Ilomantsi as a destination for German-speaking tourists
Lampert, Annika (2021)
2021
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Julkaisun pysyvä osoite on
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-2021120122940
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-2021120122940
Tiivistelmä
Germany is the second largest tourism market for Finland, which makes it an attractive market for Ilomantsi. Further, Switzerland has been a steady growth market and Austrian interest in Finland increased as well. These German-speaking countries share many similarities, which allows marketing a bigger and broader group of people.
This thesis looked at Ilomantsi as a tourism destination and studied in this context the motivations, values, and main factors for the destination choice of German-speaking tourists. The aim was to give ideas for improving Ilomantsi’s existing products and services and a starting point for a marketing strategy towards the German-speaking market. The theoretical framework introduced target marketing, consumer behavior in tourism and an overview about the German-speaking tourism market.
The empirical part used a qualitative research method and was carried out in the form of semi-structured theme interviews. Therefore, five German-speaking repeat visitors and cottage owners of Ilomantsi were interviewed and the collected data was analyzed through data-driven content analysis. As a result nature, location, infrastructure, communication and offering emerged as five common themes from the analyzing process.
The researched group of tourists desired activities, services and products that involve nature, learning about the culture and contact with locals. Further, the main reasons for the destination choice were getting away from everyday life and relaxing in nature, the available activities and learning something new. Nature, wilderness and little civilization showed to be the motivations and pull factors for German-speaking tourists who travel to Ilomantsi. The results suggested that niche marketing is vital to make marketing efforts more effective and efficient and further, to make the destination more attractive.
This thesis looked at Ilomantsi as a tourism destination and studied in this context the motivations, values, and main factors for the destination choice of German-speaking tourists. The aim was to give ideas for improving Ilomantsi’s existing products and services and a starting point for a marketing strategy towards the German-speaking market. The theoretical framework introduced target marketing, consumer behavior in tourism and an overview about the German-speaking tourism market.
The empirical part used a qualitative research method and was carried out in the form of semi-structured theme interviews. Therefore, five German-speaking repeat visitors and cottage owners of Ilomantsi were interviewed and the collected data was analyzed through data-driven content analysis. As a result nature, location, infrastructure, communication and offering emerged as five common themes from the analyzing process.
The researched group of tourists desired activities, services and products that involve nature, learning about the culture and contact with locals. Further, the main reasons for the destination choice were getting away from everyday life and relaxing in nature, the available activities and learning something new. Nature, wilderness and little civilization showed to be the motivations and pull factors for German-speaking tourists who travel to Ilomantsi. The results suggested that niche marketing is vital to make marketing efforts more effective and efficient and further, to make the destination more attractive.