Transnational Senior Tourism Flows to Hanseatic Cities in Low/Mid Seasons
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Partners of the HANSATOUR project aim to use the European (material and immaterial) heritage of the Hanseatic League to attract senior cultural tourists to Hanseatic cities during low/mid season.
Partners of the HANSATOUR project aim to use the European (material and immaterial) heritage of the Hanseatic League to attract senior cultural tourists to Hanseatic cities during low/mid season. Participating cities are the small / medium sized and relatively unknown Hanseatic cities along the IJssel (the Netherlands), the ‘Rheinische Hanse’ (in Germany), Kuldiga (Latvia) and Kaunas (Lithuania). Partners want to capitalise on the tourism potential that their Hanse heritage offers and on the Hansa brand awareness that already exists amongst many senior tourists. Within the HANSATOUR project, partners will develop a thematic and demand oriented tourism offer, tailored on senior cultural tourists needs. Public private collaboration throughout the value chain and between sectors (government / marketing bodies / tourism SMEs / heritage sector / senior organisations / knowledge institutes) is crucial to the chosen approach. Other key elements of the project proposal are: A thorough identification and analysis of the senior target groups, in collaboration with senior organisations; The development of storylines (narratives) to ‘open up’ history and to enrich visitor experiences; The development of a cross-border and cross-media marketing strategy.
Partners develop Hansa tourism packages, in close collaboration with tourism service providers (SMEs), that will be tested by foreign/incoming tourists in March and April 2016, both by an organised test panel and through regular sales. One of the packages concerns a cross-border boat trip from Kampen (Dutch Hansa city along the IJssel river) to Wesel (German Hansa city along the Rhine), to be developed in collaboration with shipping company Eureka (partner 5). Evaluation activities focus on marketing exposure, sales, visitor experiences/intentions, tourism service providers experience/intentions. Best practises and lessons learned will be actively disseminated via the New Hansa League network (183 cities in 16 countries).