Brand new VisitTampere.fi website showcases the main tourism assets of Tampere

Events in Tampere, the cultural scene and attractions, restaurants, nature – the saunas in particular – and activities for families with children. Visit Tampere Ltd. has mapped out what exactly in Tampere appeals to both domestic and foreign visitors, and what do people search for in Visit Tampere website. Based on this information, we have created a totally renewed visittampere.fi site to serve both the locals and the tourists. The new website is opened first in Finnish and in English, and at the moment there are nearly 6500 pages of themes, articles, venues and events. Other language versions will be launched later this year.

Studies show that Tampere is Finland’s most appealing city to live in, and we Finns reckon that it’s also the most fascinating travel destination in Finland. According to a new International Hipster Index by MoveHub.com, Tampere ranked number 26 among 446 cities across 20 countries. But what is it that attracts the Finnish visitors to Tampere?

– A panel study carried out by Sanoma Media Finland reveals that Finns are mostly interested in nature destinations, city attractions, cottages, music events and spas. Also Särkänniemi amusement park and the museums were often mentioned. In Tampere and the region, we have plenty to offer especially when it comes to the biggest areas of interest for the domestic visitors, Senior Specialist in charge of Visit Tampere’s communications, Sari Mäkelä, mentions.

The panel depicts that people mostly search for information about the domestic destinations in the websites of the tourism service providers. Secondly, they rely on recommendations from friends and peers, and after that, the travel sites such as TripAdvisor.

– Since the information that we provide online as well as the personal recommendations bear such a big impact on choosing the travel destination, it’s vital that we can offer inspirational contents on our website to both locals as well as everyone else interested in what Tampere has to offer, Mäkelä continues.

– According to the survey, recommendations are mainly of importance to women, under 45 years of age, and families with children. This is why our new website is based on us recommending further items to read, when someone comes to our site for a specific type of information.

Last year, Visittampere.fi had half a million individual visitors and the number went up by 9% from the year before. 80% of the total amount of visitors on the website come from Finland, and most of the international page visitors are from London and St. Petersburg. 68% of the visitors are women, and the site is mostly visited by people aged 25 to 44.

– On our Finnish site we aim at reaching this target group of women aged 25-44 and that on our pages they would find the most interesting nature and cultural attractions, sights and music events in Tampere. We also offer a versatile event calendar updated in Finnish and English. Restaurants play a big role in travelling, and we are highlighting this aspect with Hungry For Tampere campaign, making the Tampere food scene more known.

What do international visitors want to see in Tampere?

The amount of international overnighters in Tampere is rising, and the new site is aiming to be of even better service also to this growing group of tourists. Later this year, in addition to the English and Finnish language versions, visittampere.fi will also be launched in Russian, German, Swedish, Spanish, French and Japanese.

In order to meet the versatile demands of the international visitors on the website, Visit Tampere ltd. had a study carried out about the visibility of Tampere in its main tourism marketing areas of Tokio and Fukuoka, Germany, Greater London, Stockholm area and Guangzhou. The website’s new language versions will be tailored to cater to the interest of these target groups.

– According to the survey, Tampere is known in these target regions to be a cultural city close to nature, with a cathedral, amusement park, observation tower and museums. Culture, food and nature are the things that intrigue the international tourists the most. Also shopping possibilities were mentioned, Mäkelä enumerates.

The study also gathered information on what type of photos appeal to visitors. This information will also utilized when creating the language versions and targeting the contents.

– An interesting piece of information was that the traditional “land of a thousand lakes” imagery still appeals to tourists, but for example the Japanese dread a photo of people swimming in a lake. These cultural differences are important to take into consideration on our website, Mäkelä says.

Supporting congresses and events

Visit Tampere Ltd. aims at making Tampere even more noted nationally and internationally as an attractive destination for tourists, events and congresses. The new visittampere.fi site is now a home also to the former websites of the Tampere Event Office and the Tampere Convention Bureau. Thus, the website also serves and assists the event and congress organizers. The professional section of the website is created mainly for tour operators, Visit Tampere Partners as well as media and social media professionals.

Visit the brand new Tampere Region tourism site at www.visittampere.fi

Additional information:
Sari Mäkelä
Senior Specialist, Marketing and communications
Visit Tampere Ltd.
Tel. +358 40 800 4202
sari.makela (at) visittampere.fi