Setting the course on a joint sailing adventure around the Baltic Sea.

Nothing unites the inhabitants of the Baltic Sea Region as the sea that allows present and future generations to enjoy all its advantages and beauty.

Having this as a guiding principle, the representatives of sub-brands of Baltic boating met on 15th November 2022 in Gdańsk to team up and join forces to cooperate for further development of the Baltic Sea Region destination.

There were various and multi-level actors at the table: South Coast Baltic (represented by the Association of Sea Cities and Municipalities from Poland), East Baltic Coast (represented by Riga Planning Region), Aland Enterprising Archipelago, Union of Swedish Guest Harbours, the Council of Baltic Sea States and the University of Tartu. The kick-off meeting was a great opportunity to meet in person, discuss the expectations and set the course for the joint activities.

Originating from very different backgrounds, bringing interesting and valuable experience and having the political support, the Partners of BaltSusBoating 2030 have committed themselves to initiate a strategic cooperation at the Baltic Sea Region- level in order to develop the BSR into a sustainable boating destination and carry on a joint promotion as single destination at international markets. This seems crucial for all the involved parties, as they believe that the post-pandemic boating market will create new opportunities for boating tourism development in the Baltic Sea Region and the transfer of good practices within the BSR can help to make the full use of these possibilities.

The overall goal of the Project will be achieved via five main groups of activities:

• Establishing a pan-Baltic cooperation platform
• Elaborating a “Sustainability Roadmap”
• Knowledge exchange and peer learning activities
• Dialogue with policy makers
• Iterative development of joint marketing approach,

which to a great extend are based on the diagnosis that the boating destinations and institutional cooperation at sub-BSR level are too narrow for addressing certain source markets like France, Great Britain, USA and reaching certain target groups ( eg. around- the- Baltic -sailors). Therefore, it is necessary to team up and present the Baltic Sea as a single destination for using all the potentials and to create the competitive edge over other boating regions. Moreover, as acknowledged by the Partners, the boating tourism sector depends on public funding (infrastructure, guest boating marketing) but is seen rather a niche segment by tourism stakeholders and policy makers. That is why for a better (financial) support it is necessary to raise their awareness on socio-economic potential and needs of the sector.

An important feature of BaltSusBoating 2030 initiative is its strategic focus on environmental and social sustainability as a central societal goal. It claims that increased awareness of these issues will change customer behaviour in leisure boating tourism and that sustainability has the potential to become the competitive edge of the Baltic Sea Region.

Ultimately, the partners hope to deliver a strategy for sustainable boating tourism development and joint marketing of the Baltic Sea.

BaltSusBoating 2030 will last 24 months and have the budget of almost 0.5 million EUR, co-financed from Interreg Baltic Sea Region Programme. More information about the Partners, planned and performed activities as well as relevant news can be found on the website https://interreg-baltic.eu/project/baltsusboating-2030/ and social media of the Association of Sea Cities and Municipalities and the other partners.

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