Visit Mikkeli and Latvia travel participated in the “Kuoni Tumlare Nordic Workshop 2026”
From February 4, 2026 till February 5, 2026 Visit Mikkeli and Latvia travel representatives participated in the “Kuoni Tumlare Nordic Workshop 2026” in Osaka and Tokyo to present the New Nordic project and high-end/premium tourism offers for groups and individual tourists to tour operators from Japan. The event was attended by around 60 local tourism industry representatives in Osaka, and around 90 representatives in Tokyo. In total, 28 contacts were established during the B2B meetings from various tourism companies and associations (Kuoni Tumlare, Global, Tabikobo, Dores Tours, Nordic HMC, HIS, NTA).
Key findings from the workshops:
1. The target groups that are most likely to choose a destination are seniors, young couples with high incomes, women
2. Clients would like to have activities based on a specific central theme (for example – manors, sauna/spa, active tourism, etc.) and the rest of the program to be built around it
3. Previous experience shows that group tourists are reluctant to change their accomodation in one country, which should be taken into account when creating more one-day trips with a return to the place where the hotel is booked
4. Individual tourists are much more flexible and DMCs can accordingly create more versatile programs, including several objects and services
5. Additional explanation is needed about the places within the partner countries, as many tourists so far have traveled mostly to/from the capitals
6. Closer cooperation between project partners was promoted, creating a common understanding of the project direction, developed tourism product and service offers
7. It is important to create close cooperation between different service providers that provide tourists with a more fulfilling experience, while promoting cooperation between local entrepreneurs, rather than competition
8. Some Japanese tourism companies specialize in specific attractions in our region, such as manor tours, military heritage tourism, development of hiking routes of varying degrees of complexity, etc.
