Världsarvstaden Falun
Ett världsarvs påverkan på marknadsföringen av en destination
This paper discusses the world heritage of Falun and its influence on the marketing of Falun as a destination. The reason for this study is the fact that world heritage nominations can lead to an increased pressure on the destination and an increase in popularity for the place. A world heritage is something unique and odd that can be used in the marketing of the destination in the purpose of attracting tourists, company investments and so on. It has been vital for the study to interview people that work with marketing or have important rolls within the world heritage.With this background the study is focused on three major questions:What meaning does the world heritage have in the marketing of Falun?Is the world heritage important for Falun? If yes: For who and why?Which organisations/persons in Falun have the greatest influence on the marketing process?In order to answer or discuss this question there are discussions in the paper regarding the notions of place marketing as well as the importance of a well outlined marketing strategy as a basis for the formulation of a product portfolio and segmentation strategy as well as strategy for developing a strong profile on the market.The answers to the question are relative and can have a different view in the future. For now it is seen that the world heritage does not influence the marketing of Falun to the extent that I first believed. Because it is scattered to many areas of Falun it is difficult to make more concrete and therefore also difficult to sell as a product. The marketing is instead focused on the ?icons? or key products of Falun such as Falun copper mine, the recreation area of Lugnet and the area of Runn, a lake in the Falun area. But the world heritage is something that is present in all marketing material; the focus however is not that great. The world heritage is important to Falun in many ways. For instance it has forced cooperation between different authorities in Falun and also led to that new products have been developed such as the homesteader?s residence called Gamla Staberg. Since the history of Falun is of great pride for the local residents, the world heritage nomination has lead to an increased pride of this legacy. Within Falun it is the tourism organisation Visit Falun AB which has the greatest influence on the marketing of the destination. They are semi-governmental and have the job of making Falun in to a better and better destination for tourists, sportspeople etcetera. Methodology I have a qualitative and inductive approach and the study is based on interviews, literature and marketing material such as brochures, texts and pictures.