Visit Arctic Europe

19/02/2025

AETC Online Product Development Workshop – Next Week!

We’re excited to continue our product development journey next Tuesday, building on the insights from the Luleå workshop. This online session is all about validating customer needs and brainstorming innovative solutions using AI.
💡 What will we do?
💠 Validate customer needs
💠 Use AI for deep research & brainstorming
💠 Explore new opportunities – finding ways to stand out in a competitive market

This session will be facilitated by our product development partner, Arctic Factory | Palvelumuotoilu, with Julius and Samuel leading the way.

📌 For AETC companies only – make sure to sign up on Basecamp!

Looking forward to an inspiring and interactive session!

Interreg Aurora Swedish Lapland Visitors Board NordNorsk Reiseliv Finnish Lapland Tourist Board

29/11/2024

We are thrilled to share with you that AETC has selected Norrbotten-based agency People People People and Oh My as our strategic marketing partner following a competitive tender process.

This new collaboration builds on the work achieved in the previous Visit Arctic Europe II project and will focus on showcasing Arctic Europe through the This is Arctic brand platform. Using innovative digital channels and campaigns, we aim to highlight the unique Arctic lifestyle, cultural heritage, and natural beauty of our area, encouraging year-round travel.

Beyond attracting visitors, we hope this initiative will also benefit local communities by increasing awareness of life in Arctic Europe and potentially drawing new residents to help meet labor demands in tourism and other industries.

We officially kicked off this exciting partnership earlier this month in Inari, where we met the Norrbotten-based team to plan the next steps ahead together.

Stay tuned for more updates!

Interreg Aurora Swedish Lapland Visitors Board NordNorsk Reiseliv Finnish Lapland Tourist Board

19/11/2024

We’re excited to congratulate Best Arctic , one of our valued project partners, on the launch of their new cross-border concept: The Aurora Express. This innovative night liner bus service connects Tromsø to Rovaniemi, allowing travelers to journey between two iconic Arctic cities while sleeping under the northern lights.

This is a significant milestone that offers a seamless travel experience, eliminating the need for flights or rental cars, and providing comfort for those looking to explore the Arctic in a unique way.

This initiative builds on the cross-border connections established during the previous Visit Arctic Europe II project, strengthening ties between Arctic destinations and enhancing travel options.

We’re especially proud to highlight the power of cross-border collaboration and connectivity in making such an extraordinary experience possible!

Interreg Aurora Best Arctic Group Bussring AS The Arctic Route

18/11/2024

Last week, the AETC project team gathered at the scenic Lapland View Lodge in Övertorneå for two productive days of planning and collaboration.

Key topics on the agenda included:
💠 Marketing strategies
💠 Finalizing contracts with international tour operators from Germany, Switzerland, Belgium and the Netherlands,
💠 Preparing for the upcoming networking meeting in Luleå this January (theme: Digitalization), and
💠 Activity planning for 2025, featuring networking events, sales workshops and webinars.

The team had also the pleasure to meet Sofie Holmgren, Sales Manager at Explore the North, who shared their inspiring approach to regenerative tourism, enhancing their destinations both economically, ecologically and socially.

Finally, we also explored two of Explore the North's soon-to-open lodges: Matarengi in Övertorneå, set to welcome guests this December, and Kaamos Lodge in Aavasaksa, Finland, opening in December 2025—highlighting the strength of Arctic cross-border collaboration.

Interreg Aurora Swedish Lapland Visitors Board NordNorsk Reiseliv Finnish Lapland Tourist Board

24/10/2024

👩‍💻 Our 3-part Webinar Series on the Power of AI in the Tourism Industry in now complete!

We've just wrapped up an insightful 3-part digital journey exploring how AI can be effectively utilized to accelerate business growth and innovation, as well as to enhance personal work efficiency.

Key Highlights:

📌 AI for business Intelligence: We explored tools like Perplexity and Gummy Search to gather actionable insights on customer preferences and tourism trends.
📌 Custom AI Bots: Participants learned to create MyGPT bots tailored to their business needs.
📌 Prompt Engineering: We learned covered techniques for crafting AI prompts tailored to tourism scenarios, helping businesses get the most out of their AI tools.

The first two webinars are available in AETC YouTube channel and available for everyone to watch. The last module will arrive shortly. We hope you find this as insightful as we did.

A huge thank you to Markkinointiviestintätoimisto Kuulu Oy and expert Ville Pohjonen for their expertise and support!

Interreg Aurora Finnish Lapland Tourist Board Swedish Lapland Visitors Board NordNorsk Reiseliv

AETC webinar: AI today and how to get started as a tourism & travel professional - 26.8.2024Our partner in the webinars is a Finnish digital marketing and c...

08/10/2024

One month after our successful AETC Sales Workshop in Harstad and pre- and post tours, we are already hearing great news from participating companies and tour operators who are creating new packages and tweaking existing ones!

We are thrilled to share some of the positive feedback we’ve received, as this recognition goes out to all of you who were involved!

Tour operators have shared that the knowledge transition tours offered immense value—not only sparking new ideas but also helping them gain a deeper understanding of what’s possible in Arctic Europe. They are actively sharing their experiences with colleagues and partners, and this collective knowledge is fueling our efforts in product development, especially for the autumn season.

Once again, a heartfelt thank you to everyone who helped us and delivered exceptional service during these trips. Your dedication made these experiences truly special!

Swedish Lapland Visitors Board NordNorsk Reiseliv Finnish Lapland Tourist Board Interreg Aurora

18/09/2024

✨ As we reach the one-third mark of our project with two years remaining, this week the AETC Steering Group and project team gathered in Rovaniemi.

A big thank you to Apukka Resort Rovaniemi for hosting us and Arktikum - Museum and Science Centre for an interesting guided tour✨

Interreg Aurora Swedish Lapland Visitors Board NordNorsk Reiseliv Finnish Lapland Tourist Board

13/09/2024

Wow — what an event! We would like to express our heartfelt gratitude to everyone who took the time to join our Arctic Europe Tourism Cluster Sales Workshop last week in Harstad.

With an impressive turnout of 75 buyers from 14 different countries and 91 suppliers from Northern Norway, Finnish and Swedish Lapland, we saw 1609 highly productive meetings that we trust will lead to lasting partnerships.

This workshop has once again proven to be the best place to discover what Arctic Europe has to offer with a special focus on autumn, in one convenient setting. We are deeply thankful to all our participants and buyers for their enthusiasm and engagement.

Thank you again for contributing to the success of this workshop, and we look forward to seeing you at our next AETC Sales Worshop 2025, which will be held in Inari, Finland 2.-4.9.2025!

A big thank you to our financiers, Interreg Aurora, Region Norrbotten, Lapin liitto / Regional council of Lapland, Troms fylkeskommune, Finnmark fylkeskommune, Troms Holding and Innovation Norway arctic for making this workshop possible!

NordNorsk Reiseliv Swedish Lapland Visitors Board Finnish Lapland Tourist Board ry - Lapin Matkailuelinkeinon Liitto

29/08/2024

⭐ Looking forward to next Wednesday when we’ll finally meet at the AETC Sales Workshop 2024 in Harstad with almost 200 participants!

We’ve got tour operators from 14 countries joining us, all set to connect with providers from Arctic Europe.

The agendas are filling up, and our team is excited for the week ahead! ⭐

Interreg Aurora

07/06/2024

A heartfelt thank you to all who attended our Year-round Development and Culture in Tourism event in Levi this week! 🌟

The AETC's goal is to create a network where tourism professionals can inspire each other, learn from each other, and together make a difference. Your presence and participation were invaluable!

This week’s event marks the kickoff of our efforts in year-round development, with a special focus on autumn and adding an Arctic cultural layer to our products.

We invited experts in food and beverage, local Arctic cultures, performing arts and music, design and architecture, local products and handicrafts, storytelling, and heritage and traditions to help us with these tasks.

Additionally, we were privileged to have market expert Badur and tour operators Emma Maes, Esther Baas, and Janka Schelb join us to provide valuable market insights.

Learning from each other is essential. We were inspired by successful stories from Hege Anita Eilertsen of Museum Nord and representatives Orkney Distilleries in Scotland on the importance of culture in tourism, and from Kati Vehmas of Visit Ylläs and Anneli Lääts of Tromsø Villmarkssenter on year-round development.

Together, we’ve explored new strategies, shared best practices, and built connections that will shape the future of tourism.

To our speakers, panelists, and attendees – thank you for your insights, energy, and dedication to making tourism a dynamic, year-round endeavor.

By working together, we can create sustainable, culturally rich tourism experiences that benefit everyone. Here’s to our shared journey towards a brighter, more connected future in tourism!

A big thank you to Kassiopeia Hotels & Restaurants Summit Hullu Poro - Crazy Reindeer and Ämmilä for hosting us and Visit Levi for organization. 🌍✨

22/01/2024

We are very happy to introduce the Arctic Europe Tourism Cluster.

Building upon the achievements of Visit Arctic Europe I (2015-2018) and Visit Arctic Europe II (2018-2022), this collaborative initiative aims to be the next and stronger step of cross-border cooperation in the Arctic Europe region.

Our Goals:
❄ Innovate B2C and B2B marketing strategies to attract new markets and foster international cooperation.
❄ Cultivate year-round business opportunities and sustainable tourism practices.
❄ Elevate the significance of Arctic culture in shaping immersive tourism experiences.
❄ Enhance digitalization by leveraging post-pandemic traveler behavior insights.
❄ Improve accessibility within and across the Arctic Europe region.
❄ Establish smart, trust-based cross-border networks.

Lapland Tourist Board , Swedish Lapland Visitors Board and NordNorsk Reiseliv – alongside the active collaboration of more than 100 companies across the three countries we are dedicated to shaping a tourism landscape that not only adapts to rapid changes but also exceeds future expectations, benefiting the tourism industry, local societies, and visitors across Arctic Europe.

The project is financed by Interreg Aurora, Region Norrbotten, Regional Council of Lapland, Troms County, Finnmark County, Troms Finnmark and Norland county international program, Trom Holding and Innovation Norway Arctic.

14/10/2022

Visit Arctic Europe project's second phase has come to an end.
Together we have made remarkable results!

We had 2 physical and 2 digital Sales Workshops, with altogether 713 participants. More than 5 500 business meetings were held during these workshops. We organized 25 physical fam trips for tour operators with 174 participants and 21 digital fam trips with 373 participants. Additionally we had 4 physical networking events and 22 different webinar or online event for VAE II companies.

In tactical marketing our 28 contracted tour operators brought more than 65 000 travellers and they had more than 400 000 overnights in VAE region. This has created more than 95M€ new income for this region.

This Is Arctic image marketing campaigns have gained lots of media attention and great results: 134+ media publications by journalistic media. Estimated earned media value was 6,5 million € and estimated of total reach: 670 million, total video views was: 12,1 million.

In accessibility we were able to create lots of new direct flight routes to VAE region and a crossborder bus/train connection The Arctic Route has made it possible to travel seamlessly around the VAE region.

We are proud to present brand new outcomes video which sum up what have been done and achieved together during VAE ll project.

Thank you for all participating companies and all involved stakeholders! And thank you for all our financiers Interregnord, Regional Council of Lapland, Region Norrbotten, Nordic Council of Ministers, Troms fylkeskommune, Finnmark fylkeskommune, Innovation Norway and Ministry of Economic affairs and Employment of Finland.

Swedish Lapland
Swedish Lapland Visitors Board
Visit Northern Norway
NordNorsk Reiseliv
Only in Lapland - The North of Finland

Rauno Posio
Nina Forsell
Maikku Raittimo
Cecilia Petzäll
John-Steve Linløkken
Trond Øverås
Petronella Modin

NordicMarketing
Flatlight Creative House
Mimir
Kreativ Industri

Visit Arctic Europe II -project Outcomes Visit Arctic Europe II -project is financed by Interreg Nord. Other financiers: Regional Council of Lapland, Region ...

30/09/2022

Stronger together - developing a unified destination in Arctic Europe 💪

The Interreg Nord project Visit Arctic Europe has worked aross borders to develop a full-year, sustainable and high-quality tourism destination 🏞

Read more https://pdf.mediahandler.se/pdf/Borderless/62/

Highlighting projects that made a real difference. In many places, in many areas and to many people 🤩

26/08/2022

We are soon coming to and end with VAE II - project. Thank you for all participants who attended VAE II Final seminar in Olos, and online!

It was great to hear inspirational speeches and sum up and share what we have achieved and learned together.

Already next week VAE partners will leave an application for VAE III. You'll hear more information about it soon!

Interregnord Interreg Aurora Swedish Lapland Visit Northern Norway Finnish Lapland

25/08/2022

VAE II Final seminar is just about to begin in Olos and online!

23/06/2022

Visit Arctic Europe was chosen one of the highlighted Interreg project's that have made a difference! 🇫🇮🇳🇴🇸🇪

Direct link for VAE page:
https://pdf.mediahandler.se/pdf/Borderless/62

Borderless