02.10.2025
Baltic Sea Tourist Forum 2025 Gdansk
On 1-2 October, the Baltic Sea Tourist Forum 2025 brought together top tourism experts and regional representatives from across Europe in Gdańsk. The main themes of the two-day forum were regenerative tourism and data-driven tourism development, which emerged at the centre of the discussions in response to climate objectives and the pressures for change in the sector.
On the first day, it was considered whether regenerative tourism is just a fashion word or a genuinely new way to build tourism that improves the environment and communities. International speakers such as Anna Pollock (Conscious.Travel) and Jeremy Smith (Tourism Declares) highlighted the importance of tourism as a driver of climate neutrality and the power of storytelling as a driver of change. In her speech, Tiina Rajala, Development Director of the Regional Council of North Ostrobothnia, thanked the partners of North Ostrobothnia and highlighted the importance of the Forum's themes for the entire tourism industry in the future. The message shared by today's speakers was that industry dialogue with the target areas must be increasingly linked to respect and reciprocity between the target areas and the environment's own values and communities.
On the second day, the focus was on the smart use of data in the development of tourist destinations. Ulf Sonntag (NIT, Germany) and Anssi Tarkiainen (Lapin AMK) highlighted the role of data in both measuring climate impacts and enabling sustainable growth. Collecting data does not help anyone, but applying and understanding it is a key way to influence decisions and actions and gain impact.
The forum was co-organised by the Pomorskie Tourist Board and the Regional Council of Northern Ostrobothnia. The Regional Council of Northern Ostrobothnia acts as the EU Coordinator of the Baltic Sea Region Tourism Policy Area together with the Pomorskie Region of Poland. The aim is to strengthen responsible tourism, develop networks and find common solutions for the future of tourism in the region.
EUSBSR PAC Tourism project - Regional Council of Northern Ostrobothnia
