Organized and functioning communication channel to develop tourism in Jyväskylä region in co-operation with the locals

Abstract

Local communities are in key part when it comes to destination development as the locals of a place are the ones getting to experience all tourism impacts first-hand. They are the ones noticing if a place is too crowded or tourists are impacting negatively to something and can have solutions to fix the matter before it gets out of hand. When wanting to develop a destination, involving the locals to the development process has proved to be beneficial. The purpose of the research was to create a communication channel that would allow the residents of Jyväskylä region to communicate their feedback and possible concerns to Visit Jyväskylä Region that would result to the end goal of developing the region in co-operation with the locals. For Visit Jyväskylä Region-organization to create the communication channel was a part of mandatory measurements that are required as the region is a part of Sustainable Travel Finland-program that was created by Visit Finland. The end goal of the program is for the region to gain Sustainable Travel Finland-label and get provided with a business model for continuous sustainable development.

The used research methods were an online survey as well as a semi-structured interview. The research results clearly pointed out that the best communication tool was a survey and the best channel where to share it was social media, meaning Instagram and Facebook in this context, as well as the company’s website. The channel is proposed to be shared twice a year in the organizations social media and be constantly open in their website to make sure that the audience’s demands on wanting to give feedback as often as possible are met. The research results gave valuable information of the local wishes for the communication channel and helped to achieve the end goal and to create the communication channel.