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project info
Start date: 1 September 2018
End date: 31 December 2020
funding
Fund: European Regional Development Fund (ERDF)
Total budget: 493 450,00 €
EU contribution: 172 707,50 € (35%)
programme
Programming period: 2014-2021
Managing authority: työ- ja elinkeinoministeriö, yritys- ja alueosaston rakennerahastot ja koheesiopolitiikka -ryhmä
beneficiary

UKAMAKI — New growth in tourism from China

The total number of trips abroad from China is about 1 billion per year, while tourism from China to Finland is growing sharply. Helsinki Airport is one of the most important gates from China to Europe. There are also many Chinese tourists coming across the eastern border of Russia to southern Finland. The E18 road connects Kotka-Hamina and the eastern Uusimaa region with these tourist flows. In the Kotka-Hamina region and Eastern Uusimaa, efforts have been made to develop international tourism, but the Chinese tourism demand cannot yet be met effectively. Tourism operators do not have enough knowledge of the Chinese tourism market and their target groups and the product offering has not sufficiently taken into account the specificities of Chinese tourists. The project will start with a light background analysis on the current situation and operating environment of Chinese tourism demand and supply to the target area. The project will build a network of companies targeting the Chinese tourism market from growth-oriented tourism and service companies in the Kotka-Hamina region and Eastern Uusimaa, whose offering takes into account Visit Finland’s internationalisation criteria. The project provides product development coaching for companies in workshops and company-specific development meetings according to the needs of the companies. The coaching takes into account the investigated customer profiles of the Chinese traveler and familiarises companies with the specificities of Chinese culture. Chinese-language marketing and sales materials are made of products resulting from product development. The project will identify sales channels and partners suitable for the sale and marketing of products. Product sales and marketing will be piloted to Chinese target groups selected during various sales events and, for example, media and tour operator visits will be carried out for promotional purposes. The project utilises and produces up-to-date research data on Chinese tourism. With the start of the project’s business cooperation, new opportunities will be created to meet the growing demand for Chinese tourism and increase the number of tourists in the destination area as well as the tourist income. The quality of tourism companies’ products is developing in line with international standards and their capacity for international tourism activities will be improved.

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