Bornholm can attract tourists – all year round and all over the island
Christianshøj new tenant couple Sofie Edlev Nielsen and Nikolaj Jeppesen are pleased with their participation in the project, which aims to strengthen Bornholm as a year-round destination. Photo: Danish Nature Agency
A joint project between Destination Bornholm and Business Center Bornholm is to develop and expand the island's tourism by making Bornholm a preferred destination – also outside the season and the traditional tourist locations.
The island's tourists must be spread out more. Both when it comes to seasons and geographical areas. In short, this is the aim of the project »Bornholm tourism – all year round and across the whole island«, which is the focus of a collaboration between Destination Bornholm and Business Center Bornholm.
– The project runs until July 2026 and is aligned with a vision to make Bornholm a year-round and preferred destination with high quality and international impact. And the primary focus is to bring the whole island into play during the summer as well as increase the number of guests in the spring, autumn and winter months, says Simon Lambrecht, head of business development at Destination Bornholm.
– Towns with unexploited potential and a desire for more visitors are in focus – in this case, the towns of Hasle, Aakirkeby and Midtøen, as well as Nexø. That is why they are the geographical target areas we are working with, he explains.
Focus on networking
The project also focuses on the island's strongholds such as crafts, food and dining, and accommodation, but the island's outdoor industry in particular is the focus as a stronghold because it has great potential for tourism all year round and across the entire island, with activities ranging from forest bathing, hiking and cycling to abseiling, surfing and kayaking. In relation to the outdoor operators, the goal is to improve organisation and help the operators to engage in dialogue with each other and help develop new products that the island's visitors can benefit from.
– In terms of strengthening the specific geographical focus areas, it is especially about networking. How can you, for example, strengthen the brand and the narrative around Hasle, so that after a visit to Hasle Harbour Bath you don't end the trip, but for example continue to the smokehouse and Bornholm's Centre for Crafts (Grønbechs Gaard), he says, adding:
– We therefore have high expectations that when the stakeholders come together in a dialogue-based community, new products will emerge that were neither anticipated nor seen before. For the aspiration for the businesses participating in the project is that they come up with concrete products and new initiatives that actually attract visitors and tourists to the towns. And that is where the areas of strength, and particularly outdoor life, come into the picture, he points out.
– All three towns have great opportunities to work with their areas of strength, just as they have their own unique identity. And we would like to bring those into play and make companies aware of how they can work with them.
Thus the project operates at an urban level, but also at a business level with a focus on individual business development. And here one of the practical tools is Visit Data, explains Simon Lambrecht. Because it can provide useful knowledge to a business. For example, about what a business sells the most of, when there are guests in the area, or how the weather influences turnover.
– Through the national data platform, it is also possible for businesses to gather data from the entire tourism industry in the country, just as they are given the opportunity to look at their own sector, providing them with a benchmark, a basis for comparison, he says.
Valuable sparring
When it comes to concrete business development, it is particularly about how businesses reach more segments, says Travis Lind Thornton, senior business consultant for Business Center Bornholm.
– Businesses on Bornholm find it hard to stay open all year round. Some stay open to keep their staff, but they don't make any money from it. Therefore, it is about finding the potential within businesses that can create longer seasons and increased growth through the development of services and products that can attract new target audiences.
Many of the island's businesses have great potential in focusing on business tourism, he points out, explaining that this requires businesses to develop new products and services that match the needs of business guests.
It is about creating attractive settings for, for example, conferences, strategy seminars and team building, which often requires cooperation across various stakeholders. While one company can provide facilities, another can deliver gastronomy, outdoor experiences, alternative accommodation or the famous Bornholm culture. Precisely this cross-sector collaboration is crucial for attracting business tourists and making the island relevant as a destination – all year round.
– That form of collaboration, we feel, is the next step in the journey towards staying open all year round, says the business consultant.
What can a business get out of the project?
– We tailor the project to the needs of each individual company, so they get a personally tailored process with one-to-one development sparring, just as we also offer expert programmes to strengthen selected parts of the business. In addition, we also hold relevant and inspiring workshops where they can acquire new tools for development. However, closeness is also a very important part of it, because we must support each other in the project, explains Travis, who finds that the project's focus on individual sparring is appreciated by the companies.
– They are incredibly pleased with it. It is met with nothing but positivity. But the individual mentoring also means that we are completely focused on the needs of the individual company. And that is important. Because what each individual company needs varies widely.
– We tailor the project to the individual company's needs so they receive a personally structured process with one-to-one development sparring, just as we also offer expert programmes to strengthen selected parts of the business.
A reverse strategy
At Christianshøjkroen, the project's offer of individual business mentoring has also been well received by Sofie Edlev Nielsen and Nikolaj Jeppesen, who a year ago threw themselves into the role of tenant-manager couple of the Bornholm eatery in the middle of the island.
– We were new, so it was a really good opportunity. Nikolaj has been a chef and run a restaurant before in Copenhagen 15 years ago, but I’m a teacher, so the restaurant industry is a completely different field for me. When we took over the lease of Christianshøj about a year ago, we were faced with getting everything up and running. And when you're starting out, there are an incredible number of things to deal with. We therefore saw it as a welcome opportunity to get some help, says Sofie Edlev Nielsen.
What form of help have you received?
– Firstly, we've received help to upgrade our website regarding texts, AI and links on the site. In addition, through the business consultant at Business Center Bornholm, we've received incredibly good sparring – and have become sharp on the things that we haven't had time for in the start-up phase. Through our conversations with him, it became clear to us where we want to go, and what it is we want to give people, and how we can make that visible to our guests, she says.
From the beginning, it has been a desire to keep Christianshøjkroen open all year round, says Sofie Edlev Nielsen. She is therefore grateful for the help they have received in mapping out their obvious customer segments, which have turned out to be none other than the people of Bornholm themselves.
– Christianshøjkroen is the darling of the people of Bornholm. They all know the place and have been here as children. In that way, it is the locals' place in the forest. And we want to show them that now they can come here all year round again, just as they can hold their parties here. In addition, we also found that our other special customer segment is primarily holiday home guests.
Though the people of Bornholm are great at throwing parties and eating lunch, they aren't the ones keeping the cutlery and the business going in the evening.
On the other hand, it is primarily holiday home guests who are our evening guests during the winter half-year. But in return, the holiday home guests return and also become regulars because they have a holiday home over here.
A third customer segment is of course the island's tourists, whom they try to reach through a reverse strategy arranged in collaboration with Business Center Bornholm, she says.
– It is about our way to the tourists going through the locals from Bornholm. Because if we reach the locals, they will also recommend their guests to come up here. And when the guests leave the island, they will talk about their visit to Christianshøj. So while most people want to reach the tourist directly, we have now chosen to do it the other way round.
Is that a strategy you find works?
– Yes, absolutely brilliant. There are really a lot of people coming. People have heard about the place from someone and have been looking forward to coming because it's been recommended to them. I think about a third of our guests say that.
BY JOAN ØHRSTRØM
About the project
The project "Bornholm Tourism – all year round and across the entire island" aligns with a vision to make Bornholm an all-year-round, sustainable and preferred destination of high quality and with international impact. The primary focus is to bring the whole island into play during the summer as well as increase the number of guests in the spring, autumn and winter months.
This happens through supporting the needs of businesses with a special focus on the use of digital data and with an eye on the shared desire for higher revenue and strengthened earnings as well as more employees.
Destination Bornholm is the lead partner for the project. Business Center Bornholm is a project partner with a special focus on business development. The project is supported by the Danish Board of Business Development and the Municipality of Bornholm.
