Reetta Vähä-Aho

everyone needs to recharge and no one can perform indefinitely. To cope with everyday life, entrepreneurs need resources to counterbalance the stresses and strains.

In particular, in the so-called cold-water coastal areas in Europe tourism focuses on creating unique blue experiences and increasing well-being through water experiences.

Satakunta is a multi-sector industrial region, and that is why we are visited by a lot of foreign people traveling here for work. We are at the very top in work-related international tourism, if compared to other Finnish regions.

The attractiveness and, at the same time, the retention power of the tourism sector must be increased in order to respond to the labour market issues in the tourism industry.

Food is an important part of tourism. Often, we experience the best moments from our travels in restaurants and cafes or, for example, the tasting moments spent at farms and markets. There are wonderful food tourism destinations in Satakunta, and our food industry is also well known in Finland. However, the development of food tourism is still in its early stages in our region.

The tourism and hospitality sector composes a complex ecosystem that includes different kinds and sizes of businesses, economic activities and skills needs. The significant impact of COVID-19 in the sector and the urgent need to address the digital and green transition continues to challenge the sector and demands new solutions.

The tourism, hospitality and restaurant sectors are suffering from a shortage of labor, and the attractiveness of the sectors has clearly weakened in the eyes of job seekers. While some entrepreneurs have hit records in the number of customers, others are persevering and looking for ways to get back on their feet after the pandemic. As consumption potentially recovers, the sectors have faced major challenges in finding skillful workers.