Peter Källberg started working for VASEK in December 2012, after a long career as a Key Account Manager for SAS and Blue 1. At VASEK his first task was to study the prerequisites for establishing a new tourism company for the Vaasa region.

From the beginning of June he has been working as a Project Manager for a new project called Botnia Marketing. The project will be carried out in cooperation with the Finnish and Swedish tourism businesses, and the aim of the project is to raise the amount of tourists travelling across Kvarken. VASEK is the project´s administrator and the municipality of Umeå is the main partner in Sweden. The project period is only little over a year.

Peter Källberg in Vaasa harbour.

Källberg believes that only few of the people who travelled between Vaasa and Umeå back in their childhood, have considered what Kvarken could have to offer to their families today. According to Källberg, many things have happened within the leisure tourism in both Finland and Sweden during recent years. It´s time to make people aware of the new possibilities in the Kvarken region.
- The supply of attractions and activities for tourists has increased a lot. Both countries have new attractions that are worth visiting, the ski resorts have shaped up immensely and new events are born. The cultural life in the Kvarken region is lively, and on top of it all Umeå will be the European Capital of Culture in 2014.

Intense competition to attract the tourists

Possibilities to travel have grown all over the world, which means that the competition to attract the tourists is getting more intense. Botnia Marketing´s mission is to convince the tourists that a trip to the neighbor country is worth taking.
- We are going to reach the tourists through traditional marketing means, such as advertisements and exhibitions, but we will also be present in the social media. We will invite Swedish tourist businesses over, and likewise send Finnish tourist businesses to Sweden, so that they can experience each other’s tourism offerings and plan great holidays for their customers, Källberg explains.

At his earlier employer Källberg´s work concentrated on business traveling, whereas the Botnia Marketing project concentrates mainly on leisure travelling. Despite this he doesn’t distinguish big differences between the two.
- It´s all about justifying to the customer why he/she should choose a certain option when travelling, Källberg states.

During the summer Källberg had the chance to do some Kvarken region travelling with his family, consisting of a wife and two children.
- Our experience of the ferry between Vaasa and Umeå was only positive. The passage went by almost unremarked, while enjoying good food and beautiful views. There was even some fun program for the kids on the ferry.

Improving tourism figures in the region is a new opening for VASEK, even though the company has advised businesses within the tourism field before. Distribution of work between VASEK and the region´s new tourism company will be as follows; VASEK as a nonprofit company will concentrate on developing the tourism business and provide with advisory services through the Botnia Marketing project, and the region´s new tourism company will do travel consulting and sales.