Archipelago Access

Programme 2014 - 2020 INTERREG V-A Finland - Estonia - Latvia - Sweden (Central Baltic)

Date of latest update: 2023-11-11

Description

Description (EN):

The overall objective of Access Archipelago (AA) is to strengthen sustainable nature and culture based archipelago tourism. This tourism is still characterized by a large number of SMEs, numerous public actors, uncoordinated promotion and scattered information. In this project, Turku and Stockholm regions, the archipelagos travel hubs, join their forces and invite Åland Islands along to increase the attractiveness of the archipelago comprehensively. AA creates and launches a joint digital solution to offer easy access to travel information and provide a platform for user-generated content and interaction. It is linked to two interactive exhibitions - Utö Outdoor Exhibition in SWE and Turku Archipelago Showroom in FIN - that makes the archipelago, its destinations and services visible and attractive in a new, experiential way. These outputs benefit domestic and international tourists as well as local residents who do not have personal connections to the archipelago. Improved visibility and attractiveness, easier access to information and experiential promotion increase the number of visitors to the archipelago as well as prolonging the season resulting in economic benefits for the regions. This project is necessary to reach beyond the ordinary activities of the partners to create cross-border synergies benefiting the public and numerous SMEs. AA unites a digital solution with physical exhibitions and actual destinations in a new, innovative way. It engages tourism operators in content production, encourages visitors to share their experiences and provide peer support. AA represent a kick-off phase for long-term development of archipelago tourism by the project partners. The projects success and durability are facilitated by contributions from major tourism actors that are involved as associated partners. AAs promotion model and tools can later be transferred and applied to a number of other travel contexts.

Achievements (EN):

Archipelago Access made the archipelago and islands area more accessible: The project created a web service and two exhibitions to act as entry points to archipelago tourism. The concept behind this is to strengthen the archipelago regions as a joint tourism attraction by jointly promoting, increasing awareness, and providing easier access to information. The exhibitions will act as a gateway for visitors to gain necessary information for their travels around the Central Baltic Programme areas in Finland and Sweden. The web portal, Explore Archipelago, gives visitors easier access and a unified view into tourist information as it expands the physical exhibitions by gathering the information on services and destinations under one address. At the same time, it provides a digital bridge over the Baltic Sea. The digital system is expandable and robust, and it sees no borders. The project partners are committed to developing the service further, and in the future, it can embrace a wider area still.

Website: http://centralbaltic.eu/

Expected Results (EN): R2.1. More sustainable joint natural and cultural heritage based tourist attractions

Expected Outputs (EN):

AA project's main results are improved image and attractiveness of the archipelago, that together result in a greater number of visitors. AA promotes travelling to the archipelago by joining forces in promotion, providing easier access to exciting information and increasing the number of visitors to destinations located in the archipelago. AA makes potential visitors, both local people and tourists, aware of what the archipelago has to offer and provides access to these experiences. The project establishes two new tourist attractions - the exhibitions in Turku and Utö. It is estimated that the Turku exhibition attracts 70 000 visitors a year and the one in Utö 50 000. Thus, 120 000 visitors a year will experience the exhibitions and their environmental awareness will be raised. In addition to informing and entertaining visitors, the exhibitions have a catalyst function: to inspire, motivate and encourage people to actually visit the archipelago. The digital solution, AA's other main result, is designed to complement the exhibitions and provide the next step in customers' journey to the archipelago. It offers easily accessible information tailor-made to the needs of visitors. It is a continuation of the exhibitions and vice-versa, the exhibitions display content from the digital system. This offers an exciting fusion of physical exhibition materials with constantly changing user-generated digital content. The digital solution and exhibitions are a step towards uniting the archipelago in the minds of visitors. No new destinations will be built in the AA project. Instead, the project activities facilitate visiting existing ones more frequently. This increases the number of visitors and contributes to economic sustainability of local tourism businesses. On the immaterial side, raised environmental awareness and appreciation of the archipelago contribute to improvements in visitor behaviour and ecological sustainability.

Thematic information

Cultural heritage and arts Tourism

Specific Objective: Natural and cultural resources developed into sustainable tourist attractions

Thematic Objective: (06) preserving and protecting the environment and promoting resource efficiency by:

Investment Priority: (06c) Conserving, protecting, promoting and developing natural and cultural heritage

Partners (2)

Lead Partner: Turun kaupunki

Department: Kaupunkikehitysryhmä (City Development Group)

Address: Yliopistonkatu 27 a, 20100 TURKU, Finland

Legal status: public

Website: https://www.turku.fi

Total budget: EUR 867 358.24

ERDF budget: EUR 650 518.68

Skärgårdsstiftelsen i Stockholms län

Name: Skärgårdsstiftelsen i Stockholms län

Address: Box 7669 -, 10394 Stockholm, Sweden

Legal status: public

Website: http://www.skargardsstiftelsen.se

Total budget: EUR 593 947.95

ERDF budget: EUR 445 460.96

Partners map

Lead partner

Project partner

Summary

Project name (EN): Archipelago Access

Project acronym: Archipelago Access

Project start date: 2019-04-01

Project end date: 2021-06-30

Project status: closed

Total budget/expenditure: EUR 1 461 306.19

Total EU funding (amount): EUR 1 095 979.64

Co-financing sources:

ERDF: Amount, EUR 1 095 979.64.

Information regarding the data in keep.eu on the programme financing this project

Financing programme

2014 - 2020 INTERREG V-A Finland - Estonia - Latvia - Sweden (Central Baltic)

Last month that data in keep.eu was retrieved from the Programme's website or received from the Programme

2023-11-11

No. of projects in keep.eu / Total no. of projects (% of projects in keep.eu)

137 / 137 (100%)

No. of project partnerships in keep.eu / Total no. of project partnerships (% of project partnerships in keep.eu)

663 / 663 (100%)

Notes on the data

Information provided by the Programme. Achievements were retrieved by Interact from the Programme website (http://centralbaltic.eu/), or a website directly linked from it, on 2021-11-08, 2023-01-12 and 2024-03-08.

The financial data featured in keep.eu for this programme, it's projects and its partners is not exact and should be taken as a reference only.

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