How is Silkeborg’s new image as the outdoor capital of Denmark perceived in a national context?

Challenge

A shift within the Danish tourism infrastructure has forced Destination Management Organizations to merge. After the merger between Visit Aarhus and Visit Silkeborg, Visit Aarhus is the areas official advocate of tourism development. As a vision and five-year strategy, Silkeborg has rebranded themselves that sets off from the area’s unique scenery and vast amount of offers within attractions and outdoor experiences. The organization has launched strategic initiatives to improve the tourists’ awareness of the destination and seek insights to whether their efforts have had a positive effect on the target group(s), thereby increasing their willingness to visit the area.

Approach

Epinion has designed and facilitated a process to which the organization receives valuable insights regarding the Danes’ associations of the destination, preferences and needs regarding future holidays, knowledge and attitude towards the brand, future potentials, and a segmentation of five target groups. They survey was based on more than 2.000 web interviews collected in 2017 and 2019 across Denmark.

Resolution

The study initiated in 2017 acted both as a baseline for the brand’s introduction to the outside world as well as a tool of inspiration for the brands further development in the years to come. The study was copied in 2019 to determine whether the development of the brand has been successful. Also, the updated insights will help Visit Aarhus in the future development with Silkeborg as the outdoor capital of Denmark.