Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
markets such as convention delegates and
segments with high dispersal and greater length
of stay, such as spa tourists, special interest
visitors, backpackers and international students.
Although backpackers and international stu-
dents may not spend a lot of money per day,
their extended length of stay and lower levels of
economic leakage increases their strategic
importance and makes them high-yield visitors
(Jarvis, 1994). Efficient research is the key to
identifying these high-yield segments, however,
as an indirect impact of EU accession the
industry lost access to border-guard statistics of
total visitors and the government is yet to
commission a fully funded replacement inter-
national visitor survey.
Second, the industry needs to effectively
manage the marketing of the destination and
'Brand Estonia'. Managing the brand involves
trying to sustain and leverage the media
coverage the country is now gaining as a new
EU member, and ensuring the desired brand
attributes are conveyed. Third, the continued
diversification of their source market needs to
be maintained by targeted marketing and
associated product development to suit the
desired segments. Fourth, seasonality needs to
be addressed by targeting the segments that are
likely to visit between November and March to
ensure consistent returns for investors. A case in
point is the success of marketing Tallinn as a
winter city break, especially to the more distant
EU markets. Fifth, if the growth potential of the
industry is to be realized, further investment in
education is necessary, with in 2004 only one
tertiary institution offering tourism education.
Finally, the growth in tourism the country is
currently experiencing, particularly in the Old
Town of Tallinn, must be managed effectively to
ensure that the city doesn't develop into a
medieval theme park to the exclusion of the
locals.
European has had a substantial impact on the
industry. The country initially sought a replace-
ment market for internal USSR visitors, first
turning to the Finns who flocked to the country
primarily as same-day visitors motivated by
cross-border shopping in the early years of tran-
sition (see also Chapter 12). Over time, and as
EU membership was placed on the agenda and
then slowly grew closer, the market started to
reorientate away from the reliance on Finland
and same-day visitors towards overnight stays
and more distant EU markets.
It is clear that the EU accession process
has had a positive, albeit indirect impact on
accelerating the development of the tourism
industry in Estonia. First, it has assisted in
facilitating the increase in investment in the
industry by, along with NATO membership,
increasing the security associated with foreign
direct investment. This has led to an increase in
accommodation and the supply of tourism
products. This has also affected demand where
the increasingly secure image of Estonia within
Europe directly countered the lawlessness
perceived in the initial break-up of the Soviet
Union. In effect, some of the positive attributes
associated
with
the
European
Union
were
transferred to 'Brand Estonia'.
Second, the policy shifts associated with
joining the EU, namely the removal of border
controls and the 'open skies' policy has
increased access to the country from the other
EU member states. Within months of Estonia
joining the EU the first budget carriers began
touching down at Tallinn airport. Additionally,
in response to EU membership the national
carrier, Estonian Air, was restructured into a low
cost carrier with an increased number of routes.
Finally, membership of the EU generated a
deluge of foreign media coverage of Estonia,
primarily within the EU, but also globally. This
media coverage then acted as free promotion of
the country in key markets and can be associ-
ated with stimulating demand and acting as a
platform for communicating the elements of the
'Brand Estonia' strategy that was devised in
2002. The EU accession process has firmly put
Estonia on the road to being recognized as a
small but significant player in the Northern
European tourism industry: it has helped to
upgrade tourism infrastructure, facilitated
increased access to and from the country, and
Conclusion
The evolution of the tourism industry in Estonia
presents a case study in major market reorienta-
tion due to associated shifts in the geopolitical
environment of the country. The most recent
shift of 'switching unions' from the Soviet to the
