Destination development cooperation project
In cooperation with the development centres of the counties and municipalities of South-Estonia, joint tourism products will be developed by food and leisure service providers in the region, thus raising the profile of South-Estonia as an attractive tourist destination.
In the spring of 2021, the EAS approved the application for the project “Development of regionally specific products for South Estonia as a tourist destination” within the framework of the “Destination development cooperation projects” competition. The competition was carried out under the action “Terms and conditions for the award of grants to support the management of the development of tourism products” (approved by the Minister of Foreign Trade and Entrepreneurship by Order No 15-0230 of 30.07.15).
The project involves tourism organisations and networks from Võru County (Setomaa), Valga County (Otepää and Valga municipalities), Põlva County, Jõgeva County (Jõgeva and Mustvee municipalities) and Tartu County. The direct beneficiaries of the project are tourism businesses and service providers in South Estonia. According to puhkaeestis.ee, the approximate number of service providers in the cooperation area is 80 in Jõgevamaa, 90 in Põlva County, 142 in Valga County, 250 in Võrumaa and 565 in Tartu County – a total of 1127.
In the process of creating a tourism strategy for South Estonia, businesses collectively pointed out that small businesses operating in the region are not able to make a profit from an increase in the number of visitors, but rather can create a competitive advantage by offering more expensive and unique experiences. In setting the focus, it was found that the distinctive products of South Estonia that deserve systematic and well thought-out product development are food and sports/active activities.
Tourism products related to food and active leisure in South Estonia will be developed with two key principles in mind – sustainable development and safe service, and crisis management.
The project was initiated by the South-Estonian Tourism Cluster, co-funded by the Võrumaa Development Centre, which will also coordinate and carry out project activities throughout South-Estonia in cooperation with representatives of other county development organisations and the NGO Setomaa Tourism, Sibulatee and the NGO Peipsimaa Tourism. Materials for the hospitality and service design training programme are currently being prepared, and there is a flurry of business mapping and procurement preparation for the activities. The period of the project is 31.07.2021-31.08.2023 and the amount of the grant is 216 630 euros.
