Outputs and Results

Output 1 - Consumer Report

This report on the key consumer markets, customer typologies, potential products and services to attract these consumers, and defining the slow adventure experience, was completed in the first year of the project. Aimed in particular at SMEs, the purpose report, drawing from both primary and secondary research, is to enable a greater and more detailed understanding of key consumer markets for slow adventures, and how to target these markets.

Output 2 - New Marketing Models Toolkit

Again aimed specifically at SMEs, this aim of exploring new marketing models, developed, tested and refined through the project, was to enable businesses to more effectively market their services. Therefore, the partners investigated elements such as the use of the project logo as a possible accreditation scheme and greater use of social media to portray the essence of slow adventures and promote them to tech-savvy consumers. The outcomes of these case studies can be viewed in the overall report here.

Output 3 - New Clustering Approaches Toolkit

A parallel activity to output 2, further case studies involved the development and testing of clustering approaches to marketing activity. The project partners encouraged and facilitated the collaboration of SMEs, both those directly offering slow adventures and others in complementary businesses, such as food and accommodation, to allows SMEs to increase their market penetration and use marketing resources more effectively. Again, the outcomes have been made widely available and can be viewed in the report here.

Output 4 - New Trans-national SME Cluster

An activity undertaken towards the end of the project, in order to ensure that the momentum generated during SAINT is continued after the end of the project, the partners explored possible solutions for effective and realistic trans-national clustering of slow adventure SMEs (and other organisations, as appropriate), to allow SMEs to work collaboratively after the project. In addition to the efforts of the partners in engendering, in the minds of both businesses and potential consumers, a slow adventure ethos, the efficacy of adapting the project web site as a trans-national consumer-facing portal was examined and the transnational landing page www.slowadventure.org has been developed.

Output 5 - Review of Marketing Technology

Any contemporary tourism business is aware of the importance of digital technology in the promotion of products and services, as well as the booking process and the spread of word-of-mouth for example. Yet the use of elements such as mobile-friendly web platforms and online booking facilities is surprisingly low in many areas. The aim of this desktop report, completed in 2016, was to undertake a review of the state-of-the-art in marketing technology and disseminate the outcomes widely to businesses and organisations.

Output 6 ‘Two-eyed Seeing’ Guide

In the context of this project, ‘two-eyed seeing’ is a concept that combines the strengths of both Indigenous and Western ways of packaging and marketing ‘slow adventure’ activities and understanding the cultural, health, linguistic, environmental and psychological benefits of such experiences. Led by the Norwegian partners and with input from colleagues in Finland and Sweden, the output is be a short video (which can be viewed here) and a report synthesising an exercise to understand and combine the best elements of both Indigenous and Western perspectives. It considers how these elements can be relevant to SMEs across the NPA area, drawing upon lessons from Indigenous traditions of storytelling for example. The report can be viewed here.

Output 7 - Business Strategy

The Lead Partner, in collaboration with the other partners, has written a business strategy or guide on 'how to create and narrate a slow adventure tourism product'.  This is publicly available and can be viewed here.  It sets out and discusses how outputs 1-6 above can be disseminated, developed and employed by SMEs beyond the life of the project.