Fishing Tourism and Its International Marketing in Finland
Karttunen, Ida (2022)
2022
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Julkaisun pysyvä osoite on
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-202201201470
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-202201201470
Tiivistelmä
In addition to considering fishing as an important part of Finland’s traditional economy structure, fishing activities are strongly connected to tourism and experience economy. In 2017-2018, Finnish fishing tourism generated the annual turnover of around 21 millions and it employed 935 people.
Finland’s fishing tourism has not been developing as fast as other Nordic countries even though Finland has equally unique fishing conditions and its second name is The Land of Thousand Lakes. The development of Finnish fishing tourism is a very current topic nowadays. Thus, The Finnish Government has budgeted 300,000€ for the development of fishing tourism in 2022. Development actions need to be taken in a country level as well as in a company level.
This thesis answers the question of how Finnish fishing tourism entrepreneurs see the current situation of international marketing. The thesis begins with a theoretical framework in which the key concepts and background and supporting information are being studied and explained. The research itself is conducted using qualitative research methods. The research consists of eight interviews from Finnish fishing tourism industry from all over Finland. The interviews are carried out with a semi-structured method. The interviews were recorded and transcribed. Finally, the results are divided by the matter of subject.
The research shows the huge potential the international customers have for the fishing tourism industry. The fishing tourism entrepreneurs agree that the share of international fishing tourists will increase but some dynamic marketing actions in a tight cooperation between stakeholders need to be made so that the fishing tourists find the service providers and choose Finland over other Nordic countries. The thesis reveals the entrepreneurs’ positive and welcoming attitudes and interest towards international fishing tourists. The entrepreneurs were asked about their current international marketing situation and how interested they would be in developing international marketing.
Instead of focusing on only marketing actions this thesis shows the main customer groups and present differences between Finnish and international fishing tourists since knowing the target customer group is the beginning of successful marketing process. The interviews revealed significant differences between foreign and domestic fishing customers. The foreign fishing tourists see fishing as more comprehensive nature experience whereas Finnish fishing tourists use fishing tourism services more to fulfill their specific need, for example, catching a record fish or trying a new fishing method.
Finland’s fishing tourism has not been developing as fast as other Nordic countries even though Finland has equally unique fishing conditions and its second name is The Land of Thousand Lakes. The development of Finnish fishing tourism is a very current topic nowadays. Thus, The Finnish Government has budgeted 300,000€ for the development of fishing tourism in 2022. Development actions need to be taken in a country level as well as in a company level.
This thesis answers the question of how Finnish fishing tourism entrepreneurs see the current situation of international marketing. The thesis begins with a theoretical framework in which the key concepts and background and supporting information are being studied and explained. The research itself is conducted using qualitative research methods. The research consists of eight interviews from Finnish fishing tourism industry from all over Finland. The interviews are carried out with a semi-structured method. The interviews were recorded and transcribed. Finally, the results are divided by the matter of subject.
The research shows the huge potential the international customers have for the fishing tourism industry. The fishing tourism entrepreneurs agree that the share of international fishing tourists will increase but some dynamic marketing actions in a tight cooperation between stakeholders need to be made so that the fishing tourists find the service providers and choose Finland over other Nordic countries. The thesis reveals the entrepreneurs’ positive and welcoming attitudes and interest towards international fishing tourists. The entrepreneurs were asked about their current international marketing situation and how interested they would be in developing international marketing.
Instead of focusing on only marketing actions this thesis shows the main customer groups and present differences between Finnish and international fishing tourists since knowing the target customer group is the beginning of successful marketing process. The interviews revealed significant differences between foreign and domestic fishing customers. The foreign fishing tourists see fishing as more comprehensive nature experience whereas Finnish fishing tourists use fishing tourism services more to fulfill their specific need, for example, catching a record fish or trying a new fishing method.