Carpathian Tourism:
Ecotourism Workshop in Slovakia – Banská Štiavnica
Ecotourism Workshop in Slovakia, Banská Štiavnica
September 18th – 20th, 2017
for local handicraft entrepreneurs and rural tourism actors
in the field of tourism development within the CARPATHIAN TOURISM project
(“CooperAtion of touRism for building PATHways through developIng HANdicraft workshops for tourist and rural TOURISM suppliers” project, V4)
Planned Programme and Contents
The ecotourism module of the workshop is held by: Dr. Tibor Gonda and Dr. Zoltán Raffay
Mr. Gonda, university lecturer at the University of Pécs in Hungary, was for 25 years the owner of an inbound tourism agency. Currently he operates a horse riding farm and guesthouse in Orfű, Hungary as a family business. Mr. Gonda is head of the Orfű based Association for Tourism Destination Management. His main fields of scientific research are ecotourism but he is also an experienced expert in the field of the development of thematic tourism tours. Mr. Gonda is a lecturer within the Central Network of Vocational Training Institutes of Hungary on the field of village tourism services and author of the book Turisztikai termékfejlesztés elméleti alapjai (Theoretical Basics of Tourism Product Development). Mr. Gonda is a lecturer and head of department at the Faculty for Tourism and Foodstuff Management at the University of Pécs in Hungary.
Mr. Raffay, university lecturer at the University of Pécs in Hungary, is also an expert with many years of experience. He runs a guesthouse in Orfű and is one of the leaders of the County Sportfishing Association. Mr. Raffay is also a renowned English translator of tourism and regional development related documents and publications. His main field of research is ecotourism but he is also an expert in the development of thematic tourism tours.
The marketing module of the workshop is held by: Péter Balog
Péter started his career as a freelancer in the field of text writing and became soon a marketing specialist. He runs his own business ContentPeter providing marketing solutions to small companies in three continents on how to develop a more effective online marketing strategy. As a digital nomad he promotes the idea of working remotely, however he has the aim to apply the experience he gained throughout 18 time zones of the globe also on the local level in order to share his knowledge with the local comunities. Péter’s latest project is the bocsimiawifi.hu online magazine with which he shares his traveler and remote work perspectives with his readers while he tries to find sometimes rather ironic solutions to the often serious questions in connection with self-realization on global and local levels.
The workshop is organized by Aleksandra Sikoraivova (SashaSi) and Ágnes Szabó-Diószeghy. Sasha is a bead artist and jewellery designer based in Banska Stiavnica. She is one of the founders of the civil association Umenie a remesla Stiavnice (Art and Crafts of Banska Stiavnica). Ágnes develops sustainable ecotourism projects in order to support communities and to address the challenges of the rural areas in Central Europe.
1. day: Monday, September 18th
9:00 Registration, presentation
11:00 – 12:30 Marketing module
Marketing Communication and Global Tourism Trends
How can we reach potential customers and guests? Which digital tools can we use easily even without any previous experiences? What trends can we expect in online tourism? How can we emerge from the big mass of suppliers?
In this module we get to know the basics of online tourism marketing communication and we will learn about how to avoid the biggest risks and fails in this regard and about how to use successfully our yet unused potentials. We simulate and follow up the process during which a potentially interested online user becomes our customer and we also analyze the potential impacts of this process on our own business. Finally we gain an overview over the different marketing communication tools and we analyze their main pros and cons.
13:00 Lunch
14:00 – 15:30 Handicraft leather workshop will be held by Jan Kvak from Remeselny cech Banska Stiavnica {Craft Guild of Banska Stiavnica}.
15:45 – 17:15 Marketing module
Search Engine Marketing
What is SEO? Why is this important to my business? What exactly are my potential customers looking for while being online. We get to know the most important foundations of search engine marketing and we analyze how this is connected to the whole online communication of our business. We also gain insight on the connections between SEM and other marketing tools. We will learn about Search Engine Optimization (SEO), the benefits and disadvantages of Pay per Click (PPC) campaigns as well as about the world of key word research.
Social media
Do I need Facebook? What is Instagram for? What short term and long term goals can I reach on the field of social media marketing?
In this module we analyze the question, when it is worth to invest time and effort into different online platforms and what focus we should apply. We will see the different advertising games and the world of content marketing.
17:30 Tour around the town of the Banská Štiavnica
20:00 Dinner
2. day: Tuesday, September 19th
9:00 – 10:45 Tourism module
The system of tourism as a sector
Trends, interesting aspects, and data about the system of tourism.
The evolution of modern mass tourism and the globalization of tourism. The social and economic problems of mass tourism and the solutions to these problems including the rising of alternative tourism.
Alternative Tourism
The different forms of alternative tourism. Interpretation of the important categories, gentle tourism, sustainable tourism, ecotourism. The global ethical code for tourism.
11:00 – 12:30 Tourism module
The tourism product
What do we need to know about touristic products?
The different types of tourism products, their specific terms, their structure, and classification in groups as well as their development. The typical tourism products of rural areas: village- or rural tourism, active tourism, ecotourism.
The local resources for the development of tourism products, innovation in the rural areas.
13:00 Lunch
14:00 – 15:00 Marketing module
Review management and customer satisfaction
Why is it important to gather reviews? How should we deal with critics? What is an e-mail list good for?
In this last module, we concentrate on Customer Aftercare and we analyze how we can strengthen our online marketing by referring to the positive reviews of our customers.
15:30 – 17:30 Tourism module
Ecotourism
Detailed presentation on ecotourism, interpretation of ecotourism in teamwork, good practices regarding ecotourism. Specific aspects of supply and demand in the ecotourism sector. The connections between ecotourism and other tourism products (for instance rural tourism, active tourism etc.).
Possibilities regarding the utilization of local products
The positive effects of tourism- and customer trends on the touristic development of rural areas.
The growing impact of environmental awareness and health awareness on customer tendencies.
The crucial role of local products in local economic development and the possibilities to utilize local products.
19:00 Lunch
3. day: Wednesday, September 20th
9:00 – 10:30 Individual consultation regarding business targets, brand building possibilities with our experts. Handing out the Workshop Attendee Certification.
11:00 Study trip to a local pottery wokrshop of Daniel Lichard potter artist.
13:30 Lunch
14:00 Saying goodbye.
The workshop is realized with the support of the International Visegrad Fund.
Ecotourism Workshop in Slovakia, Banská Štiavnica
September 18th – 20th, 2017
for local handicraft entrepreneurs and rural tourism actors
in the field of tourism development within the CARPATHIAN TOURISM project
(“CooperAtion of touRism for building PATHways through developIng HANdicraft workshops for tourist and rural TOURISM suppliers” project, V4)
Are you a local handicraft entrepreneur? Are you a rural tourism actor? Would you like to know how you can raise interest in your products? How can you raise awareness and increase the profit at the same time?
Join us to learn creative ways to “Share Your Story” and get the right tools to grow your tourism business!
If you would like to know more about the tourism market trends, to improve your marketing techniques, know more about the important touristic procedures and about what services are essential, apply for our free workshop until the 20th of August 2017!
This three-day event will provide community leaders, restaurant managers, guesthouse owners, artist, farmers, spring carriage riders, entrepreneurs, small business owners and other service providers with information on how to establish, finance, market and grow businesses based on eco-tourism and small business partnerships. Participants will come out with fresh marketing ideas, greater financial opportunities, and numerous new contacts.
Our workshop gives in particular, small businesses an opportunity to learn how to use their resources, talents and ideas to develop new products, increase their operational income and create new opportunities. This is a great chance for people to learn skills to successfully connect the rural destination to the visitor.
The project’s specific aim is to empower local entrepreneurs to improve their handicraft workshops as tourism services and to increase the quality and the visibility of other rural tourism initiatives. This will be done through our workshop, which will raise the knowledge of participants on tourism trends, social media and other marketing tools usage.
If you would like to apply for the workshop, please fill out this registration form until the 20th of August 2017.
The information will help us to understand better the current situation and the needs of your local area.
Please read the questions carefully and answer them completely as indicated.
https://goo.gl/forms/KhVxAnA1PYfDVg5i1
Thank you very much for your participation!
Program details
The workshop will kick off on Monday afternoon with an educational module on tourism trends where the guest speaker will be a tourism expert from the Dynamic Tours travel agency, a key incoming tour operator in Hungary, since 1991. Tuesday’s sessions will give a chance to learn a variety of marketing skills from a professional marketing and social media expert. The workshop will wrap-up Wednesday with sessions giving attendees the opportunity to network and consult with our project experts.
Selection criteria and further information
Participation in the workshop is free of charge for 15 selected applicants providing rural tourism services. The event covers accommodation and meals for up to 10 participants and additionally the lunch and snacks during the workshops for up to another 5 local participants. In the selection process the secure knowledge of the English language will be considered as an advantage. Touristic services related to handicraft arts provided by applicants will also be considered as an advantage.
A block of rooms has been reserved and is waiting to welcome our participants at a local guesthouse in Banská Štiavnica.
Contact
Ágnes Szabó-Diószeghy
programme coordinator
agnes@humtour.com
+36303833721