THE DAY OF THE PATH – EXERCISE WITH EXPERIENCES

CMI PARTNER:

Syddansk Turisme, Denmark, working with Naturturisme A/S, local outdoor organisations, national and local tourist organizations and national and International magazine producers.

WHO WAS MEANT TO DO IT?

Local communities, families, the elderly, unemployed people.

WHAT DID THEY DO?

Ø-havs stien is a path through splendid natural areas that is well suited for most people.  Unfortunately, the path is perceived by many locals as a path only for long distance walking and not for recreational use.  This Initiative tests different activities for motivating local people to use the path.  

“The day of the path – exercise with experiences” is an event that takes place every year on the 28 December.  The main objective was to motivate locals to use the path “Øhavs stien” all year round.

HOW DID THEY DO IT?

A leaflet was produced as a hand out during the day.  The leaflet aimed to give participants on the guided tours inspiration to use the path on their own.

Advertisements were placed in local newspaper in the week before the event.

Photographers were sent out on the guided tours and on different locations.

A brochure was created, ‘Cycling and Walking in Funen and Sudjutland’.  This 2-page description of the path Ø-Havsstien in an outdoor brochure was distributed via the magazine ‘Cyclists Denmark’, ‘VisitDenmark’ and ‘Op Pad’, an outdoor magazine in Holland and at Fairs in Norway.

The aim of the activity was to inspire/motivate the locals to use the path more regularly all year and to increase co-operation between nature guides and local associations.

HOW MANY PARTICIPATED?

No data available.

DID IT WORK?

The activity was carried out as specified.

WAS IT SUCCESSFUL?

The key objectives were met.

The brochure was used in combination with other marketing tools and the overall results have been very positive.  The  number of cycle package tours sold have increased from 2009 to 2010.  This is good news since the cycle packages sold are in the high-quality price range and this was in a period where the financial crisis was at its highest.

The involvement in Stiens dag promoted good co-operation with a local partner on South Fyn and gave them an insight into the area.

It was felt that evaluation by e-mail was easy and not time-consuming.  However, this type of evaluation is highly qualitative.

The activity was a good case for best practise and could be used as such in the other work packages, relating to Activity and Community engagement focusses.

OTHER POINTS?

Coast Alive! was only involved in The Day of the Path in 2009 and not 2010.  The evaluation for 2010 concluded that the event should be stopped, due to difficulties with attracting local businesses to become involved and not being able to fund the activity through sponsorship.