3/2021 Evaluation of Visit Finland
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REPORT 3/20211 EVALUATION OF VISIT FINLAND Evaluation Report Mikko Wennberg and Olli Oosi 2 The authors: Mikko Wennberg and Olli Oosi ISBN 978-952-457-662-8 ISSN 1797-7347 BUSINESS FINLAND We believe in the power of ideas. That’s why we fund and help Finnish companies grow quicker and develop their innovations to become global success stories. Copyright Business Finland 2021. All rights reserved. This publication contains copyrighted material of Business Finland or third parties. Material may not be used for commercial purposes. This publication represents the views of the authors and not the official view of Business Finland. Business Finland is not liable for any damages caused by the use of this material. Source must be mentioned when quoting this publication. 3 CONTENTS Foreword .......................................................................................4 4 Recovery from the Pandemic .............................................35 1 Introduction ...........................................................................5 5 Conclusion ............................................................................37 2 Organization and Governance ..............................................8 Annex 1. Visit Finland in Comparison.......................................42 2.1 Economic Significance of Tourism for Finland ...............9 Annex 2. Surveys ........................................................................55 2.2 Tourism Governance and the Role of Visit Finland ...... 10 2.3 Resources and funding ..................................................14 3 Efficiency and Effectiveness ..............................................15 3.1 Goals and Forms of Activities .......................................16 3.2 Promotion of Finland as a tourist destination .............17 3.3 Impact of Visit Finland’s services to businesses .........21 4 3. Impact of Visit Finland’s services to regional organizations ................................................................ 28 3.5 Impact of Programs.......................................................32 4 FOREWORD Visit Finland works for an international image of Finland tiveness of Visit Finland’s operations and services. The as a desirable travel destination and supports companies evaluation examined how Visit Finland has succeeded in and groups of companies to develop and market their creating an attractive travel destination in Finland, sup- tourism services for the international market. The mis- porting Finnish tourism companies in the international sion is to help all tourism companies and regions that market and developing the tourism ecosystem in Finland. are able and willing to develop to grow their international With regard to activities carried out in as programmes, business throughout Finland. Visit Finland’s goal is that the evaluation is intended to provide information on the Finland is the most attractive tourist destination in the added value of programmes, as well as on the results and Nordic countries by 2025. impact of these activities. Visit Finland, as part of Business Finland, offers as- Evaluation show that tourism companies find Visit sistance in the internationalization of tourism com- Finland’s operations useful. Almost all companies felt panies. The advisory services provide company and that Visit Finland’s operations benefit the entire tourism organization-specific sparring in the early stages of in- industry. Visit Finland’s services are found as high quali- ternationalization, for example, in connection with the ty among international marketing partners. assessment of internationalization capabilities and the The evaluation was carried out by Owal Group Oy. Busi- mapping of the right distribution channels. In addition, ness Finland would like to thank the evaluators for the Visit Finland has representatives in selected markets. wide-ranging and multidimensional outcome. Moreover, The tasks of the representatives are to promote the sales Business Finland expresses its gratitude to steering of Finnish tourism companies, monitor market develop- group and all the stakeholders who enabled the evalua- ments and compile market information. A certain part of tion by participating in the interviews and surveys con- Visit Finland’s activities has been implemented as pro- ducted during the evaluation. grammatic activities. The aim of this evaluation was to analyze the effec- Helsinki, May 2021, Business Finland 5 1 INTRODUCTION This report summarises the main findings of the evalu- Document analysis included analysis of Visit Finland’s ation of Visit Finland. The evaluation was commissioned strategic and operative plans and analysis of documents by Business Finland and it was conducted between De- resulting from key activities (e.g. programs, regional col- cember 2020 and March 2021. laboration, marketing). Thematic interviews. A total of 30 thematic stake- Visit Finland works to develop Finland’s image as a tour- holder interviews were conducted to gain more detailed ist destination and helps Finnish tourism businesses to insight into Visit Finland’s activities and their results. become more international and develop, sell and market The interviewees represented all key stakeholders: com- high-quality travel products. Visit Finland cooperates panies, regional organizations, employees, government with regional tourism organizations, travel destinations ministries, partners etc. and businesses in the tourism industry. Visit Finland has International benchmark analysis. The evaluation also a staff of 60 people and is a part of Business Finland. included a benchmarking study of other Nordic National The aim of this study is to evaluate the effectiveness of Tourism Organizations. Visit Finland’s activities in relation to its objectives and Tourism industry survey. The survey yielded 69 re- main responsibilities. The following model was created sponses. The respondents represented 17 different re- for the impact assessment (p. 6). It aims to describe the gions in Finland and worked in different areas of the trav- key elements of Visit Finland’s impact and how impact is el industry, most often the accommodation industry, tour created as a result of interlinked activities. operations or reservation services. A multi-method approach was applied in the evalu- The respondents were asked to estimate the share of ation. The evaluation methods are described below in their revenue that was attributable to international trav- brief. ellers. 29% estimated it to be 0-5%. In further analysis, 6 FIGURE 1. Visit Finland Impact model. Impact indicators:: Impact indicators: 1. Policy and strategic level priorities correspond to the 1. Relevance of information to needs and challenges of the stakeholders industry 2. Utilization of the information 2. Adequacy of resources and funding in relation to targets 3. Governance structures BUSINESS FINLAND Finnish Society / support efficient and Visit Finland Travel industry effective implementation of tourism policies Impact indicators:: 1. How well services reflect Impact indicators: the needs of RTOs Regional Tourism 2. Efficiency of VF's operational Organizations and 1. How well services reflect model in delivering services Destinations the needs of businesses to RTOs 2. Service utilization 3. Perceived benefits Impact indicators: 3. Perceived benefits by businesses 1. Activities are targeted to markets with greatest potential for passenger Impact indicators: flow and travel income Tourism Businesses 4. Gross revenue growth 2. Additional visits and 5. Value added of tourism expenditure as a result industries as % of GDP of marketing activities Impact indicators: 6. Number of jobs in tourism 1. Increase of overnights by foreign tourists 2. Increase of average spend Strategic steering (input) Country promotion (activity) Foreign Tourists Product development support to destinations (activity) Support and services to businesses (activity) Market information and statistics (activity) Passenger flow and travel income (outcome) 7 this group was compared to those for whom international Regional organizations survey. In total, 18 regional travellers accounted for a larger share of their revenue, tourism organizations responded to the survey. A major- since this group is not the primary target group of Visit ity of respondents (67%) were from Lakeland. 17% were Finland. 84% of the respondents estimated that inter- from Coastal Finland and Archipelago, 11% from Lapland national travellers accounted for less than half of their and 6% from Helsinki region. Half of the respondents revenue. 10% estimated that the share of international represented organizations that are 100% owned by mu- travellers was more than 80%. nicipalities, 17% represented units that are part of a mu- 55% of the respondents represented micro business- nicipality’s administration, 11% were from organizations es (2–9 employees) and 7% were solo entrepreneurs. run by multiple municipalities, 11% from associations 28% were small companies (10–50 employees), 4% and 11% from organizations co-owned by public and pri- medium-sized companies (51–250 employees) and 6% vate entities. large companies (more than 250 employees). In further International partner survey. This third survey was analysis, micro businesses and solo entrepreneurs were aimed at international marketing partners of Visit Fin- grouped together to represent small companies and oth- land and yielded 14 responses. All of the respondents ers grouped together forming the group of larger compa- had experience from working