the sales pitch (trainer Sirje Pree)

This seminar gave tips and tools to small producers on how to present their prod-ucts and how to best deliver a sales pitch.

28.03.2011 Package and packaging – environmentally friendly materials, trends, design, quality (trainer Piret

Pihel, head of SEES)

This was specifically targeted at small producers and taught how to use appro-priate, attractive and environmentally friendly packaging for both food and handicraft products. The questions dealt with covered: What are the features of a trendy, quality and design conscious package? Which shape and materials are suitable? How can advertising best attract attention and be appealing and persuasive? How can we use the Saare-maa brand?

9.05.2011 Image as a sales article – design of the image of products/ pro-duction/ company (trainer Merit Karise)

The seminar attracted small producers and owners of tourist farms interested in using appropriate advertising channels and means. Issues discussed included – how and where present your company, who to and when, Participants were

All the courses and workshops have a focus on entrepreneurs´ needs in order to enable them expand their businesses internationally.

Häme Development Centre has organ-ised training for Häme region entrepre-neurs in co-operation with other Finnish partners based on training needs analy-ses done in the start-up phase of the project.

From these analyses it was clear that the focus of training should be on net-working, product development and mar-keting. Also, the importance of language skills was brought up.

Based on this a preliminary training schedule was composed and it is evolv-ing throughout the project duration, thus meeting the needs of the entrepreneurs even better.

Several courses have already been organised. Some are one-off and some of them are series of courses, handling one bigger subject in smaller stages.

An English language course has been going on since autumn 2010 and it will continue until the end of the project. It is designed to give entrepreneurs skills and courage to interact with international clients and encourage them to use their existing language skills.

Cultural studies is one of the ongoing courses at the moment. HAMK provides expert lecturers speaking on different cultures and how understanding of these should be dealt with in product develop-ment, marketing and customer service.

Another major topic coming up soon will be networking and actual product development.

Mentored workshops are being planned in order to give entrepreneurs hands-on information and experience.

was organized and the group heard about how these wines were made and got a chance to but some with to take home too. The group also vis-ited in Lepaa manor, which is a con-ference and banquet venue. The day continued to the last place of the day, Iloranta in Hauho, where the group stayed the night too. Ilor-anta has been working over 70 years already as a full service rural accom-modation venue. All the food is pre-pared on site from local ingredients. Leena and Mikko, the owners of Ilor-anta told the group they are expand-ing their main building creating a new hotel standard wing in summer 2011, which will also introduce meet-ing and activity facilities. The group got to participate in some games played in the yard where the team working skills where tested. In the evening a sauna by the lake was offered for relaxing.

Estonian entrepreneurs came to visit Häme region and its entrepreneurs in order to create networking be-tween the two countries. Few days were spent visiting many different places and people. The trip started out from Tervaniemi

in Tervakoski, where during welcom-ing coffee the Estonians heard the story of the manor history.They offer cottages and hotel rooms for indi-viduals and also for groups. They facilitate a high standard meeting services as well. The operation as a restaurant started in December 1989. Next stop was a rural accommoda-

tion place Villa Göös in Klemola. Entrepreneur Elisa Göös built the place a clear vision of peace and nature in mind. A special feature of this place is its own chapel. The trip continued to Kiipula, where

the group enjoyed a dinner and a networking evening with Finnish en-trepreneurs and partners. Estonian visitors had brought some tastings which they all shared during the eve-ning while getting to know each oth-ers. After the first night, in the morning the group got to see the green houses of Kiipula, where there was a wide selection of vegetables and flowers. Products from the green houses are sold in the shop – Miinan tori on site. The day continued with a visit to

Renko and Laulajainen Wild boar farm. Owners Anne and Rami gave a tour of the farm and explained the life with wild boars in a peaceful rural surroundings. The visitor could also buy some products to take home. Another visit in Renko was to Hei-

mon Kala – a fish producer. Sales manager Juha Alanen gave a pres-entation on their company and prod-ucts. Heimon Kala Oy is a well-known and respected fishing com-pany whose products have for more than thirty years been parts of every-day and festive dishes on Finnish dining tables. Heimon Kala has grown into one of the most signifi-

cant Finnish companies in the indus-try. Nowadays it is part of As Premia Foods that also operates in Sweden and the Baltic region. Next stop was Iittala, where around

the glass factory a versatile visitor center has been created. First the group enjoyed a lunch and after that it was time for a presentation at Kul-tasuklaa- a chocolate producer fac-tory. Tapani Korpi, the owner of Kul-tasuklaa company gave an intresting presentation about their idea and products. The group could see the actual chocolate making from a glass window in the shop to the fac-tory. Kultasuklaa uses only the best ingre-dients, and always choose the do-mestic alternative when there is a chance. For example fresh berries and milk products come to the fac-tory only a short distance away. With courage and creativity we are striv-ing to show that Finnish handicraft is able to compete globally.

The group could visit a couple handicraft shops and ceramics de-signer Markku Mäki from ceramic shop Anubis introduced his just fin-ished at that moment drying world’s largest cockoo whistle made out of clay. And just before leaving they heard a short presentation from Hu-naja-Aitta – a honey producer about their company. Laura Nieminen told that the company is based on bee keeping from 1952 and from 1986 they have done a lot of product de-velopment. They have pioneered in honey reproducing in Finland. Major-ity of the production is done in their own bee farms in Häme. The farm consists of nearly 250 hives, where almost 20 millions bees live. Honey production is done as handicraft in small amounts, so that the quality of the products can be quaranteed.

Then the group visited Lepaa’s Wine and Garden estate, which is a training and study institute in wine-making and producer of berry and fruit based wines and also serves as a tourism and golfcenter. A wine tasting of the estate’s local products

Estonians FAM-trip to Finland, to Häme


Thursday morning started with a presentation of spelt products. These products were served already during breakfast. SunSpelt entrepre-neur Kari Kaipainen introduced his company, which was established in 2002 for growing spelt and other original grainplants and introducing these to the public in Finland. Then the trip continued to Vihavuori

and Koskikahvila, which is located in an old windmill by a rapid in an beautiful scenery. After some coffee and sweets the owner of Voila Ky Mona Iso-Mustajärvi introduced her business which consist of collecting and producing berries and herbs into jams and jellies. They also produce some mushroom and fish products. They do also catering and different fishing and nature trips to groups. The group could participate in na-

ture activities in Evo, where guides Juha Riisiö and Lauri Värri lead the participants to beaver dens and dams. After a stroll in the wild an outdoor lunch was served and all who wanted could try out some other activities such as archery, axe throw-ing and kickbiking. From Evo the trip continued to Tuu-

losrievä, where entrepreneur Tarja Timonen introduced her business with the help of her worker from Es-tonia. The group learned in Estonian about the bread making. The bread is baked with their own recipe and no additives are used. Everything is baked in real wood heated baking ovens. The bakery is always 24hours open. Then the group visited Aulanko.

Operations manager Marjo Salo from Hämeenlinna-Aulanko Matkailu ry explained about their network and activities. After this Aulanko Loma-kylä entrepreneur Tuija Tunturi ex-plained about the renovations in the camping area and their new project, the future plans for Aulanko manor. After these presentations the group was lead by Tavastia students to a city tour in Hämeenlinna. After the city tour the group was

settled to hotel Emilia, a family-run

hotel in city center. The whole trip was ended in a real banquets dinner at Raatihuone where Maunviljelijät Oy presented a beautiful dinner for Finnish and Estonian entrepreneurs and partners. Food designer Pirjo Päivärinta had created a stunning setting with delicious food. All ingre-dients where carefully selected and Pirjo explained before dinner where everything had come from. On Friday the group returned to Hel-sinki and before trip back home they visited Kauppatori.




Text: Marve Koppel, Taavi Tuisk, Karen Allas from Kures-saare Regional Training Cen-tre Two days in Saaremaa and Muhu were filled with unique sites and quality products. Häme entrepreneurs had a first

experience of the developing Food Trail in Saaremaa. Tuesday morning began with a visit

to a local tourism gem, the small luxury hotel Pädaste Manor on Muhu island, where the start of the low season gave Ene Bauvald, the Guest Relations Manager, a good opportunity to show the Finnish group around and explain how the hotel had developed. The owners started with the restoration of the old auxiliary buildings and three years ago refurbished the main building where, in addition to hotel rooms and cozy corners for relaxing, the restau-rant Alexander is situated. The Alex-ander holds the title of the best Esto-nian restaurant for 2011. The trip continued with visits to lo-

cal handicraft shops and the historic village of Koguva. The building site of a historic ship at Koguva, called Uisk, was of special interest to the organisers of the Häme Medieval Market. From Muhu the route continued to

the other side of the Väike Väin strait which connects Muhu and Saare-maa. Maria Kaljuste, the enthusiastic owner of a handicraft shop in Ori-saare, introduced her business and activities there. Lunch in Orisaare was at Cafe Soneburg. It was per-haps a bit fancier than expected, but showed how good results can be achieved using local ingredients. The next stop took the group to the

north-western corner of Saaremaa, where unique local products were mixed with international flair. Birgit and Andreas from Dortmund, Ger-many, explained how they found Saaremaa and started their popular handmade mustard business here. A

selection of various mustards were offered for tasting and sale. Carita from Häme was the lucky one who was chosen for the task of preparing the mustard herself and she was able to take the mustard home. The group then went to Uustalu

farm where Raivo and Tiiu Kauber offered sheep’s milk from their own milk breed sheep. They have the only milk breed herd of sheep in Es-tonia and Tiiu is experimenting with different cheeses from the milk. She also has found her niche in natural dying of yarn with plants and mush-rooms. Her workshops have at-tracted like-minded people from far and near. The day ended with dinner at Kooli-

Kopli tourist farm. The farm has a Finnish owner who organises horse-back treks in addition to offering deli-cious dinners and cozy accommoda-tion.

Finnish FAM-trip to Estonia, to Saaremaa



Wednesday morning began with visiting Karala village, where the vil-lage elder Kaja Juulik gave an over-view of the history of the village. She prepared a tasting session of her own homemade jams and then took the group to see Mardi tourist farm, which received the Presidential award in 2010 for being one of the most attractive country homes in Estonia. The next stop was Lümanda Coun-

try Restaurant, where the owner and manager, Juta Pae spoke about tra-ditional Saaremaa dishes and also gave a tour of the Russian Orthodox church situated next door. The group then proceeded to drive

to the seaside village of Nasva and have lunch at the home style restau-rant owned and operated by the Käesel family. The restaurant spe-cialises in smoked fish, smoked on the premises, accompanied by lo-cally grown vegetables and home brewed beer. Nasva is well known as a fishing village and the family has been offering traditional dishes prepared from fish for over 20 years. The food and beverage was very tasty and wholesome. After lunch, the group went for a walk along the sandy shores of Mändjala beach and then drove to Kuressaare, the capital of Saare-maa, passing the various spa hotels that line the harbourfront along the way and the famous medieval castle. In Kuresaare, the group visited the organic shop and café Saarte Sah-ver, followed by the Kuressaare Mar-ketplace and marketplace building where there is a butcher’s shop sell-ing local meats, a baker´s shop and a sheep and wool resource centre. The next stop was the Good Kaarma farm, where visitors can participate in soap making workshops. The owners in all the enterprises were all very forthcoming in describing their everyday activities and offering the opportunity to sample and purchase various local food products as well as souvenirs. The day ended at Kiratsi Farm

Shop, where the Finnish entrepre-

neurs were given an overview of a village community center, community kitchen and farm shop, which all op-erate under the same roof. The kitchen staff served a very delicious dinner of onion and ham pie followed by zucchini and nut loaf. The tour ended in the evening back

in Kuressaare at the Grand Rose Hotel, known for its friendly customer service. Here it was possible to relax in the spa after an active day in the countryside. The first Food Trail was eventful

and included a wide variety of tourist sites in Saaremaa. We can surmise that we have a new product to offer, and if there is demand on the part of the Finnish group, then we will con-tinue to develop the Trail.




Carmichael Farm has both a Visitor Cen-tre and Farm Shop. The Visitor Centre features the former Edinburgh Wax Model Collection depicting Scotland’s millennium from Queen Margaret and Macbeth through to the present day. The farm shop sells not only their locally grown meat (wild deer, cattle, sheep, pigs) but fresh seasonal produce and other regional processed food too. They are passionate about food and the Farm Shop is an expression of this, the local nature of their food provided traceability, accountability and guaranteed quality. The farm and shop were a good exam-ple of developing local food. Whitmuir Organics Ltd This small organic farm had invested heavily in a shop and café for selling locally produced organic food products to both tourists and the nearby city (Edinburgh) consumer marketplace. Sig-nificant funding support had been re-ceived from Leader Programme funds. Glentress Forest: mountain biking centre Glentress Forest describes itself as a mountain biking Mecca deep in the heart of the stunning Tweed Valley. The biking experience there includes Green, Blue, Red or Black graded trails, as well as a magnificent multi-graded free-ride area. It also forms part of a network of moun-tain biking sites which is growing across the UK. A major new visitor centre, mountain bike service centre and café has also be constructed using sustain-able building materials. The site caters for mountain bikers from the nearby city of Edinburgh but also many other come from further afield and accommodation has been developed on neighbouring farms.

Text: Roger Evans from RG Evans Associates The aim of the visit was to look at how the wide range of food and activity tour-ism entrepreneurship sectors has devel-oped in Scotland and especially those products and services aimed at interna-tional markets. Rather than focussing on production systems for products in tradi-tional food and handicrafts the visits looked at product and service quality, their range and diversity and how these food and activity tourism entrepreneurs network and linked together to create joint product and service packages be-tween food and activity for sales, market-ing and promotional purposes. The visit studied how these networks were initiated and how they are now supported especially in terms of the roles of individual entrepreneurs, larger tour-ism firms, public economic development agencies, marketing groups and partner-ships and how local and EU funds were used to support marketing, promotion and activities of the networks. Benchmarking of these food and activity tourism products and services in relation to similar sectors in southern Finland and Estonia was an important part of the visits and focussed on the ways in which entrepreneurs supported each other to target foreign visitors through common approaches to high standards of quality and service provision Partners learned a lot from the wide ranging work done in the fields of: food networking, partnership & technology; activity tourism & marketing encompass-ing topics such as menus, customer ex-pectation & quality assurance, active formal & informal tourism. Wilderness Scotland Wilderness Scotland is an award-winning adventure travel and ecotourism company specialising in small group walking holidays and adventure holidays in the Highlands and Islands of Scotland. This visit showed how a small company could distinguish itself; create a market niche and high levels of customer satis-faction through developing and trusting the competence of staff. The company put a high emphasis on service quality control, customer feedback and acting upon that feedback including implement-ing a programme of change in response to customer opinions. Eat Scotland EatScotland is a quality assurance “where to eat” scheme from VisitScot-

land and a website promoting all positive aspects of food and drink in Scotland. Glentrek/Highway 2 adventure Glentrek & Highway 2 adventure are experienced Scottish outdoor activities companies, based in the beautiful region of Angus, Scotland, offering fun and ex-citing outdoor adventure walking, cycling or active holidays. Scarletts Bees Scarletts (Scotland) was established in 1999 as a commercial beekeeping busi-ness. Their products are favourites of customers of farmers markets, farm shops, delicatessens and Multinationals. The popularity of their products and pro-fessionalism of their staff has enabled Scarletts to grow steadily into one of the largest beekeeping companies in the UK. Visit East Perthshire: Love to Eat Love to eat is a project aimed at creating a celebration of food in Blairgowrie and East Perthshire. The project is run by two extremely enthusiastic women based in the town of Blairgowrie who are striving to towards greater use of local produce and on a wider scale whilst im-proving the quality and range of local menus. DunCarron Medieval Fort DunCarron Medieval Fort is a full-scale replica of an early Medieval Motte & Bai-ley Fort and is being constructed by the Clanranald Trust. The fort will be typical of the Scottish Clan Chief’s residence from the earlier part of the last millen-nium. New Lanark World Heritage Site This is a beautifully restored 18th cen-tury cotton mill village in Southern Scot-land, the village became famous as a model industrial community under the enlightened management of Robert Owen, from 1800-1825. Carmichael Visitor Centre and Farm Shop


Estonians and Finnish par tners FAM-trip to Scotland

Estonians and Finnish partners FAM-trip to Scotland

Text: Kirsi Meriläinen, Project Researcher, HAMK University of Applied Sciences

The food and activity tourism busi-nesses in the Häme region of Finland and in the south east of Es-tonia and Saaremaa island in Esto-nia aim at discovering new interna-tional markets for their tourism prod-ucts and services. Also increasing an understanding of the customers is an intention, which is pursued for advancing new collaborative product and service development.

In order to support these aims, the InFAcTo-project ordered a marketing research from SAC Consulting and Napier University in Scotland. The marketing research activities are conducted in close cooperation with the regional project partners: HAMK University of Applied Science in the Häme region of Finland, and Esto-nian University of Life Sciences.

The marketing research focuses on the analysis of supply and demand of food and activity tourism services. In the first phase, an entrepreneur survey on the existing products and services, as well as on the future developmental plans was conducted. David Lamb, Consultant, and Kathy Velander, Researcher, summarize the initial results as follows:

There were businesses in all

of the locations providing

examples of innovation in

practice, good food and

drink, and high quality prod-

ucts and service. Yet, the

businesses did not always

understand the expectations

of visitors.

Also the intermediaries were inter-viewed for finding out the expecta-tions of the prospective international customers, in particular. The initial results indicate that the intermediar-ies were willing to consider pack-ages for visitors, but often found these difficult to put together, as they would have to contact each individ-ual business. Moreover, it was pointed out that many of the services offered are not matched to the cus-tomers’ requirements.

In the next stage, the marketing re-search will delve deeper into con-sumer expectations and demand for food and activity products and ser-vice through a consumer research.


Photo: Lea Mustonen, Head of Communications, HAMK University of Applied Sciences

David Lamb, Consultant from SAC, (the second on the right) visited in the Häme region and in HAMK University of Applied Sciences in August 2011. The other persons in the picture are (from right to left) Ulla Bard, Director of Educa-tion and Research Centre for Business Administration; Merja Helin, Head of Development; and Kirsi Meriläinen, Project Researcher.

Marketing research activities in InFAcTo-project

InFAcTo project par tners meetings

EDITOR: Estonian Ruraltourism Organization

Vilmsi 53G

10147 Tallinn

Estonia

Phone: 555-555-5555

Fax: 555-555-5555

E-mail: [email protected]

I nFAcTo p ro j ec t

We’re on the web!

Www.infactoproject.eu

30.-31.08.2010 in Hämeenlinna (Finland)

• Time plan and milestones vs actions, tenders and practical information,

• reporting

• Communication plan

• Website

2.-3.02.2011 in Tallinn (Estonia)

• Workshops

19.04.2011 in Tallinn (Estonia)

• Reporting

• Tendering for training

• Cross border seminar / workshop

23.-24.08.2011 in Tallinn (Estonia)

• Fam-trips

• Marketing research

• Workgroups

Metropol Hotell Tallinn

Domina Inn Ilmarine

Park Inn Central Hotel Tallinn

E newsletter no1 1

Documents

Transcript of E newsletter no1 1