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Low season travel - Harnessing the Magic of Darkness and Dark Skies 4.2.2025

Numerous sources like the BBC and Booking.com have predicted the key tourism trends for 2025 as being; off-the-beaten-track travel, Noctourism (nighttime travel experiences), Coolcation and Calmcation (quiet destinations). The trends and customer demands are there, but how can we harness the unique elements that our regions have to offer to attract tourists during the low season? The webinar will explore the international demand for low season travel and offer inspiring examples of how to create transformational tourism experiences. The webinar is aimed at tourism companies, destinations, tour operators and other tourism professionals. The webinar will be recorded, and the link will be sent to all registered participants. The webinar brings two Interreg projects; Light in the Dark and GLOW 2.0, together on the themes of seasonality in rural tourism and dark sky tourism. The projects, financed by Interreg BSR and Interreg NPA respectively, work in eight countries: Iceland, Ireland, Norway, Finland, Sweden, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania.

Register Deadline
02.02.2025
Date
04.02.2025
Location
Online Webinar
Organiser
Interreg Northern Periphery and Arctic GLOW2.0 & Interreg Baltic Sea Light in the Dark projects

Low season travel - Harnessing the Magic of Darkness and Dark Skies 4.2.2025

Numerous sources like the BBC and Booking.com have predicted the key tourism trends for 2025 as being; off-the-beaten-track travel, Noctourism (nighttime travel experiences), Coolcation and Calmcation (quiet destinations).

WHAT 
The trends and customer demands are there, but how can we harness the unique elements that our regions have to offer to attract tourists during the low season? The webinar will explore the international demand for low season travel and offer inspiring examples of how to create transformational tourism experiences.

FOR WHOM
The webinar is aimed at tourism companies, destinations, tour operators and other tourism professionals. The webinar will be recorded, and the link will be sent to all registered participants.

Registration: Online registration page

BY WHOM
The webinar brings two Interreg projects; Light in the Dark and GLOW 2.0, together on the themes of seasonality in rural tourism and dark sky tourism. The projects, financed by Interreg BSR  and Interreg NPA respectively, work in eight countries: Iceland, Ireland, Norway, Finland, Sweden, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania.

PROGRAM: Tuesday 4th February 2025 (In English)

Times in EET:
12:00 - 13:30 in Iceland and Ireland
13:00-14:30 in Sweden, Norway, Poland, Germany and Denmark.
14:00 - 15:30 in Finland, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania.

14:00 Welcome to the webinar - Light in the Dark and Glow 2.0 projects
 James Simpson Project manager, Novia University of Applied Sciences

14:10 International low season travellers as a growing opportunity
Ged Brown, Founder & CEO, Low Season Traveller, UK
Ged is a pioneer in promoting off-season travel and organises The Seasonality Summit.

He is dedicated to ensuring that there is a sustainable tourism offering for future generations which protects and nurtures destinations and their cultures. You will hear about the off-season demand and some company and destination success stories. Discover the  strategic steps destinations need to take in collaboration with tourism companies to become a successfully low season destination.

14:40 Darkness as an element for touristic experiences now and in the past
Susanna Lahtinen, PhD candidate, Curator at The Regional Museum of Southwest Finland.

One could argue that darkness is as clear as day. But how often do we think of darkness as something, that has a history of its own and as something that has been experienced? What happened when the night fell, and darkness obscured the surroundings? Did the sceneries and sightseeing at night arouse fear or wonder in travelers? How can darkness be used nowadays as an element of tourists’ experience? The presentation gives examples how darkness has been a touristic experience then and now.

15:00 Best practices of Dark sky tourism
Timo Rui, Project manager, Karelia University of Applied Sciences
Daisy Silvennoinen, Karelia University of Applied Sciences, Finland 
Martina Ui Dholain, Údarás na Gaeltachta, Ireland 
Final speaker TBC.
Project Glow 2.0 

15:30 end

Registrations: A teams link will be sent before the webinar.

The webinar is produced by Novia University of Applied Sciences in cooperation with Karelia University of Applied Sciences.

The project Light in the Dark helps small and medium-sized enterprises in the tourism sector create an off-season nature-based offer to attract tourists to rural and coastal areas of the northern Baltic Sea region all year long. Light in the Dark is co-funded by Interreg Baltic Sea Region. More information about the project and contact details to our project partners on our website: interreg-baltic.eu/project/light-in-the-dark/ 

Northern Periphery and Arctic project GLOW2.0 is assisting enterprises and public organisations across Finland, Iceland, Norway and Ireland develop tourism flow during the dark months of the year using darkness of nature and Dark Sky as additional elements for diversifying the tourism package. Read more here: www.interreg-npa.eu/projects/glow20  

More information about the event from: james.simpson@novia.fi 

International webinar

Past event
Online Webinar
04.02.2025

Low season travel - Harnessing the Magic of Darkness and Dark Skies 4.2.2025