Developing cooperative sales guidelines for regional business tourism operators : City of Imatra

Abstract

This thesis research aims to answer the need for improving the business tourism sales in the Imatra region trough cooperative regional sales guidelines. The region has a huge untapped potential for big events and meetings in the form on large number of accommodation options, venues, and services. At the same time, there is no organizes cooperation among the local operators to facilitate this potential. Theoretical understanding about business tourism, sales processes, b2b-cooperation, and public/private sector cooperation was used to understand what can be achieved through cooperation. Interviews of the local operators gave a situational view of the status of cooperation in the area and helped to understand what the needs and motivations are for cooperation among them. Practical understanding combined with the theory helps to create guidelines that are both based in researched facts and practical needs. As the business field of MICE is ever evolving, this research is meant to continue after this thesis, as a self-evolving development project. Overall, this thesis development project contributes to the field of sales development, specifically in business tourism sales and provides insight for how to develop regional cooperation between public and private sector.