Strong tailwind to foster Baltic Sea Marinas’ Network

On 5 March 2021 the guest harbour associations from the Baltic Sea Region and partners of the “Baltic Sustainable Boating” project, financed by the Swedish Institute, gathered for the first meeting in a series of webinars to exchange views on an “Overview of the guest harbours in the Baltic Sea Region”. The overview had been produced by the Swedish Union of Guest harbours.

The need for common definitions for “guest harbours” was raised and discussed. The regional differences, and the opportunity for dialogue when bringing in the international/regional dimension was also highlighted during the webinar. The participants also agreed that the overview should be developed further to fully represent the guest harbour network in the region.

The main outcome of the project will be the prototype of a Baltic Sea Region Guest Harbour Guide, and a plan of measures for the creation of a common quality mark for the region’s guest harbours. The next webinar will be jointly hosted by the Latvian and Estonian associations, where ideas for the prototype, based on existing guides will be discussed among the project partners.

A conference on marketing, branding and digitalisation for the Baltic Sea Region marinas as a single destination is planned for June, and will bring together a wider expertise and participation to develop the ideas further.