Project No. C034
From 13 to 15 October, the Light in the Dark project partners gathered at Camping Melnsils for a three-day meeting organised by the Kurzeme Planning Region. The event brought together representatives from several Baltic Sea Region countries to review the progress achieved so far, discuss the outcomes of pilot testing, and plan the next steps towards the project’s final phase.
Project Manager Anna Elizabete Upsava from the Kurzeme Planning Region presented a summary of the pilot results, highlighting 15 tested tourism products and 195 participants who took part in the experience testing across partner countries. The results demonstrated a high level of visitor satisfaction, particularly emphasising storytelling quality, authenticity, and the presence of sustainability values. At the same time, several areas for improvement were identified – clearer pre-trip information, stronger online visibility, and smoother organisation of activities.
The meeting also featured the presentation of META campaign results, which showed high visibility and cost efficiency across different markets. In Latvia, with a relatively small budget, the campaign achieved an exceptionally wide reach and one of the lowest costs per view among all participating countries, confirming strong public interest in peaceful, nature-based experiences.
During the second day, partners visited the company DabaLaba to test the experience “Disconnect to Reconnect” and to discuss how such nature-focused activities can strengthen off-season tourism offers. On the final day, partners engaged in group work sessions focused on the dissemination of project results (WP3), identifying the key communication directions and how best to share project outcomes and materials with different target groups.
The partner meeting in Melnsils provided an important contribution to the project’s final phase, reinforcing cooperation between partners and establishing a shared understanding of priorities for the use and dissemination of project results across the Baltic Sea Region.
Project “Light in the Dark”
Light in the Dark is an Interreg Baltic Sea Region project aimed at developing innovative experiences to extend and create new seasons beyond the traditional summer season. The Challenge Inventory survey is conducted in all participating countries: Finland, Sweden, Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. It is aimed at SME’s in the Northern Baltic Sea region and explores the interest of small and medium-sized businesses in expanding their operations beyond the traditional summer season as well as the challenges they face regarding seasonal variations in tourist flows.
More about the project: https://www.kurzemesregions.lv/en/projects/tourism/light-in-the-dark/
Project manager:
Anna Elizabete Upsava
+371 26369876
anna.upsava@kurzemesregions.lv
