Innovative Solutions for the Rural Food Production Sector to Diversify into Sustainable Culinary Tourism Services

BASCIL

Experience Economy principles and Latvian culinary traditions on the agenda in Riga

08 January 2024

Project BASCIL team gathered for partner workshop in Riga, Latvia in the beginning of December to map the preparations for piloting the first element of the solution/business model targeted for local food producers and farmers in Baltic Sea Region.

Technical details

According to project coordinator Silja Lehtpuu, project Bascil has started off well and shows already progress. Project partners have made really good work in cooperation with the associated organisations representing local food and tourism networks from 12 regions. In most pilot regions, 5-15 local food producers/SMEs are involved, and now designing new or updated food tourism services in cooperation with tourism consultants and project team. Food tourism services based on the practical BASCIL Manual produced by the project. Practical seminars and hackathons have already taken place or are planned before the next tourist season.

During the days in Riga, team members were inspired by speakers who told the latest trends in culinary tourism and the Bascil team also learned the concept of Experience economy, which was introduced by culinary tourism expert Pål Knutsson Medhus from Norway. New and valuable knowledge which will be very useful for the upcoming steps in the project work.

Study visits were on the agenda with a great opportunity to explore the food tourism examples and tastes of Kurzeme region, where the main focus was in Latvian cider and bakery traditions.
— The study visits to entrepreneurs are an incredibly important ingredient for connecting the regions around the Baltic Sea. We get to meet entrepreneurs who can tell us about their situation and conditions in their particular geographical location”, says Niclas Fjellström from lead partner Krinova Incubator & Science Park. The study visits this time in the Kurzeme region included bread baking, winery and cider tasting and it was incredibly educational and inspiring, he concludes.

— The partner meeting in Riga was really well planned, valuable and took the project a step further forward. It was also an important occasion when the new project partner from Finland, South-Eastern Finland University of Applied Sciences, got to meet all the other project partners live, finishes Silja Letphuu.