Are There Really NO TOURISTS In Etelä-Pohjanmaa?

[2 minute read]

Mark Wiltshear from Xport shares a recent e-mail exchange, and suggests ways to make your services attractive to tourists from overseas (and closer to home.)

As well as my work at Xport, I also record the Explore Finland Radio Show podcast & blog and I write a regular blog for Visit Seinäjoki. In both cases, I often contact ask people for an interview or information.

For my latest Visit Seinäjoki post Mark’s Winter Tips, I wanted to write about snow shoe walking. A contact at Etelä-Pohjanmaan Matkailu suggested a Seinäjoki company, that might be able to help. When I wrote to ask if they offer this activity, this was the reply:

“…My customers are Finnish companies and Finnish people and they sometimes bring foreign customers or friends.
I have had my company now 8 years and I haven’t had even one individual foreign customer in that time.
Unfortunately in this area of Finland we don`t have tourists at all.”

Really? No tourists in the Etelä-Pohjanmaa region? This stopped me in my tracks and made me think…

How Finland Can Offer a Warm Welcome to Chinese Tourists

As a Chinese Associate of Xport, it’s really nice to hear all the recent commercial developments between China and Finland. It’s also my pleasure to share my perspective about tourism to Finland from China.

Experiences Booking a Holiday Online (And How Finland Can Do It Better!)

Mark Wiltshear compares his experiences booking his two short breaks in summer 2017; a two-night city break in Estonia, and a two-night camping trip in Finland, and finds that Finland’s smaller accommodation still has room for improvement when it comes to appealing to visitors from another country (like him.)

“Improved English language information, better quality images of well-dressed accommodation, and a simple online booking system would be a good start.”

Blogging and Podcasting in English to Attract Tourists

Mark looking for more potential tourists (photo courtesy of Into Seinäjoki)

Camping, sauna, summer festivals and sports – you could say Mark Wiltshear has become something of an expert on all things Finnish. Here we introduce you to two ways that Mark encourages more people to visit Finland: with a regular blog and a podcast radio show.

Treenaa asiakaspalvelua englanniksi Seinäjoen Superkesää varten!

Maksimoi myyntisi – hyödynnä tuhansien kesävieraiden tarjoamat mahdollisuudet

Keskiviikkona 6.4. Into Seinäjoki järjesti tilaisuuden hotelli Almassa  “Seinäjoen Superkesä 2016” -kampanjan käynnistämisen merkeissä. Seinäjoen Superkesä on sarja tapahtumia, joiden odotetaan vetävän suuren määrän vierailijoita Seinäjoelle. Luonnollisesti suurin osa näistä on kotimaanmatkailijoita, mutta myös ulkomaalaisia vierailijoita odotetaan mm. seuraaviin tapahtumiin:

• Taitaja2016 – ammatitaidon SM-kilpailu
• Asuntomessut 2016
• “Round table” – kansainvälinen tapaaminen
• “Nordic King” ravitapahtuma PowerParkissa
• Power Truck Show  PowerParkissa

Näiden lisäksi väkeä vetävät myös maakunnan vakituiset kesätapahtumat, kuten Provinssirock, Seinäjoen Tangomarkkinat, Vauhtiajot, Solar Sound, Ilmajoen Oopperajuhlat ja Kaustinen Folk Music Festival. Into Seinäjoki haluaa kannustaa paikallisia yrityksiä valmistautumaan niin koti- kuin ulkomaistenkin kesävieraiden vastaanottamiseen parhaansa mukaan!

Xportin tiimi tarjoaa erityisesti hotellien, ravintoloiden ja vähittäiskauppojen henkilökunnille suunniteltua asiakaspalvelukoulutusta englannin kielellä. Koulutus on yrityskohtaista, käytännönläheistä palvelutilanteiden harjoittelua äidinkielenään englantia puhuvien valmentajien kanssa.

Improve Your English for Seinäjoen Superkesä 2016

Maximise the Sales Opportunities Offered by 1000’s of Extra Visitors to Seinäjoki

 

On Wednesday 6.4, Into Seinäjoki held a meeting at Hotel Alma to launch their campaign, Seinäjoen Superkesä 2016. This is a succession of events during Summer 2016, that will see a large number of additional visitors to Seinäjoki. Naturally many of these will be Finnish visitors, but international visitors are expected for several of the events;

• Round Table international meeting
• Taitaja2016 – Vocational education event
• Asuntomessut 2016 – Housing Fair
• Nordic King race meeting at Power Park
• Power Truck Show at Power Park

These are in addition to the regular events in Etelä-Pohjanmaa: Provinssirock, Seinäjoen Tangomarkkinat, Vauhtiajot. Solar Sound, Ilmajoen Ooperajuhlat, Kaustinen Folk Music Festival. Into Seinäjoki wants to encourage local businesses to be prepared to receive the extra visitors including more international tourists.

To help local retail, restaurant and hospitality businesses, the Xport team is offering its combined experiences in these industries to offer customer service coaching in the English language.