More effective utilization of the nature exercise potential of Taipalsaari in municipality marketing

Abstract

More effective utilization of nature exercise potential of Taipalsaari in municipality marketing The work was conducted in collaboration with the municipality of Taipalsaari, locating in South Care-lia, Finland. Taipalsaari is located in the Saimaa archipelago offering great possibilities for nature exer-cise. At the time this project started in 2022, the municipality had outdated communication strategy. Nature exercise and its utilization into municipality marketing was also raised as a challenge. The task was set to find 1-3 top nature exercise activities for marketing use and by using a framework, tell how nature exercise would be best utilized in municipality marketing. The study was agreed to be executed by interviewing municipality administration and organizations and enterprises related to. Interviews were done via Zoom -videocalls that were locally stored on a hard drive and transcripted. Thematic analysis was selected as a research method due to its characteristics that suited this case. Themes, including top activities, Saimaa, lack of resources, challenges and development ideas with infrastructure. Themes were reflected on the literature review, and those reflections became results. Top activities were according to the interviews cycling, trail running and xc-skiing. Saimaa was seen as the core asset on the municipality. Challenges were seen in landownership issues and as lack of re-sources. Infrastructure was seen in need for development, especially marked outdoor trails would be beneficial for promotion of the area. Framework was produced by Kotler’s Place Marketing Framework design. Research was able to met its goals by answering the research questions and providing the framework for strategic guidance.