CHALLENGE
As the world changes, the tourism sector must also adapt to new conditions. This leads to the emergence of new customer groups and new types of service offerings. Visit Finland wanted to increase its understanding of how innovative Finnish tourism companies have succeeded in responding to changes and evolving customer needs. What thoughts do tourism companies have on current trends in tourism and new customer groups, and where do companies find ideas for their new products?
SOLUTION
Sailer designed a qualitative research study for Visit Finland, involving semi-structured remote video interviews with tourism industry stakeholders from across Finland. The goal was to include a diverse group of interviewees from companies offering accommodation, dining, or experience services. A common denominator among all interviewed companies was that they had created something new, identified new target groups and trends, and succeeded in productizing their services.
The collected interview material was analyzed, and the research findings were reported in writing. The themes that emerged from the study, along with the entrepreneurs’ ideas and thoughts, were shared. Thus, after the first round of interviews, the interviews with representatives from four companies were filmed at their business locations for documentary videos. These video case examples aimed to inspire and encourage other companies in the tourism industry to innovate boldly in business and product development.
RESULTS
The interview study unveiled a captivating spectrum of perspectives from key players in the tourism industry, each sharing their innovative approaches to crafting new services for a broad range of customer groups. From these conversations, several vital themes emerged: the rich variety inherent in the innovation process of product ideas, the critical role of collaboration between companies, the paramount importance of responsibility within tourism operations, and the strategic diversification of risk by engaging diverse customer segments to navigate the shifting global landscape effectively.
WHAT HAPPENED AFTER THE STUDY?
Sailer showcased the research outcomes at Visit Finland’s Matkailun pulssi webinar, a session that provided a comprehensive review of the recent summer season, dissecting its successes and key phenomena through a lens of new insights. The accompanying videos enable Visit Finland to effortlessly and vividly disseminate genuine narratives of product development and innovation, sharing these inspiring tales with a wider audience across its various platforms.
