Funded Projects 2014-2020

Project SCITOUR

Project Acronym	SCITOUR
Project Title	Scientific Tourism
Project subsite	SCITOUR
Project Website	http://www.wonderseekers.com

Summary

This project focuses on creating a new form of tourism called scientific tourism (SCITOUR). The project will develop the SCITOUR concept, guidelines, model products and a SCITOUR brand, as well as digital infrastructure for marketing, information distribution and network communication.

The Arctic is increasingly becoming a popular tourist destination. The trend is towards more free independent travellers (FIT) and cruise tourists, who find their way to even the most remote places. The FIT trend is supported by different sharing economy platforms such as Airbnb, making it possible for ordinary people to sell accommodation services and now also tourism experiences. This trend, and emerging digital solutions for tourism experiences, opens up new possibilities for developing tourism services in even the most remote parts of the NPA programme region. The sharing economy platforms provide a great opportunity for people in remote areas to diversify their economic income. The SCITOUR project intends to exploit these new opportunities and help small tourism companies in remote locations to create new products and to market themselves in a new and productive way.

The SCITOUR project's main idea is to create a new niche of tourism that has a strong appeal to tourists who are curious and want to combine exceptional experiences and, importantly, learning about what they see during their trip. The initial goal is to create a new scientific tourism brand that has a transnational and universal appeal, that also answers the challenges of the current post-truth phenomena, where scientific facts are questioned. The project will be conducted and lead by professionals in tourism and science communication, in cooperation with the tourism and business field. The main focus of this development project is on existing micro-companies and SMEs, but the work will be oriented towards supporting startups in the future.

Objectives

The project has three objectives:

To develop a new the technology-based tourism concept, scientific tourism, to enable a better market reach through a common tourism niche, marketing strategy and a common brand.
To develop a supporting SCITOUR network which has as its main objective to support small enterprises to enable them to introduce new tourism products to distant markets.
To develop digital solutions for sales and marketing of SCITOUR products to help SCITOUR entrepreneurs introduce new products to the market as well as overcome distance to market.

Impacts

Tangible

Improved access to services:	SCITOUR established a scientific tourism concept, that is branded, marketed, and communicated towards a segmented audience. The project has developed a free and innovative website that functions both for customers to choose their next travel destination, and for entrepreneurs to list their products/services. These are combining local/traditional knowledge with scientific knowledge to offer more than just a holiday experience, but to educate, inspire, and satisfy the travelers´ curiosity.

Improved access to services:

SCITOUR established a scientific tourism concept, that is branded, marketed, and communicated towards a segmented audience. The project has developed a free and innovative website that functions both for customers to choose their next travel destination, and for entrepreneurs to list their products/services. These are combining local/traditional knowledge with scientific knowledge to offer more than just a holiday experience, but to educate, inspire, and satisfy the travelers´ curiosity.

Intangible

Changing attitude and behaviour:	The SCITOUR project focuses on the knowledge provided to tourists by the tourism entrepreneurs. At the core of the project lays the idea of enhancing the learning experience of the tourists via pre- and post-visit information. The pre-visit activities introduce what is expected to be done/observed e.g. the science behind the northern lights, the biology of some animals, climate change, history, etc. The post-visit experience can for example serve to reflect one´s impact on the local environment and possible ways of reducing it. These pre- and post-visits can also function as a new form of science and knowledge communication.
Building institutional capacity:	In Iceland, the project tested the viability of scientific tourism network. A group of tourism companies that have mutual interests, complementary expertise in fields such as glaciology, geology, geothermal heat, and volcanism, and a common goal to develop robust scientific tourism products came together to create a supportive and positive environment where tourism-oriented SMEs can share ideas and learn more about developing scientific tourism products. This strategy can be implemented in different regions and has inbuilt institutional capacity.

Changing attitude and behaviour:

The SCITOUR project focuses on the knowledge provided to tourists by the tourism entrepreneurs. At the core of the project lays the idea of enhancing the learning experience of the tourists via pre- and post-visit information. The pre-visit activities introduce what is expected to be done/observed e.g. the science behind the northern lights, the biology of some animals, climate change, history, etc. The post-visit experience can for example serve to reflect one´s impact on the local environment and possible ways of reducing it. These pre- and post-visits can also function as a new form of science and knowledge communication.

Building institutional capacity:

In Iceland, the project tested the viability of scientific tourism network. A group of tourism companies that have mutual interests, complementary expertise in fields such as glaciology, geology, geothermal heat, and volcanism, and a common goal to develop robust scientific tourism products came together to create a supportive and positive environment where tourism-oriented SMEs can share ideas and learn more about developing scientific tourism products. This strategy can be implemented in different regions and has inbuilt institutional capacity.

Lead Partner

Arctic Centre, University of Lapland
Finland
Ari Laakso
phone +358404844293
e-mail: ari.laakso@ulapland.fi

Partners

Greenland National Museum
Greenland
University of Iceland, Hornafjordur
Iceland
University of Lapland, Multidimensional Tourism Institute
Finland
University of the Highlands and Islands
Scotland

Project Info

Theme
Tourism, recreation, cultural heritage, languages

Priority
2 Entrepreneurship

Objective
2.2 Greater market reach

Project duration
30-04-20 to 29-04-22

Total budget
1 067 550 EUR

NPA co-financing
683 230 EUR

Target groups
interest groups including NGOs
business support organisation
enterprise, including SME
higher education and research
education/training centre and school
Other
General public
sectoral agency