KEEP MOMENTUM

AARHUS

Strategy for VisitAarhus

01. Growth on purpose 3

02. Status – Aarhus has moved up into a new league 4

03. Major investments are on the way. 9 They must be used... and generate a return

04. 2025 – the market perspectives 10

05. Milestones for 2025 12

06. The critical actions – the must-win battles 13

07. VisitAarhus inside 20

CONTENT

Growth on purpose

01. Growth on purposeIn recent years, tourism has created more jobs and more growth for Aarhus than ever before. The positive development has not come by itself. It is a growth made on purpose. Created by a wide range of investments from public and private parties. But the journey is not over, and now comes the task of keeping momentum – and exploiting the opportunities for growth to take the next leap.

This strategy is the plan for how VisitAarhus can and will contribute to ensuring that tourism in the coming years will continue to help develop Aarhus, Central Denmark Region and Denmark as a whole.

Tourism is a global growth industry that Aarhus in the coming years will have every opportunity to continue benefitting from. At the same time, we live in a world where changes occur faster and deeper than ever before and where the effect of events reverberates globally – in no time.

Therefore the plan takes stock of the reality of globalisation – it is spacious enough to allow us to adapt to the changes but at the same time normative, giving us a compass to steer by. And with a sharp focus on the battles that must be won.

In this plan we set visions and guiding stars that point towards 2025. And we set the strategic tracks of the critical actions, which together we must realise towards 2021. Together this forms the basis for the action plan with concrete activities, which we plan and implement together with our partners each year.

The strategy is based on a dialogue with stakeholders across the entire value chain of tourism. The width is important. The good guest experience and the desire to visit and revisit Aarhus is based on the parties’ broad, joint effort. If we all row along - in the same direction - we have proved that Aarhus wins. The challenge is to continue winning.

Our primary task is to be the focal point for the partner cooperation. We will only be allowed to play that role, if we by the many parties of tourism are perceived as relevant and contributing with professional, value-adding, innovative and agile suggestions to the development of tourism in Aarhus. This is the aim of our work and of this plan.

Status – Aarhus has moved up into a

new league

02. Status – Aarhus has moved up into a new leagueDuring the latest five years, the turnover from tourism in Aarhus has grown by 65 percent, from DKK 2.37 billion in 2008 to DKK 3.92 billion in 2015. At the end of 2015, the turnover from tourism accounted for approx. 4,000 full-time jobs in the City of Aarhus.

The growth in tourism has also left positive marks in the shape of large invest-ments in hotels, attractions, etc. Over the last five years, approx. DKK 2 billion have been invested in tourism in Aarhus and the surrounding region. Invest-ments, that contribute to creating jobs, and to making Aarhus an attractive city to live and work in.

Together, we have lifted Aarhus up into a new, international league of ”second cites” - cities that investors and tourists are increasingly turning towards in order to seek new opportunities outside the capital cities and the major urban centres in Europe. The positive development can be read in a number of key figures.

The overall total tourism has grown

The number of overnight stays from 2011 to 2016 has increased by 63 percent. From 672,000 in 2011 to 1,096,000 in 2016.

Figure 1 The development in overnight stays 2011-2016 (all accommodations)

600.000

2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016

700.000

800.000

900.000

1.000.000

1.100.000

1.200.000

02. Status – Aarhus has moved up into a new leagueAlso in an international context, Aarhus has performed well. Compared to the development in the Scandinavian capital cities and in a number of second cit-ies in Europe, Aarhus has been one of the fastest-growing cities, and has thus brought market shares back to Denmark

Figure 2 Aarhus vs. other Scandinavian capital cities 2011-2016

Tourism has made Aarhus more international

Aarhus is our city. But we also need to attract foreign companies, investors and talents. One of the ways to achieve the goal goes through a more international tourism. That we become known through visits – whatever they are weekend stays, international conferences or concerts and events hosted by Aarhus.

In recent years, the international overnight stays have increased markedly from 155,000 in 2011 to 255,000 in 2016.

90

2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016

Aarhus

100

110

120

130

140

150

160

170

Bergen

Göteborg

Tampere

Malmö

Copenhagen

Oslo

Stockholm

Helsinki

02. Status – Aarhus has moved up into a new leagueAlso in this field Aarhus has positioned itself at the forefront of the Scandinavian capitals and second cities.

Figure 3 Aarhus vs. the Scandinavian capitals’ international overnights stays 2011-2016.

Aarhus attracts a historically high number of cruise guests

Also in the cruise area Aarhus has the tailwind in its sails. From 2010 and till now, the number of calls has exploded from 2 to 41, and during the same period the number of passengers has increased from 6,940 to 98,000 in 2018.

Figure 4 The development in number of cruise calls 2010-2018

80

90

100

110

120

130

140

150

160

170Aarhus

Bergen

Copenhagen

Göteborg

Malmö

Oslo

Stockholm

Tampere2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016

0

2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018

10

20

30

40

50

02. Status – Aarhus has moved up into a new leagueFigure 5 The development in number of cruise passengers 2010-2018

0

2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018

20.000

40.000

60.000

80.000

100.000

120.000

Although the cruise business only accounts for a small part of the total tourism in Aarhus, it is particularly important. Partly because the popular cruise cities are associated with prestige that has a positive effect on the rest of the tourism and on the city as a whole – and partly because the major, global cruise shipping companies give Aarhus a stronger driving force to market itself internationally.

That is why it is also positive that many global cruise brands in recent years have discovered Aarhus.

Figure 6 Selected cruise brands

02. Status – Aarhus has moved up into a new leagueAarhus in the world press

The number of articles about Aarhus in international media has grown significantly.

Table 1 The development of international media coverage 2012-2016

Meltwater has estimated the value of the international online coverage in 2016 to DKK 120 million.

Figure 7 KPIs for international coverage 2016

Year2012

2013

2014

2015

2016

13Number of international coverage, print + online

19

127

86

2087

Media

Online media

Articles

1.663

Potential readers #Publications Advertisement value

911.060.937 372 120.396.839 DK

The positive development is first and foremost the result of the fact that Aarhus has become a better story – amongst others because of the urban develop-ment at the harbour, being Europe’s culture capital in 2017, good restaurants, as well as exhibitions and world-class buildings. The stronger experiences have sent more Aarhus restaurants and cultural institutions far upwards in recognized ranking lists, such as the Guide Michelin and Lonely Planet, which have a large influence on the marketing of the city.

The increased international media coverage is also the result of the fact that more resources have been spent on international marketing and communication to the media around the world. This does not only apply for VisitAarhus but also for the European Capital of Culture year and among several other players. Now it is important to maintain the pressure so that we retain a name in the world.

Major investments are on the way. They must be used...and generate

a return

03. Major investments are on the way. They must be used... and generate a returnThe major task for the coming years is to maintain recent years’ momentum so that tourism can continue to be a growth engine.

This task must be viewed in light of the fact that very significant investments are made in the Aarhus area these years.

Figure 8 Summary of major new investments

These are investments that provide good opportunities to grow tourism. Regardless of whether they are made directly or indirectly in tourism.

Focus must be both strategic and practical. For example, a focus on attracting rele-vant international conventions will benefit the university’s investments in attracting talents and making itself visible in relevant professional environments. Similarly, the development of the harbour area will contribute to create an attractive space of experience for events and guests. And that again may contribute to create life and business to the area.

The essence is that many positive aspects may be generated by thinking about the combination of large investments and tourism – to the benefit of both.

Aarhus 2017

Expansion of AUH Skejby

Light rail and

Aarhus Airport

AU´s tech venture

Aarhus Ø Dokk1 and The South

Harbour

New conference centre and

hotels

Investments

2025 –the market perspectives

04. 2025 – the market perspectivesAlthough Aarhus has had a positive development in tourism, the potential is far from exhausted. On the contrary, a number of indicators are pointing to the fact that the coming years hold considerable potential, if we are able to seize it.

Benchmarks – still a backlog to catch up

It is appropriate to measure Aarhus against other second cities in Europe in relation to population size, range of attractions and other factors that make sense to use as comparison.

Figure 9 Number of hotel overnight stays in selected European cities 2011-2016

The benchmark perspective in brief tells that Aarhus - seen from the number of overnight stays - is below average – and thus misses out on the value creation for the city, which the best result-producing cities perform. There is a backlog, which Aarhus through the recent years of growth is working on catching up, but the goal has not been reached yet.

If Aarhus reaches the average, it will create an increased turnover in tourism of ap-prox. DKK 1.5 billion. If Aarhus reaches the level of the three best producing cities, it will create an increased turnover of approx. DKK 2.6 billion

04. 2025 – the market perspectivesThe global development

Global tourism is growing. There are currently about 1 billion travellers in the world, and among others the UNWTO, the UN’s tourism and travel organisation, expects that around 2025 there will be approx. 2 billion travellers.

The aircraft manufacturer of Boeing predicts in its long-term forecasts that the wor-ld’s current approx. 6 billion fliers in 2030 will reach approx. 12 billion.

Therefore, in the coming years, there will globally be a greater market for Aarhus to benefit from. Particularly interesting is the fact that the demand for new destinati-ons and second cities is expected to increase.

The expected growth in global tourism is a result of the development in and the interaction between a variety of factors:

• Far more people – especially in Asia – receives an income that enables travelling

• Increased levels of prosperity and longer lifetime lead to a displacement of the demand from products towards experiences – among others in the form of tra-vels – and, moreover, an increased travel frequency

• An increased travel frequency means that the consumers are looking for new destinations when they have visited the large and known destinations. New destinations will also obtain larger opportunities as a result of the crush that is emerging in many of the major tourist cities – e.g. Barcelona and Venice. Here, ”overtourism” is becoming a challenge

• Digitalisation creates greater visibility, easier travel options and opens for new travel offers – e.g., on sharing economy platforms

• New and more efficient aircrafts, which open up for overseas flight connections, are emerging in the market. In the railway sector, high-speed trains may increa-se frequency and accessibility to multiple destinations

• New business models are helping to grow tourism. This means that we may expect that the development of new aircraft types creates the basis for compa-nies that offer flights from for example Asia and America at low cost, such as we have seen it in Europe during the latest 20 years. Similarly, we will see that the digital technologies form basis for shared economy companies that provide new products.

The development in Denmark

In Denmark, the expansion of road networks and public transport means that Aarhus will obtain easier access to neighbouring urban centres, including the ca-pital region and Hamburg. E.g. a larger neighbouring market basis. Until 2040 the City of Aarhus expects that the city’s population will grow from the current approx. 325,000 to approx. 450,000. This alone will create a larger purchasing power and thus a critical mass in terms of market base, such as quality restau-rants, shopping and attractions – important factors that create growth in tourism.

Competition and crises

Aarhus is not alone in seeing the potential in tourism. Currently more than 1.6 million hotel rooms are being built around the world, as well as a lar-ge amount of conference centres, event arenas, museums, attractions and air-ports. At the same time, significant investments are made in events and mar-keting, which will create growth in the cities’ tourism. In short, we must expect that competition will be more intense during the next few years.

We must also expect more crises. Over the last 10-15 years, we have seen a steady stream of crises affecting tourism both globally and nationally. Sars, ash clouds, IT bubble, financial crisis, Ebola, terrorist attacks – just to mention a few.

There will be more of these kinds of crises in the years ahead. And they will spread faster and deeper. It is part of the nature of globalisation. In this context it has a sig-nificance that the anticipated growth in tourism in particular will come from holiday tourism while business tourism will remain at a stable or modestly increasing level.

Holiday tourism is more volatile than the business tourism. This means that the holiday market in the short and medium term is more vulnerable to market fluc-tuations, fashion phenomena and crises – both man-made as well as natural.

On the other hand, experience from the affected businesses and destina-tions shows that they have become far more capable of responding to cri-ses and are getting more robust. And that they get back on track much fa-ster if crisis hits. The same observation applies in relation to travellers. A crisis may well lead to a setback but the guests will be coming back.

In Aarhus this development in the crisis area means that we should take advan-tage of the good cooperation between the many players in tourism, not only to develop tourism but also to share knowledge and readiness when the crises occur.

04. 2025 – the market perspectives

Milestones for 2025

05. Milestones for 2025The league, into which we have lifted Aarhus, together with the invest-ments and the market perspectives for years to come, form the ba-sis for setting ambitious but realistic milestones towards 2025.

We have set up 8 milestones:

1. We will double tourism in Aarhus. From approx. 1 million overnight stays in 2015 to approx. 2 million overnight stays in 2025. Accomplishment will lead to increased value generation in the form of increasing turnover and job creation.

2. We will increase the proportion of international visitors. From the current 29 percent to 40 percent in 2025. Accomplishment will make Aarhus more interna-tional.

3. We will double the conference business. From the current level of approx. DKK 1 billion to approx. DKK 2 billion in 2025. Accomplishment will create net-works, attract talent and create visibility of our professional strengths, including regional knowledge and health institutions.

4. We will strengthen the international approach of the hotel sce-ne. Establishment of five additional international hotel brands tow-ards 2025. Accomplishment will strengthen the international appro-ach and complement our Danish and Scandinavian hotel names.

5. We will strengthen international cohesion. Increase of the current 13 direct flights to international cities to up to 20. Accomplishment will increase the num-ber of visitors, lift marketing of Aarhus and have a positive effect on the city’s industrial development..

6. We will strengthen the Aarhus brand. Aarhus is known and recognised throug-hout Northern Europe as an attractive and sustainable city where people may be inspired, refuel, improve qualifications, network and create business. We have created a solid foundation for this – among other things by the European Capital of Culture year. The task is now to consolidate this foundation toward 2025.

7. We will link the city and the region closer together. Eastern/central Jutland should to an even higher degree be one large marketplace with Aarhus as vital value driver for the entire region. Accomplishment will create regional growth and give Aarhus critical mass to prevail internationally.

8. We will link the city and Denmark closer together. Being Denmark’s sole se-cond city, Aarhus is a central pillar of the national tourism and growth strategy. Denmark is a small destination with the risk of not having critical mass and with few urban power centres. Therefore, Aarhus should be systematically considered in national strategies.

The critical actions – the must-win battles

06. The critical actions – the must-win battlesMuch is needed to meet the targets set for 2025. We cannot predict everything and therefore we must adapt ourselves along the way. In this strategy, we are focusing primarily on actions that can be implemented now and that stretch until 2021.

We focus on actions, which we believe are vital for allowing Aarhus to accomplish the milestones.

And last but not least, we focus on actions where VisitAarhus and our network may contribute notably to reach the milestones.

We have named these areas the critical initiatives. They could also be called the must-win battles.

There are 7 of them.

1. We must bring together the forces of tourismIn recent years, VisitAarhus and our partners have designed the marketing of Aarhus within the city’s core businesses: city breaks, cruises, meetings and con-ferences.

Thus, marketing of Aarhus has gained consistency and power from joint support. For the individual companies it is a good way to optimise resources and by joint forces make a major difference in the market.

Therefore, we will focus on continued development of common platforms, pro-motions and partnerships. Overall, the goal is that the tourism efforts in Aarhus become coordinated. It is the most effective way to ensure that the players in tourism have access to knowledge, network, and platforms, so that they can communicate and market themselves via relevant channels – no matter if the target group is media, professional players in tourism (business to business) or even the visitors.

We will have a special focus on adapting our marketing to the possibilities on digital platforms – both on our own as well as on third-party platforms. Aarhus should take advantage of the fact that through VisitDenmark the state provides resources and platforms for marketing of Denmark. It makes perfect sense that we pool our resources with the funds at VisitDenmark to generate more impact from the money. With Aarhus’ potential as a tourist city, it would also be natural that VisitDenmark in the future maintains and extends its investments in the marketing of Aarhus in the international markets.

06. The critical actions – the must-win battles2. We must light new guiding starsDuring recent years, we have become wiser on the essence of the guests’ and the international media’s perception of Aarhus. Boiled down, it is about a lifestyle cul-ture with global appeal, carried by a strong local involvement in the development of our city. It is a commitment, which is reflected in everything - from the Aarhus Museums’ imaginative world class exhibitions to the many volunteer citizens, who engage widely in welcoming our guests.

The commercial businesses in tourism play an important role in this context. Hotels, airlines and travel operators help to create the necessary capacity and marketing impact to widely spread the message of Aarhus into the world. And the commercial businesses of tourism are also themselves - and to an increasing degree - part of the Aarhus experience product. The developments in the range and design of restaurants, shops and hotels are a clear testimony to that effect.

The European Capital of Culture year has played a major role in energising this dynamic. The European Capital of Culture year has mobilised resources and pe-ople pretty much everywhere. The European Capital of Culture project has been a common guiding star that has accumulated the energies from cultural life as well as tourism businesses. It has been of great benefit to both cultural life and tourism and to the city as a whole.

In short, the European Capital of Culture year has been a ”gamechanger” for Aarhus. An ambitious city like Aarhus should always have a guiding star such as the European Capital of Culture project. A lever for investment, mobilisation of resources and creator of broad commitment to develop our city – also within the field of tourism.

That is why VisitAarhus will contribute to develop ideas and create support for the next guiding stars of Aarhus.

06. The critical actions – the must-win battles

We will also help maintain and develop the good initiatives from the European Capital of Culture year. In particular, we wish to give priority to the following three areas:

The international communication footprint: The European Capital of Culture year has helped to open up the international media wall. The coverage of Aarhus has multiplied. It has been positive, and we have reached many people throughout the world. This is important for tourism as in a world filled with offers for expe-riences it is vital that the citizens of the world have Aarhus in mind. We cannot expect to keep the communication impact at the same high level after the Euro-pean Capital of Culture year. But we will work to ensure that the channels that have been created for the international media, remain open.

AarhusCARD: The Aarhus card version 2.0 is a good result of the European Capi-tal of Culture year. Cultural institutions, transport companies and other players in tourism have put a great deal of energy and positive determination into realising the card. The Aarhus card will increase our guests’ cultural consumption, and preliminary figures show that the tourists have given it a good reception. We will focus on further developing the card and exploit its digital platform in a way that the players behind the card obtain more knowledge of the tourists’ preferences and routes to be used in their development and marketing work. We will also of-fer versioned editions of the card for large Aarhus events. It will boost the value creation of the events and make them more attractive that they are supported by the entire city’s cultural offerings. We want to expand the card to include the entire region around Aarhus. This will give many - often smaller – cultural esta-blishments and attractions in the region the opportunity to market and develop on a level that they do not themselves have the resources for.

The voluntary project: The voluntary project has turned out to be of large signi-ficance to the guest experience in Aarhus. We should therefore hold on to it and make it an important part of our future guest service, which we will get back to later in this strategy.

06. The critical actions – the must-win battles

3. We must grow as an international conference cityIn the next few years, Aarhus has unique opportunities to realise a larger potenti-al as an international conference city. This applies both to increasing the turnover in the conference business itself and to the conference business as contributors to creating significant value for the knowledge economy in the entire region.Three factors in particular offer new opportunities:

Increased capacity: By virtue of more hotel and conference capacity, Aarhus ob-tains the ability to host more and larger meetings and conferences. Aarhus also gains the possibility to host several major events at the same time.

Investment in knowledge: These years, significant investments are made to build strong professional competences in the Aarhus region. This applies for Aarhus University, the new Aarhus University Hospital, as well as research and develop-ment centres of several private companies. The creation of strong professional competences will help to increase the professional weight and prestige of the Aarhus region in a number of professional fields in relation to foreign partners. This again gives the opportunity to attract more meetings and conferences to the city. Moreover, more conferences will also contribute to creating international visibility of the city’s and the region’s competences for the benefit of attracting investments and talents from all over the world in these areas.

Stronger brand: Among other things the European Capital of Culture year has contributed to an increasing attention to Aarhus as an attractive city for inspi-ration, business and relations. This is a new chapter about Aarhus, which is in the process of being written. This new chapter may be used to attract important international meetings and conferences.

More international conferences will strengthen Aarhus’ brand and will contribute to giving the new chapter of Aarhus strength – also when everything calms down again after the European Capital of Culture year. With the new conference centre and the growth in hotel and meeting facilities, it is our assessment that there is a capacity potential for increasing the conference business in Aarhus by DKK 1 billion towards 2025. This means that we increase the total trade from tourism business from the current close to DKK 2 billion to approx. DKK 3 billion. If we are to take advantage of this potential, the current conference level must be doubled. There is a close correlation between how many conferences we win, and how many we make an offer for. We will therefore take the initiative to establish a partnership between a wide range of public and private players, who together can mobilise the necessary resources to create the results.We will also take advantage of the new opportunities to create a stronger net-work with capable second city conference cities in other countries so that we can learn from the best and so that together we can market ourselves to the decisi-on-makers in the international conference organisations.

06. The critical actions – the must-win battles 4. We must ”connect” AarhusA good range of international air routes is vital for the ability of businesses in Aar-hus and in the whole of central Jutland to obtain easy access to export markets and to attract foreign tourists, investments and talent.

The need for an improved range of international air routes should also be seen in the light of the very significant investments that in recent years have been made to develop Aarhus. This applies, for example, for the European Capital of Culture project, the expansion of the major cultural institutions, new hotel and conferen-ce capacity, Skejby Hospital as well as a number of significant private and public investments related to the new harbour areas.

The utilisation and the return on these investments will also depend on the fu-ture success in strengthening the international flight connections to and from Aarhus. The same applies to the development prospects of many companies and destinations throughout the entire central Jutland area. This is the background to recent years’ both public and private focus on the airport service of Aarhus and the surrounding region.

A clarification of these conditions, including the ownership, related to Aarhus Air-port is about to be found. This means that a focus point in the future will be on launching targeted initiatives that can help to increase the range of international air routes to Aarhus.

It is an essential element in this to establish an increased and more systematic effort to attract international air routes to Aarhus – also called route develop-ment. E.g. destination marketing that creates the basis for the establishment and, where appropriate, the retention of specific air routes that are of particular importance to Aarhus. For example, because they have a great potential for tourism or create access to vital flight hubs and export markets. In cooperation with Aarhus Airport, the City of Aarhus and other public and private parties, we will initiate the establishment of a route development programme, Aarhus Con-nected, with Aarhus as the hub.

The programme will aim towards:

• promoting corporate access to international markets

• promoting international tourism

• creating a stronger basis for attraction of foreign labour and companies

06. The critical actions – the must-win battles

It is our ambition that within the next few years the programme will help to open between four to six new routes to important European destinations. Furthermo-re the programme should contribute to a significant frequency improvement to international flight hubs, including, not least, Copenhagen. In the longer term – towards 2025 – it is our ambition that Aarhus has direct flights to between 15 and 20 international destinations.

5. We must maintain and develop our guest service – the Aarhus wayAarhus achieves high marks for its guest service. In the coming years it is an area, which we, through the following actions, wish to give high priority:

The voluntary project: Guest service ”the Aarhus way” does not least originate from the many dedicated citizens, who at eye level with and close to the guest have become part of the city’s trademark and motivation for visits and revisits. The voluntary project of ReThinkers has in the European Capital of Culture year been a significant platform for this. The ReThinkers have also become a mea-ningful community for many citizens across age, gender, ethnic and social back-ground.

Therefore, it will be a priority for us to maintain and develop the many good and valuable experiences gained from the work in ReThinkers.

VisitAarhus cannot solve the task alone. It extends beyond tourism. But we want to invest in ensuring a future development and financial anchoring of the volun-tary project.

AarhusCard: Good guest service is also about ensuring easy accessibility to the city’s attractions. Here the new AarhusCARD will become a key element.

Knowledge of our guests plays an important role for tourism businesses’ ability to develop new and improved guest experiences. Therefore, we will create improved opportunities to collect and communicate data on digital platforms – among other things from the new AarhusCARD.

Digital guest service: We wish to deliver good guest service at the place where the guest is. To a great extent we do this from our web portal, which is exten-sively used by both our guests in the city and by the many skilled employees at the ”front desk” when they prime the guests with knowledge and inspiration for a stay in Aarhus.

Physical guest service: We wish to deliver good guest service by physical presen-ce from our information vehicle, tourist information bikes and at the information at DOKK1.

06. The critical actions – the must-win battles 6. We must create a regional marketplace with Aarhus as the value driver We see a lot of potential in developing central and eastern Jutland as one large marketplace with tourism in Aarhus as a vital value driver for the entire region:

Firstly, it would give businesses and areas in central and eastern Jut-land access to international tourism. Standing on a broader platform will also give Aarhus’ international brand a larger critical mass. Over-all it will enhance tourism value creation in all of central and eastern Jutland.

In recent years, a joint platform for branding the international tourism in Bu-siness Region Aarhus has been created. In the next few years, we wish to consolidate it and roll it out in several markets. Similarly, we wish to exa-mine and exploit the synergies within other parts of tourism in Business Re-gion Aarhus – for example, common digital platforms and guest service.

Together with Djursland, we have created the association of Tourism Re-gion Aarhus. It is the ambition with this cooperation across three muni-cipalities to create a growth centre for tourism on the east coast of Jutland. Aarhus and Djursland complement each other. From the strong concentra-tion of holiday homes and camping on Djursland to the many hotels in Aar-hus. It is a complete experience and attraction destination but in two brands.

The three municipalities that are included in this cooperation, are among Denmark’s largest tourism municipalities. In the latest years, they have had significant grow-th rates. In total, this geographic area annually produces approx. 2.8 million over-night stays and generates approx. 6,500 full-time equivalents. Of the 28 museums and attractions, five are in the national top 20 in terms of visitors. To this should be added the natural forces such as the Mols Bjerge National Park. Together with our partners in Djursland, we have now entered into a cooperation with Dansk Kyst- og Naturturisme (Danish Coast and Nature Tourism). This cooperation allows us to:

• support capacity creation on, among other things, Djursland, when it comes to holiday homes and resorts.

• contribute to create a stronger connection to foreign markets by means of route development in cooperation with relevant airlines and ferry operators.

• utilise data so that we get a better picture of how our guests move around in Djursland. Their preferences can by the companies be used to devel-op new products and services. During the next few years, it is our goal that the cooperation with Djursland will lead to an increase in the num-ber of overnight stays of approx. 300,000 – from the current approx. 2.8 million overnight stays to 3.1 million overnight stays. In the long term it is the perspective that through this cooperation we gain more invest-ments in new capacity and innovation of the tourism in Djursland/Aar-hus and thus a stronger foundation for value creation from tourism.

06. The critical actions – the must-win battles 7. We must promote Aarhus strategically and broadlyVisitAarhus can do more than ”filling hotel rooms”. Working with tourism can also be used strategically to promote and develop Aarhus as well as support Aarhus University and the city’s businesses outside the tourism industry.

The efforts to market Aarhus more broadly – and beyond tourism – are what we call integrated city marketing. Several cities around the world are working with models of this. This takes place on the basis of the idea that communication and marketing are professional tools that can be used towards multiple target groups.

VisitAarhus is a house of competence when it comes to professional communi-cation and marketing of Aarhus. We have developed professional tools, which also make good sense when used in the integrated city marketing. In the coming years, this is an area that we will seek to develop in a dialogue with public and private partners.

Generally, this may give greater impact in the marketing of Aarhus and help le-verage public and private resources effectively.

For VisitAarhus it may generate new partnerships and thus the opportunity to draw on more resources.

We wish to be playing into an integrated city marketing in those areas where in particular VisitAarhus has strong competences and ability to create value. This especially applies to the following areas:

• the positioning of Aarhus in international and social media

• the attraction of meetings and conferences to Aarhus

• the attraction of interesting hotel and experience products

• guest service

In these areas, we will - in cooperation with a wide circle of players - develop actual actions and projects.

VisitAarhus inside

07. VisitAarhus inside VisitAarhus owns neither hotels, attractions nor aeroplanes. Our core resource is ourselves and our ability to be the relevant focal point - the community and the go-to place for cooperation and investment from parties, who wish to take part in developing tourism in Aarhus.

Roles We have identified three roles, which we believe VisitAarhus can fill to create significant value for our partners and investors:

The verbaliser: Verbalisation of knowledge, challenges, visions and agendas. Through analyses, strategies and professionally based communications we will create and communicate knowledge. And we will take part in creating awareness on the need for and support to actual actions. This may for example be the need for new conference capacity, marketing or events.

The developer: Development of actions in the form of projects, programmes, or the like. In a dialogue with potential partners, we will develop ideas and sugges-tions for professional concepts and actions as well as piece together financing and organising.

The operator: We will be the performing operator – e.g. the party that entirely or partly is in charge of the implementation. But only where it makes sense, where it is most effective, and where we can provide a significant value to creating the result.

ResourcesWithout financing there is no VisitAarhus. The basic financing from the City of Aarhus creates the necessary long-term financial foundation, which gives our organisation stability, and which gives us the basis for gearing with other public and private funds to generate sufficient impact in the complete effort. We are having separate focus on increasing the investments from companies outside the actual tourism industry that we create value for – for example in connection with our work to attract knowledge conferences.

Relevance It is essential that our partners experience us as relevant. E.g., professional, value-adding, innovative and agile.

Consequently, recruitment and development of our competences, business mo-dels, platforms and workflows are important focus points for us. This is a job that is increasingly demanding as we get a larger portfolio of tasks and as a major part of the financing of our activities takes place through project financing, for instance with greater requirements to teamwork, reporting, etc.

07. VisitAarhus inside

Mission Tourism creates value for Aarhus’ brand, finance and employment

Tourism in Aarhus is a strategic asset in order to develop Aarhus as an attractive knowledge and experience city

Partners support via network and stable public core funding

VisitAarhus is relevant: We have an image of being professional, value-adding, innovative, and agile

VisitAarhus is an attractive workplace for skilled and dedicated employees

Core competences:• Communication• Marketing and sales• Service concepts• Knowledge, strategy and project development

Vision

Competences & results

Businessmodel

Organisation