NAT-TOUR-EXPO

Results

Context and Problem:

Nature tourism SMEs in Latvia and Estonia faced difficulties adapting to changing tourism markets after the COVID-19 pandemic. At the same time, both countries remained relatively little known in international markets as nature tourism destinations, despite strong natural assets and a broad range of outdoor experiences.

Many existing tourism offers were fragmented, not sufficiently adapted to the expectations of international customers, and difficult to find or book online. Individual SMEs also had limited capacity to market their services independently in a new export market such as the United Kingdom.

The project Exporting Baltic Nature Tourism to UK addressed these challenges by developing a joint Latvian Estonian nature tourism offer aimed specifically at the UK market. The goal was to improve product quality, strengthen SME export capacity, increase international visibility, and generate new sales.

Idea and solution:

The project created a joint Baltic nature tourism product by bringing together individual SME offers from Latvia and Estonia and presenting them as professionally packaged experiences for the UK market.

The project introduced:

• A specialised Baltic Nature Tourism web platform balticnaturetourism.com was built, providing direct access to nature tourism products for individual travellers, special interest groups, and tour operators.
• Product development support for SMEs to adapt and improve their offers according to UK market expectations.
• Workshops, seminars, study visits, and experience exchange activities supporting SME skills and export readiness.
• A common visual identity and standardised product presentation to create a coherent Baltic nature tourism offer.
• Familiarisation trips for UK tour operators and media, participation in tourism fairs and trade events, promotional events in the UK, and targeted digital marketing.

By the end of the project, the platform featured 118 nature and outdoor tourism SMEs, including 67 from Latvia and 51 from Estonia, offering a total of 293 tourism products (161 in Estonia and 132 in Latvia) across categories like wildlife watching, active tourism, food and foraging, nature education, water activities, package tours, and services, such as guiding and equipment rental.

Implementation and impact

Cross border cooperation was central to the project. Partners combined expertise in rural tourism, nature tourism, product development, marketing, wildlife tourism, active tourism, sustainability, and international market development. Working together made it possible to create one shared Baltic product, visual identity, marketing campaign, and digital platform rather than separate national offers.

The project provided non financial support to 118 SMEs through training, market knowledge, platform visibility, and marketing activities. In total, 358 SME participations were recorded across training and sales related events. Activities included 17 national SME training events, one joint online seminar, and a study trip to Finland involving 19 SMEs from Latvia and Estonia.

Marketing activities included 13 familiarisation trips involving 56 UK tour operators and media representatives, participation in 9 travel fairs and 22 trade events, as well as promotional events, roadshows, digital advertising, and media campaigns aimed at the UK market.

The joint Baltic Nature Tourism product successfully entered the UK market, with 63 tourism SMEs achieving sales outcomes through individual UK travellers and tour operators. Sales were identified through platform booking enquiries and information provided by participating SMEs and tour operators.

The project also strengthened cooperation between Latvian and Estonian tourism companies. SMEs began developing joint package tours, combining complementary strengths from both countries and cooperating on guiding, equipment rental, and cross border visitor services.

The Baltic Nature Tourism platform and cooperation network will continue after the project. Project partners plan to maintain the platform, continue relationships with the UK travel trade, and explore further export opportunities in the UK, Europe, and other international markets.