Social responsibility, internationalism and pioneering are important themes for the Turku Music Festival. Accordingly, the Turku Music Festival has joined the Sustainable Travel Finland path established by Visit Finland in order to gain the STF emblem.
Working for sustainable tourism
In order for the tourism industry to be able to respond to changing demand and to secure its future, it must engage in sustainable development. For this purpose, Visit Finland has developed the Sustainable Travel Finland programme for tourism businesses and regions. Compliance with the programme is certified with the Sustainable Travel Finland emblem.
The Turku Music Festival intends to pursue internationalisation with increasing intensity while supporting sustainable and responsible tourism. Accordingly, the Festival has joined the Sustainable Travel Finland path established by Visit Finland, whose purpose is to enrich, strengthen and verify these values. The Turku Music Festival wishes to be a pioneer in the Finnish event and festival industry in boosting responsible cultural tourism.
“The Turku Music Festival is international in its programme profile, and internationalism is a self-evident aspect of our operations. However, we – as indeed Finland as a country – have a long way to go to promote international cultural tourism, i.e. to attract visitors from abroad. The potential of cultural tourism for Finland as a whole has been acknowledged and is even included in the current Government Programme. We see even greater potential for Turku. The goals of increasing international attractiveness and to develop cultural tourism are also enshrined in the strategy of the City of Turku. Historical cultural investments by the public authorities, such as the new music centre, the Museum of History and the Future and the House of Dance are key efforts in this respect, as are the huge advancements we have seen in hotel and restaurant services in the past few years,” says Liisa Ketomäki, Managing Director of the Turku Music Festival Foundation.
”Oma vahva brändi ja profiili ja toisaalta vahva yhteistyö muiden kanssa ovat kumpikin tärkeitä. Me haluamme entistä enemmän profiloitua osaksi matkailusektoria ja Turun alueen vetovoiman eteen töitä tekevien toimijoiden kenttää ja tässä työssä STF-polku tulee meitä varmasti entisestään auttamaan”, jatkaa Ketomäki
Responsibility and internationalisation secure the future of the Turku Music Festival
The Turku Music Festival was launched onto the Sustainable Travel Finland path with a coaching day at Naantali Spa on Tuesday, 24 May 2022. The coaching day was customised to the participants’ wishes and according to the particular needs of the region.
Eveliina Salminen, Sales & Marketing Manager of the Turku Music Festival, is the Festival’s contact person and coordinator for the STF path and will remain so after the STF emblem is earned. Salminen attended the coaching day held by the Visit Finland Academy, representing the Turku Music Festival.
“Social responsibility and internationalisation have been important values for the Turku Music Festival for a long time. It is brilliant that we are now on the STF path. We will be able to develop and strengthen these two themes, which we have already been pursuing for quite some time. Responsibility and internationalisation will remain in our focus after we receive the STF emblem,” says Eveliina Salminen, Sales & Marketing Manager of the Turku Music Festival.
“Cultural tourism is one of the most rapidly growing subsectors of tourism. Turku is the former capital of Finland and as such has historical status but also a dynamic, future-oriented urban trategy. We also have a wonderful archipelago, well-developed tourism and restaurant services and internationally known operators, such as the Turku Music Festival. The Festival already has a high profile with its vision of international orientation and its desire to increase the attractiveness of Turku for tourists. We wish to support the Festival in this,” says Susanna Markkola, cultural tourism expert at Visit Finland.
In order to receive the STF emblem, an enterprise must comply at least with the following:
- Commitment
- Making a formal decision to develop sustainable tourism
- Signing national sustainable tourism principles
- Appointing a coordinator for sustainable tourism
- Increasing know-how
- Active participation in sustainable tourism development e-learning
- Attending in Visit Finland Academy’s Sustainable Travel Finland workshops
- Creating current-state analysis by utilising an online-based STF self-assessment.
- Development plan
- Drawing up a sustainable tourism development plan (which closely follows the GSTC standard) with short and long terms goals and plan of action, including climate mitigation plan. The development plan must cover all functions to which the STF emblem will apply. All dimensions of sustainability must be considered.
- The development plan must be updated when the STF emblem is renewed.
- Responsible communication
- Communicating the acts towards sustainability transparently to the public
- Certification & Auditing
- Companies must obtain a regularly audited certificate, accepted under the Sustainable Travel Finland emblem, that supports sustainable development, or a corresponding programme
- Verification and measurability
- Compliance with the STF programme criteria will be verified on the STF online platform
- Committing to national sustainable tourism indicators, including annual data collection
- Agreement & Continuous development
- Making an agreement with Business Finland / Visit Finland on the use of the Sustainable Travel Finland emblem
