Tourism Development in the Baltic Sea Region
Prepared for the Baltic Development Forum’s Annual Summit in Hamburg, 2004, this report analyses the potential of Tourism as a regional growth industry and outlines the rationale for regional cooperation to stimulate a sustainable Tourism industry. Tourism is a sector in which huge advantages would be gained by regional cooperation. Currently, there is very little cooperation on developing joint policies and exchanging experiences within this sector. Tourism, however, is not a zero-sum game and there is a huge and unfulfilled potential for joint marketing, amongst other aspects. The report addresses some significant issues that should be managed for future progress. These include: (i) Marketing the region and prospects for international alliances; (ii) Evaluation and benchmarking of economic performance; (iii) Vocational training for professional high quality services; (iv) Clustering of initiatives and smaller businesses for joint actions.