Never before has the world developed so rapidly as in the past decades. Globalization and digitalization increase our level of comfort drastically but also augment challenges.

More and more people are traveling around the world. The UNWTO expects the number of international tourist arrivals to grow to 1.8 billion by 2030. In comparison, 1.2 billion international arrivals were recorded in 2015. This development does not only create opportunities for economic growth, it also increases the challenges the Baltic Sea Region (BSR) is dealing with. Sustainability, internationalisation, over tourism, influence on culture and local residents are just a few of the issues that should no longer be addressed individually by countries in the BSR, but that require cross-border cooperation. This is why a group of like-minded tourism stakeholders is actively working on implementing the Baltic Sea Tourism Center. A permanent platform for the tourism sector in the BSR that strengthens the cooperation of the regions bordering the Baltic Sea.

In order to set up such a permanent institution, a center of expertise in the fields of cross-border tourism cooperation, a BSTC Convention paper has been compiled. With this agreement, the BSTC team, together with other supporters of the Baltic Sea Cooperation, aims at winning potential members for the institutionalised BSTC. The 10-page document summarises the goals and framework conditions of the BSTC and explains the possibilities to get involved within the cooperation. With the union of at least two institutions, the BSTC is to be organised within the framework of a European Grouping for Territorial Cooperation (EGTC) and thus ensures transnational and sustainable tourism cooperation. The BSTC will involve the most important tourism stakeholder groups in order to combine and represent the joint interests of the sector and to promote the sustainable and competitive tourism in the region. The activities of the BSTC are aimed at tourism professionals (B2B) as well as politicians and administrative bodies (B2P).

Should your organisation be interested in receiving the BSTC Convention draft and joining the BSTC, please send your request to info{at}bstc.eu.

PARTNERSHIPS, INSIGHTS, SKILLS - The three Core Competences of the Baltic Sea Tourism Center

The BSTC will coordinate its three Core Competences “PARTNERSHIPS”, “INSIGHTS” and “SKILLS” and implement the corresponding Expert Groups. In the area of PARTNERSHIPS, the BSTC will act as a central communication hub and contact point for tourism in the Baltic Sea region in order to facilitate permanent communication between tourism stakeholders, e.g. by organising the annual Baltic Sea Tourism Forum, disseminating relevant news and supporting match-making.

The competence INSIGHTS will deal with research and provision of knowledge. The Annual Market and Trend Report will provide tourism data for the Baltic Sea Region and make strategic recommendations. In addition, overviews of tourism projects in the Baltic Sea Region and their results are compiled.

In order to meet the increasing demands and the rapid developments in tourism, the expansion of the competence of BSR-tourism stakeholders will be in the foreground under the umbrella of SKILLS. Relevant topics in this area are internationalisation, seasonality, digitalisation and sustainability. The BSTC organises and implements regular seminars. Moreover, it develops joint concepts for regional trainings and actively supports cross-border projects aiming at improved skills and competences.

Background: BALTIC SEA TOURISM CENTER

Within the framework of the Interreg South Baltic Programme, like-minded partners have been working for more than 2 years on the development of a Center of Expertise - the Baltic Sea Tourism Center. While the Baltic Sea Tourism Forum brings together tourism stakeholders from the Baltic Sea region once a year for joint exchange and inspiration, the BSTC team, together with the support of numerous institutions, has set itself the goal of creating a permanent cooperation platform through the center of expertise and addressing the challenges of our time and region. As the contact point for the tourism industry, tourism policy and projects in the Baltic Sea Region, the BSTC aims to pool resources and competencies, contribute more strongly to the growth of the entire Baltic Sea region as well as to innovative and sustainable tourism development.