A time of great opportunity for Bornholm
An exciting future is shaping up for Bornholm's business community with year-round tourism, offshore and the climate transition. It is a time of great opportunity, but also the time to roll up one's sleeves to seize them, says Anne Thomas, Director of the Centre for Regional and Tourism Research (CRT) in this interview.
First of all – what does Bornholm do well regarding business development?
Bornholm has shown a unique ability to think and collaborate across boundaries. This is absolutely crucial for our capacity to adapt. It is a well-known fact that there is a difference between innovation in a local service business and in a high-tech export company. The way of thinking is different.
I believe that precisely Bornholm's ability to collaborate across sectors is a good starting point for entering into lucrative partnerships with some of the major energy players, even if their reality is markedly different from ours.
Are there any special parameters and conditions that apply to business development on Bornholm?
There are many conditions that are specific to Bornholm compared to other regions in the country. Transport is the most obvious. Transport also naturally includes how mobile the workforce is. This is significant for our recruitment, including how many opportunities young people have to stay on the island and get an education.
On the positive side, it is a completely unique situation for Bornholm that we have been designated as an area for very large offshore investments.
Bornholm would like to develop further in all-year tourism. How? Are you looking at that ambition?
Recent years have shown that it is entirely the right way to go. However, recent years have at the same time also been characterised by being a growth period with high consumer confidence. In a new economic climate, it is still too early to make definitive statements about the future.
During Corona, however, we got a taste of what tourism on Bornholm is like during times of crisis. Here it was hotels that were hit hardest, while sales of holiday homes increased, and we got more Danish tourists.
A very large proportion of Bornholm's tourists are returning (especially) Copenhagen holiday home owners or guests visiting family. However, our foreign guests are an essential economic supplement to many different types of accommodation. It is therefore worth keeping an eye on how these two markets behave in the future. On the positive side, interest in holidays close to home is often strengthened during times of crisis. On the other hand, we know from previous analyses that the price of transport to and from the island is an important parameter for how many people choose Bornholm. And here, an energy and economic crisis could prove decisive.
Specifically that segment of our guests who return multiple times is important for strengthening all-year tourism. Bornholm has a strong brand, with a great variety of experiences. We have nature, arts and crafts and, not least, our food, which is worth returning for.
However, the last two industries may prove to be vulnerable during an economic downturn. And then we risk facing a chicken-and-egg situation. For a strong year-round tourism sector could strengthen both of these industries. But if we see more of our industry players having to fight for their financial survival in a time of crisis, Bornholm could gradually become less attractive. And that, in turn, will mean it becomes harder to elevate experiences throughout the year.
Although nobody can predict the future, from an economic perspective it makes sense to develop tourism all year round. However, it is probably a wise strategy to focus efforts so that it is specific geographical areas where people join forces to stay open all year.
About the Centre for Regional and Tourism Research (CRT).
CRT is Denmark's only independent research centre and deals with applied social science research and consultancy on peripheral areas and tourism for use in strategy and policy development at local, regional, national and international level.
What challenges lie ahead?
Denmark is on the cusp of a climate transformation affecting our entire society. This requires a transition across all sectors. The Climate and Transition Council has calculated how many jobs will be affected by the government’s 70% target. As some sectors will be affected to a greater extent than others, we at CRT have been able to calculate how many jobs will be affected on Bornholm compared with a major city such as Copenhagen.
For Copenhagen, the green transition will not be nearly as noticeable as it will be on Bornholm. On Bornholm, up to 12% of all jobs will be affected by the 70% target.
That does not mean we are losing 12% jobs. How many of the 12% jobs will disappear, and how many will have been transformed into something else, depends on our ability to adapt.
How can those challenges be addressed?
Transition requires not only will. It requires both knowledge and funding.
Therefore, the massive investment in both the energy island and all the business development activities surrounding it comes at a good time. It is a so-called ”window of opportunity”.
And to seize that opportunity, both physical planning is required, and a lot of hands with special skills are needed. It is important that during this transition period we do not focus unilaterally on seizing the new opportunity. We have an existing industry that also needs skills, and that also needs to be able to expand physically.
We therefore have to handle the transition as something more than just development. If our industry is to grow, we must both uplift an existing industry and embrace the new opportunities.