Visitor Survey 2014-2015, Full Report

Visitor Survey Visit Faroe Islands 2014 - 2015

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Visitor Survey report · 2014-2015

A FULL REPORT ON INTERNATIONAL TOURISTS IN THE FAROE ISLANDS VISIT FAROE ISLANDS AND GALLUP FØROYAR 2014 - 2015

January 2016

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Table of content

04 07 10 18 20 44 52 54

Samandráttur (FO) Executive Summary Introduction Problem definition and Survey Objectives Survey findings and Conclusions Survey Questionnare Definition of Market Segments Detailed Table of Content

ÚTGEVARI: Gallup Føroyar MYNDIR: Helle Thede Johansen og Laila Hentze SNIÐGIVIÐ og SETT UPP: Helle Thede Johansen

Gallup Føroyar Tvørgøta 13 Postsmoga 3313 FO-110 · Tórshavn Tel 222 885 · gallup@gallup.fo www.gallup.fo

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Visitor Survey report · 2014-2015

Samandráttur Visit Faroe Islands heitti á várið 2014 á Gallup Føroyar at standa fyri fyrstu ferðafólka– segmenteringskanningini av hesum slagi í Føroyum. Í 2015 hevur Gallup Føroyar gjørt enn eina segmenteringskanning. Úrslitini frá hesum báðum kanningum eru tilsamans grundarlagið undir hesari frágreiðingini.

Hetta er ein kvalitativ kanning, hvørs endamál er at finna út av serlig eyðkenni hjá ferðafólki, sum koma til Føroya - atburð, ynski og hugburð teirra í mun til at ferðast. Hendan vitan er týdnigarmikil fyri at áseta marknaðarsegmentini. Hesi marknaðarsegmentini kunnu vera við til at stuðla undir framtíðar marknaðarføring og lýsingarátøkum og gevur møguleikan at eftirmeta viðurskifti millum væntanir hjá ferðafólki og so tað, sum ferðafólk uppliva í Føroyum.

Háttalag - fyrsta kanningin fór fram á sumri 2014 og seinna á sumri 2015. Nýggju interviewarar høvdu í 2015 samrøður við 382

ferðafólk. Talið av samrøðum var 365 í 2014 - í alt 747 samrøður. Úrslitini í hesari frágreiðingini eru grundað á hesar samrøðurnar undir einum. Ikki øll ferðafólkini hava svarað øllum spurningunum og tí er samlaða talið í fleiri førum minni.

Flestu samrøðurnar eru gjørdar i høvuðsstaðnum, men eisini á Flogvøllinum í Vágunum, í Eysturoynni og aðrastaðni. Cruise ferðafólk eru ikki partur av hesari kanning, tí kravið var, at ferðafólkini í minsta lagi høvdu verið í Føroyum í eitt døgn fyri at luttaka.

Grundað á tað samlaða talið av samrøðum í kanningini fyri 2014 og 2015, er trúvirði um, at úrslitini eru umboðandi fyri samlaða málbólkin av ferðafólkum í Føroyum, rættiliga gott. Tað er altíð ein vandi við ein og hvørjari kanning, at gera niðurstøður fyri samlaða bólkin, men so hvørt talið av interviewum økist, ellur lýtisjaðarin (fejlmargen) tilsvarandi.

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Høvuðsniðurstøður Føroyar dregur fleiri marknaðarsegment til sín, men fýra eru mest vanlig: Heimsfjakkarin (Globetrotter), Náttúruelskarin (Nature Lover), Ferðafólkið (Sightseer) og Mentanarhálovarin (Culture Lover). Fólk, sum ferðast til Føroya, velja náttúru framum mentan.

Teimum dáma væl at ganga túrar í fjøllunum, nýta friðin burtur frá stórbýnum, taka myndir, hitta føroyingar, lurta eftir søgum og uppliva nakað annarleiðis, sum er ektað og sjálsamt.

Spurd um, hvussu stór sannlíkindini vóru fyri, at ferðafólkini vildu viðmæla øðrum at ferðast til Føroya, góvu tey samlað karakterin 4,4 av 5.

Samanumtikið eitt nøktandi úrslit.

Ferðafólkini vitja fleiri øki i Føroyum. Tó gista tey flestu í Tórshavn og gera heildagstúrar runt um í landinum. Vegakervið er nøktandi, men framvegis eru ov fá skelti til at vegleiða ferðafólkunum, so tað verður lættari hjá teimum at finna tey støð, tey leita eftir.

75% av ferðafólkunum eru fyri fyrstu ferð í Føroyum og sostatt undangongufólk (pionerar). 37% av luttakarunumm eru danir. Av teimum eru 24%, sum vitja vinir ella familju. 13% eru i 61% av ferðafólkunum (danir undantiknir) handilsørindum. 63% av dønunum ferðast og kendu ongan, sum hevði vitjað Føroyar. uppføra seg sum onnur útlendsk ferðafólk.

Hesi eru týdningarmiklir ambassadørar fyri Føroyar, tá tey fara heim aftur. Hava tey havt Í kanningini boðar umleið ein triðingur eina góða uppliving er størri møguleiki fyri, at av ferðafólkunum frá, at tey hava hildið tey viðmæla vinum og familju at vitja Føroyar. summarfrí í einum øðrum landi í samband Einans 15% av dønum eru undangongufólk av við Føroyaferðina. tí, at so nógvir danir frammanundan kenna føroyingar og onnur, sum hava tilknýti til Ísland stendur ovast á listanum yvir Føroya. dreymaferðamál. Síðani koma Grønland, USA, Føroyar og Ný Sæland.

Ferðafólkini vilja uppliva ferðamál við at samvirka (interact) millum fólk, tá tey uppliva Tey ferðafólkini, sum ivaðust í at fara til eitt ferðamál yvirhøvur. Teimum dámar í minni annað ferðamál søgdu soleiðis: 43% Ísland, mun at eygleiða (observe) ella at blíva eitt við 16% Grønland, 14% Noreg og 5% Skotland. ferðamálið (immerse). Út við helvtin bíleggur ferðina 3-6 mánaðar, Uttan mun til marknaðarsegment eru ferðafólk frammanundan, meðan umleið ein fjórðingur mest áhugað at leita sær til Føroya, tí náttúran bíleggur ferðina styttri enn tríggjar mánaðar dregur. áðrenn fráferð.

Ferðafólkini eru sum heild væl nøgd við Føroyar og geva karakterin 4,7 av 5 møguligum.

97% er nøgd ella sera væl nøgd við Føroya– ferðina. Ferðafólkini geva karakterin 3,5 av 5 um sannlíkindini fyri at ferðast aftur til Føroya.

Í 2014 upplivdu vit í samband við samrøðurnar, at Sea Shepard hevði neiliga ávirkan, men í 2015 hevur hetta onga beinleiðis neiliga ávirkan á hesi ferðafólkini.

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Visitor Survey report ¡ 2014-2015

“The communal singing at the parliament was such a bizarre thing with so many people gathering together and singing. I love it, I think it was absolutely great. The whole idea of people being together and interested in their own culture is really nice.�

Audrey MacDougall, Great Britain.

Globetrotter

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Executive Summary The Visit Faroe Islands Visitor Survey 2015 is the second survey of international tourists of its kind. The first survey was conducted in 2014. The surveys aim to discover tourists’ psychographic characteristics – their behaviours, desires, and attitudes about travel.

These characteristics provide vital information to create a new set of market segments.

The market segments are helpful to inform future marketing and advertisement and to evaluate alignment between visitor expectation and destination experience.

METHODOLOGY The 2014 and 2015 Visit Faroe Islands Visitor Surveys were both conducted by Gallup Føroyar via in-person interviews with landbased tourists mainly in the capital of Tórshavn.

The other interviews were conducted in other villages/towns in the Faroe Islands or at Vágar Airport, before the tourists departed. The

tourists were all interviewed during summer (July-August 2014 and June-September 2015).

Tourists on cruise ships are not included in this survey, because the criteria for participating was at least one overnight stay in the Faroes.

The results for 2014 and 2015 are combined in this report.

Based on the total number of interviews, there is confidence that the results accurately represent the total population of tourists in the Faroe Islands. Of course, there is always a small risk with using a sample to make assumptions. As the number of interviews increases, the margin of error decreases.

The total number of interviews during summer 2014 was 365 interviews. The total number of interviews in 2015 was 382, making it a total of 747 interviews. Not all the tourists have answered all the questions.

Key Findings • The Faroe Islands attracts many market segments, but four are most common: the Globetrotter (26%), Nature Lover (13%), Sightseer (11%) and Culture Lover (9%).

The tourists prefer Nature over Culture.

• 75% of the tourists are first-time visitors.

• 61% of the non-Danish tourists did not know anyone else who had been to the Faroe Islands for holiday. These tourists are pioneers. If we only look at the figure for Danes, only 15% of them are pioneers,

because many Danes know someone, a colleague or a friend who has visited the Faroes.

• The tourists prefer to experience destinations through interaction. They are less keen on immersing themselves in the destination or observing .

• Regardless the market segments, tourists are most commonly motivated to visit the Faroe Islands due to nature. 51% rank nature as their main reason to travel to the

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Visitor Survey report · 2014-2015

Faroe Islands. On second place, we have Visit friends and relatives (VFR) (16%) and on third place Business/Education as main reason. The VFR-tourists stay with families and friends and spend less money on accomodation and food than other tourists.

The tourists are highly satisfied with the Faroe Islands, giving a rank of 4.7 out of 5.

97% of the visitors are satisfied or very satisfied with their trip.

The tourists are somewhat likely to realistically return to the Faroes on holiday, giving a rank of 3.5 out of 5.

The tourists are more likely to recommend a trip to the Faroes to others, giving a rank of 4.4 out of 5. All in all some satisfying testimonials.

The tourists visit several regions. Most of the tourists stay in Tórshavn, but travel around the islands on day trips. The infrastructure is good, but there are still too few signs to guide the tourists in the right directions.

37% of the all tourists in the survey are Danes. 24% of them are on a VFR trip and 13% are in business. 63% of the Danes travel and behave just like holiday tourists.

They are not compelled to travel by VFR or business.

35% state that they spend holiday time in another country combined with this trip to the Faroes.

Many tourists in the Faroes combined Iceland in the same holiday. There is

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evidence that Iceland is not always the primary target country with the Faroe Islands secondary. In some cases, Faroe Islands was the primary goal and Iceland came afterward.

When asked about their dream destination, 22% stated that Iceland be their dream destination, 16% stated Greenland, 14% USA, 14% Faroe Islands, and 12% stated New Zealand in the survey.

Alternative destinations for holiday: Iceland, Greenland, Norway and then Scotland.

41% of the tourists book transportation between 3-6 months before travelling and 23% less than 3 months.

The most common tourist in the Faroes lives in a big city, holds a medium to higher education, loves nature, is culturally intellectual and in search of some unique experiences. Our tourists are also fascinated by the Nordic countries and culture.

In the first survey in 2014, we experienced that Sea Shepard had a negative impact on some locals’ behaviour towards ordinary tourists. Some were suspicious of strangers.

In 2015 however, Sea Shepard was not visible in the same way and together with the appeal from Visit Faroe Islands to treat every tourist with respect we cannot observe any problems with regard to this issue in 2015.

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“If you want to get away from all the European stress, the Faroe Islands is the place to go. - The Faroe Islands, the land of random experience.�

Adriana Karpinska, Slovakia.

Ethnophile

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Visitor Survey report 路 2014-2015

1. Introduction 1.1 Study background Visit Faroe Islands introduced in 2013 their new strategy and brand in order to be more visible in their marketing obtain greater exposition in relation to other countries. The Faroe Islands have not experienced the same growth in tourism as the other Scandinavian countries have for the last decade. In 2014, the tourism industry in Iceland accounted for 2 billion Euros in 2014 thus becoming the largest industry with 28% of the GDP. Visit Faroe Islands also need more statistics and thorough knowledge about the tourists, who visit the Faroe Islands. With this kind of knowledge it will become easier to target their marketing budget on the right segments through the right channels getting a higher

value for money and attracting the right tourists to the Faroe Islands. The tourism industry has a huge growth potential, becoming an important industry in the Faroe Islands as well as providing more jobs for the local population.

Visit Faroe Islands has done some small surveys in the past, but in 2014 they decided to enter into an agreement with Gallup F酶royar to conduct a large mareket segmentation research with face-to-face interviews of 3-400 tourists. In 2015, Visit Faroe Islands decided to continue the same survey trying to reach a total of 7-800 tourists.

Visit

Faroe

Islands

introduced

Gallup

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Føroyar to the project coordinator of the Visit Greenland survey, Ms Sarah Woodall who has conducted the market research in Greenland since 2012.

The key aspect to the Faroe Islands Visitor Survey is that it is based on discovering the psychographic characteristics of visitors, in other words their inner desires, motivations, values, and dreams as they relate to travel. Knowing a visitor’s psychographic characteristics is the key to knowing exactly what to give that visitor during his trip in the Faroe Islands. This spot-on alignment of experience with expectation makes for a highly satisfied visitor who will, hopefully, return to the Faroe Islands for another trip or, at the very least, recommend a trip to the Faroe Islands to others.

Psychographic characteristics are important for tourism marketing, as well. There are two main ways to market to potential visitors.

One is through a mass destination-centric method in which the destination presents images and narratives to the world and hopes the right people see them and become interested in the destination.

The other way is through a targeted customercentric method in which the destination specifically identifies people who are a good fit for the destination and presents them with images and narratives that speak directly to their individual psychographic characteristics.

A person makes decisions with the part of his brain that controls emotion, so if a destination can make a person have an emotional experience with images and narratives because they are so perfectly aligned with his desires, then that person is likely to become an actual visitor. The only way to know what

a person will have an emotional response to is to discover what motivates him to travel.

1.2 Purpose Visit Faroe Islands conducts its Visitor Survey for two reasons: to know how to market to potential visitors in a way that speaks to their emotions and to know what actual visitors want during their trip to the Faroe Islands so that the destination can give it to them.

The Visitor Survey collects psychographics information from actual visitors in order to determine systematic differences between types of visitors and categorize them into distinct market segments. The Market Segment Map to display the market segments is credited to Visit Greenland and which this survey is based upon, however, with some adjustments to Faroese conditions.

A full description of them may be found in 3.3. Information on these market segments includes their motivations to travel in general, their motivations to travel to the Faroe Islands, what their activity interests are, and how involved they want to be in those activities.

Once Visit Faroe Islands and tourism businesses know which market segments are actually visiting the Faroes and in what proportions, they have an understanding of which potential visitors are likely to visit the Faroes and how heavily to market to them.

They also know exactly what images and narratives to present to them in order to show them that the Faroe Islands have what they want. The goal of the Visitor Survey is to know which market segments are currently travelling to the Faroe Islands and translate that into to whom an how to market to the greater world population of international travellers.

The other goal of the Visitor Survey is to find

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out what activities or experiences the market segments are doing in the Faroe Islands and how satisfied they are with them. If the market segments are engaging in activities that fulfill their desires, then this represents an accurate alignment between what the destination offers and what the visitors wants. Faroe Islands tourism businesses can feel confident that they are successfully communicating with the visitors and that their visitors are highly satisfied. On the other hand, if the market segments are not satisfied with their experiences, then this represents a disconnect between what the destination offers and what the visitor wants. This disconnect may come from a visitor’s lack of knowledge that a desired activity exists, or it may come from a destination’s outright lack of the activity. In either case, Faroe Islands tourism businesses should re-evaluate and improve how they communicate with visitors and which activities and experiences they are offering. In addition to psychographics, the Faroe Islands Visitor Survey also collects information such as booking timeline, travel party composition, itinerary details, satisfaction level, and basic demographics.

1.3 Methodology Target Population The Visit Faroe Islands Visitor Survey targets international visitors to the Faroes that travel during the summer season (leisure). They arrive in the Faroes either by plain (Atlantic Airways), by the ferry (Smyril Line) or by own boat or private plane. As agreed with Visit Faroe Islands, cruise tourists are not a part of this survey, because they are staying less than 24 hours. Therefore, they are not considered to be of any significant importance in this survey.

Sampling Unit Travel parties were targeted, as opposed to individual visitors, so to not over-represent arrival patterns or particular itinerary components. A travel party is defined as those traveling in an immediate group with whom all had known and/or planned to travel prior to initial departure. To give an example of a group tour, if a group consists of three couples, none of which knew each other prior to the trip, then the group consists of three travel parties. However, if the three couples knew each other prior to the trip and purposely booked the same itinerary, then the group consists of one travel party.

Data Collection Method In-person interviews were deemed to be the best way to contact visitors. Interviews allow interviewers to build a friendly relationship with the visitors, increasing the visitors’ likelihood of giving elaborate and personal responses. Interviews also allow interviewers to ask subsequent questions for clarification should a visitor’s response be unclear.

Data Collection Instrument A paper questionnaire form was designed for interviewers to read from while conducting interviews. The questionnaire consisted of 34 individual questions, of which 20% were open-ended to allow visitors to give responses in their own words. 68% were multiple choice, and 12% were Likert Scale. The questionnaire form was divided into six sections that closely followed the Customer Journey as identified in the World Tourism Organization’s A Practical Guide to Tourism Destination Management (2007): General Travel Habits, Dream Stage (Psychographics), Plan/Book Stage, Experience Stage, Remember/Share Stage, and Demographics.

The questionnaire form also included a

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consent form on which visitors either agreed or did not agree to three statements: they allowed themselves to be voice recorded, they allowed themselves to be photographed, and they allowed their responses to be used in industry training materials or public marketing materials. And finally, they had the option to state their e-mail address, if they wanted to receive newsletters from Visit Faroe Islands. The visitors signed and dated this consent form.

Venue The survey was conducted in towns around the islands, mainly in Tórshavn where almost all the tourists visit during their stay and at Vágar Airport. Interviewers sought visitors in as many public locations as possible, including cafés, hotels, lobbies, museums, a park,

outside souvenir shops, town centre, tourism information offices, Vestmanna, Gjógv, Runavík, Klaksvík, Svínoy, in nature and at the terminal in the harbour in Tórshavn. The interviewers were also informed about the arrival dates of cruise ships in Tórshavn in order to avoid using time to approach cruise tourists in central Tórshavn.

A very small proportion (1%) of the Summer 2014 interviews were conducted via telephone.

In 2015 2.4% of the interviews were conducted via telephone.

Interview Schedule The interviews were conducted during July and August 2014 and during June and September 2015. Some interviewers conducted interviews in their own towns of residence while other

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interviewers also travelled to other towns and regions. Interviews were conducted during business hours of any weekday.

Some interviews were also made early in the mornings (7 a.m.) at Vágar airport before departure of the first flight. Other interviews were made during the weekends and others were made in the evenings for instance before the ship “Norrøna” departed and the tourists waited for two-three hours in their cars before they were allowed to get on board.

Every attempt was made to conduct an interview with a visitor only after he had spent at least 24 hours in the Faroe Islands.

Sampling Frame and Sample Selection Procedure There is no publicized list of names and contact information of all the international visitors to the Faroe Islands in a given time period, so field observation was used to identify international visitors.

Interviewers selected every visitor they encountered during the given period, and made every effort to minimize selection bias based on age, ethnicity, and gender.

Effective and Optimum Sample Size The Optimum sample size is the ideal number of interviews conducted in order to achieve results with a desired margin of error/precision level. The greater the desired level of precision, the greater the optimum sample size must be.

It is understood that some interview requests will not result in an affirmative answer from the visitor, so more interviews must be requested than actually desired in order to end up with the optimum sample size.

The effective sample size is the final number of interviews actually conducted. This number cannot be increased once the survey has closed,

but it may be decreased if it is determined that an interview is incomplete or invalid.

Response Rate In-person interviews are a data collection method that receives a high response rate, typically 80% or higher. The interviewers asked people whom they believed belonged to the target group. If they did not want to participate, the interviewer moved along to find other potential persons to interview. The interviewers were surprised to learn that most tourists they contacted were very positive and agreed to participate in the survey.

Response Enhancement Procedures Establishing trust with the visitors was an important focus, because it allowed for a richer and more descriptive interview. Visitors were assured that the survey was conducted by a valid source, the national tourism board.

Interviewers also wore identification badges.

They also spoke and conducted themselves in a way that was inviting and friendly to the visitors. Some of the interviewers from 2014 also participated in the 2015 survey which was a benefit, because they could use their experience.

Visitors were offered a number of benefits to encourage their participation in the Visitor Survey. They were offered a Faroese music CD with various genres from which to select.

They were also offered the choice to go to a coffee shop or similar establishment to get a beverage, while they were being interviewed.

If the visitors agreed, at photo was taken, so that Visit Faroe Islands can use the photo together with their testimonials in future marketing campaigns.

Every effort was made to minimize costs to participants. Visitors did not have to fill out a tedious paper questionnaire; rather, they were given the opportunity to talk about and

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share their travel experiences and most of the interviews were recorded. The format of the interview was designed to flow from general to specific and from past to present to allow visitors to think about their trip in a natural and organized way. The interview length was considered and controlled so to not take too much of the visitors’ precious time while still collecting all the necessary information.

The interviewers spoke either Danish,

Scandinavian or English.

Pilot Survey A small pilot survey was conducted in 2014 in order to test the questionnaire, make adjustments and establish the duration of the interviews.

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Interview Training All interviewers received training from Gallup Føroyar on topics including disclosure of the background and purpose of the Visitor Survey. Furthermore, an in-depth review of the questionnaire form was undertaken.

We also trained how to engage a visitor in a comfortable and friendly conversation, while maintaining the integrity of the survey procedure.

Data Entry All results from the Visitor Survey were entered into Survey Monkey, an online platform that allows for questionnaire design, data collection, and data analysis. Gallup Føroyar used this platform for data entry and data analysis only. Based on the fact, that the data was collected through conversations rather than interviews, not all the tourists have answered all questions. Therefore the total number of answers vary.

1.4 Definitions Psycographic Characteristics A consumer’s particular passions, opinions, values, motivations, and desires that drive his or her buying behaviour.

Statistical Significance This term indicates that a sample statistics is representative of a population parameter.

When a result is statistically significant, information about a greater population may be inferred from that result. There is always some margin of error when using sample statistics to describe a population.

Travel Party One or more persons traveling in an immediate group with whom all had known and/or planned to travel prior to initial departure.

This can consist of individuals, friends,

family members, co-workers, students, or acquaintances. Those travelling via group tour or similar configuration, with others they did not know prior to the trip should not consider the entire group their travel party.

Faroe Islands Market Segment Map A proprietary tool developed by Visit Greenland and adapted by Gallup Føroyar to display the various tourism market segments in the Faroes as identified by the Visitor Survey.

The market segments are defined according to two key psychographic characteristics – Interest Focus and Engagement Level. The map is the key component to Tourists in the Faroes, a document that provides descriptions of the market segments.

1.5 Acknowledgements Visit Faroe Islands and Gallup Føroyar gives kind regards to its partners, to Visit Greenland and NATA for facilitating the Summer 2014 and 2015 Visitor Survey. Without support from these generous parties, Visit Faroe Islands would not have been able to conduct as many interviews as it did. Visit Faroe Islands and Gallup Føroyar looks forward to remaining in contact with its supporters as the Visitor Survey grows and develops in the future.

Visit Faroe Islands and Gallup Føroyar also want to thank all the coffee shops and hotels that offered free coffee/tea/ beaverages to the interviewed tourists and the interviewers (Hvonn, Kaffihúsið, Umami, Smyrjibreyðsbúðin, Hotel Føroyar, Norðurlandahúsið in Tórshavn, Fjørðu– krógvin in Vestmanna, Gjáargarður in Gjógv, Café Fríða in Klaksvík and Hvonn Airport). A special thanks to TUTL for discount of CD’s with Faroese artists, which were given as gifts to the tourists after the interviews.

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“Interesting, incredible place.

When we planned it we expected something, but when we came it was just completely different. It’s so remote, but still so modern. Very mysterious. I don’t think you get this in a lot of other places.”

Simmi Patel, USA. Globetrotter

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2. Problem definition and survey objectives Prior to Summer 2014 Vistor Survey, Visit Faroe Islands had conducted market research on a smaller scale. With the Summer 2014 Survey Visit Faroe Islands learned with greater certainty who the Faroese visitors are, why they travel in general, and what motivates them to visit the Faroes specifically. It also wants to know where visitors go and what they do during their holidays in the Faroes.

This 2015 Visitor Survey increases the population from 365 to 747 resulting in an even higher level of confidence. It adds valuable information.

The Summer 2014 and 2015 Visitor Surveys have many important objectives and are combined in this report.

Psychographic Market Segmentation • To collect data from visitors regarding their behaviours, desires, and attitudes related to travel • To analyse the data to identify key defining characteristics • To categorize visitors into distinct market segment groups whose boundary lines are the key characteristics • To develop a toolkit to be used by Faroese tourism businesses that describes the market segments Visitor Journey Understanding • To collect time-specific data regarding planning and booking • To analyse the data to know how much time elapses between a visitor’s consideration of a trip, booking a trip, and executing a trip • To collect data regarding visitors’ travel patterns and itinerary details Visitor Experience Evaluation • To collect data regarding visitor satisfaction level • To analyse areas of both satisfaction and dissatisfaction and determine the causes • To report to Faroese tourism businesses about the areas of satisfaction and dissatisfaction • To make recommendations to Faroese tourism businesses regarding the areas of visitor dissatisfaction

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“It was an enjoyable time and I’m glad that we decided to make this trip. I wanted to go somewhere unique, and Faroe Islands are perfect. It’s peaceful, solitary and beautiful here. There are fewer people on the Faroe Islands than many other places, which means that you don’t have to fight through crowds all the time. Faroe Islands have great photographing opportunities.”

Benjamin Moul, USA. Nature lover

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Visitor Survey report · 2014-2015

3. Survey findings and conclusions This chapter describes the final results of the Visit Faroe Islands Visitor Survey. The Visitor Surveys were conducted in Summer 2014 and 2015. They represent at total of 747 interviews with land-based tourists. Based on this number of interviews, there is a high level of confidence that the results accurately describe the summer tourists in the Faroes. It is important to note that only one interview is conducted with each travel party.

Using the travel party as the unit of measure gives equal weight to each travel party so to not over-represent arrival patterns or particular itinerary components. However, it does minimize the impact of some statistics, such as country of residence, for larger-thanaverage travel parties. See Chapter 3.10 for results on Travel Party Size & Composition.

Demographic

3.2 The Objective of Visit Faroe Islands The objective of Visit Faroe Islands is to find out what the “most common” international summer tourist in the Faroe Islands looks like with regard to psychographic characteristics i.a. motivations to visit the islands, buying behaviour, activities, expenditure. It is also essential to get feedback from the tourists, so in addition to this report, a separate black and white paper is produced in order to categorise the positive and negative feedback based on the tourists’ experience while visiting the Faroe Islands.

The Visit Faroe Islands Visitor Survey 2014 was the first survey of international tourists of its kind. This 2015 survey is the second. It

Figure 3.1

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also aims to discover tourists’ psychographic characteristics – their behaviours, desires, and attitudes about travel. These characteristics provide vital information to create a new set of market segments.

The new market segments are helpful to inform future marketing and advertisement and to evaluate alignment between visitor expectation and destination experience.

3.3 Demographic Profile In the survey, we find a fairly good representation of all age groups. The smallest age group, however, is the young ones between 18-24 years old. The age group between 2534 years is the largest group followed by the 55-64 years old, please see table 3.1 for further details.

Young tourists 32% of the tourists in the survey are between 18-34 years. Most of them live in big cities.

38% of them have low income, below DKK 250.000. However, 1/5 of them have not stated their income. ¼ of this age group comes from Denmark.

The young age groups visit the islands mainly because of nature and partly because of VFR. Education is also one reason to their visit and partly the music festivals, for instance the G!Festival, attract the young ones.

If we look at the travelling habits of young tourists and the market segments, we’ll find that 27% of the young tourists are globetrotters, 13% ethnophile, 11% culture lovers, 10% wilderness seekers and 10% nature lovers. Over half of the young tourists want to

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interact with the locals (54%) and 32% want to immerse. They are curious and open-minded to new experiences.

Dream destinations of young tourists Iceland (22%) is first on their bucket list, South America comes in second with 17% and the U.S. with 16% on third place followed by Greenland 15%. Australia and New Zealand hold each 13% of the young tourists’ votes.

Half of the young tourists travel 2-4 time a year. Approximately half of them are travelling alone while approximately half of them have one travelling partner.

Almost half of all the tourists in the survey hold higher education and 41% hold medium length education. We can conclude that most tourists are well-educated - conscious and cultivated type of travellers.

Residence

Denmark Germany Great Britain Norway USA Holland Sweden Italy France Iceland Belgia Switzerland Poland Austria Spain Australia Russia Finnlan Greenland Uncategorized

Total

36% 10% 8% 7% 5% 4% 4% 3% 3% 3% 2% 2% 1% 1% 1% 1% 1% 1% 1% 5%

100%

Young tourists – trip length ¼ stay longer than two weeks. 16% stay between 9-13 nights, 36% stay between 5-8 nights and 21% stay between 2-4 nights in the Faroes.

The pattern is that almost every young tourist visits Tórshavn. 52% of the young tourists also visit Vágar, 50% visit North Eysturoy and 50% North-west Streymoy. 31% of the young tourists stay at the home of a friend or relative, so they most likely do not pay for accommodation.

Young tourists - Activities Almost all the young tourists do self-guided activities which do not cost: around the city, hiking in nature (67%), visiting small villages (62%), driving in nature (55%), nightlife (29%).

Young tourists - Hoped for but not available In 2015 we see the same being mentioned as in 2014. The tourists find it difficult to book a helicopter to fly to the outskirts. They are disappointed for not having had the opportunity to see whales. It is also difficult to find indoor activities when the weather is bad. Lack of information or insufficient information, especially in English, is also a challenge for the tourists.

Although there are some critiques, the young tourists are highly satisfied with their stay (67% = 5) and 1/3 wants to return to the Faroes on holiday (33% = 5).

More than ¾ of the young tourist will definitely recommend at trip to the Faroes to others (78% = 5).

Figure 3.2

Residence of all tourists Scandinavian (Scandinavians include tourists from Denmark, Finland, Greenland, Iceland,

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For further information regarding the different Market Segments, please see appendix on page 50-51

Figure 3.3

Norway, and Sweden) travel parties are the most common in the Faroe Islands. Almost half of the tourists during summer are Scandinavians. Table 3.2 displays these results.

Western Europe (Western Europeans include tourists from Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Holland, and Switzerland) travel parties are the second most common and travel parties from the British Isles are third.

North American (North Americans include tourists from Canada, Mexico, and the United States) travel parties are fourth.

3.4 Psychographic Profile

50% of the total respondents live in big cities while 36% live in towns and only 14% in farmland.

The engagement level tells how closely the tourist wants to explore while on holiday.

Tourists either totally immerse themselves, observe from afar, or are somewhere in between at an interaction level.

When looking at the map in figure 3.3, we are able to categorize the Faroese tourists into 12 market segments. There are two factors that determine each tourist’s market segment identity – Interest Focus and Engagement Level. The interest focus tells whether the tourist seeks natural experiences, cultural experiences, both natural and cultural experiences, or if the tourist pursues a special personal challenge.

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It is important to understand that these factors describe tourists’ behaviours in all destinations, not just the Faroe Islands. Figure 3.3 displays the Market Segment Map. Interest Focus The Faroe Islands’ tourists prefer nature over culture by a 15 % margin (84% versus 69%).

Only 11% indicate that they are motivated to travel due to personal challenge or physical activity. Table 3.4 displays the results.

Engagement Level When travelling for leisure, over half of the tourists in the Faroes desire to engage in interactive experiences with the locals and learn more about the local way of living.

23% want to immerse themselves when travelling in a desire to e.g. experience something unique with the locals beyond

Figure 3.4

what the normal tourist will experience, for instance living together with locals, tasting local food, collecting sheep in the mountains with the locals. 23% are the more observing types and less likely to have a conversation with the locals, see figure 3.5.

In the feedback, the tourists mention that they like meeting people when travelling as well as enjoying music and the destination’s history.

The figures in this report are high regarding involvement and could be interpreted as a genuine interest from a majority of the tourists in involvement with locals and their local history and stories.

Share travel experiences More than ¾ of the tourists talk in general about their holidays during private conversations and photo sharing, while almost half of the tourists use the social media to post

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Figure 3.5

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pictures. 61% of the tourists shared their travel experiences from the Faroes.

Over half of the tourists use the internet to find inspiration and information about the Faroes.

Hiking tourists find information on e.g. walkingworld.com, inntravel.co.uk, ramblers. org.uk and tripadviser.com. Others use Google.com, YouTube, Facebook, Instagram and several Faroese sites. Bradt Travel Guide Book is also recommended by several tourists.

37% use personal relations to get information and 31% of the tourists in the survey visit the web-page of Visit Faroe Islands. Most of them like the web-page, especially the amazing pictures, while some find it a bit confusing.

Figure 3.6 shows where tourists search for information.

67% of the respondents who said “yes” when asked whether they used Ipad/Smartpone to get information about the Faroes. 33% replied no of which half of them answered that they

Searching information

did not have any of it. Around 1/3 had no need of apps in the Faroes. Approximately one third would like to receive newsletters from Visit Faroe Islands.

Alternative destinations 80% of the tourists did not have alternative destinations for their holiday as they had definitely decided to visit the Faroes.

Over half of the tourists considered travelling to the Faroes for more than a year before definitely deciding the destination. Most tourists told that they decided the destination between 3-6 months before departure.

The alternative destinations are Iceland, Greenland, Norway and Scotland. As we have relatively many Danes in the survey, the figures for Denmark as an alternative destination are very insignificant. We know that Nordic is cool and we’ll probably see an increase in demand to visit the region of the

Figure 3.6

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Faroes, Iceland and Greenland in the future where theme trips or round trips could be a possibility.

Booking time and Methods 16% book transportation 6-12 months prior to departure, 41% book 3-6 months and 23% book

VFI-kanning 2014-15 Booking time Transport Accomodations Activities

less than 3 months prior to departure. 14% book less than one month prior to departure, see Figure 3.7. 10% book accommodation 6-12 months before departure, 30% book 3-6 months and 18% book less than 3 months prior to departure. Approximately half of the tourists book their activities upon arrival.

and methods

Upon arrival 2% 12% 48%

Figure 3.7

Less than 1 month Less than 3 months 3-6 months 6-12 months More than a year ago 14% 23% 41% 16% 1% 16% 18% 30% 10% 1% 4% 4% 9% 2% 0%

Travel agent Online Travel Agent Transport 17% 28% Accomodations 17% 23% Activities 13% 6% Kelda: Gallup Føroyar

Direct w provider 49% 41% 60%

Ikki øll ferðafólkini hava svarað øllum hesum spurningunum.

Other 6% 19% 21%

100% 100% 100%

(N=700) (N=629) (N=459)

N/A 3% 13% 33%

100% 100% 100%

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Market Segmentation Market segmentation is the process of defining and subdividing a large homogenous market into clearly identifiable segments having similar needs, wants, or demand characteristics.

Its objective is to design a marketing mix that precisely matches the expectations of customers in the targeted segment. Knowing that it is impossible to supply the needs of an entire market, it is necessary for Visit Faroe Islands to breakdown the total demand into segments and choose the ones that match what the Faroe Islands offer.

In some cases it was hard to determine, in which category the tourists belonged, because they behaved in a certain way when they travelled in general, but here in the Faroe Islands, the tourists behaved differently.

Many of the tourists in the Faroes are globetrotters (26%), please see figure 3.8.

This is the biggest segment. A globetrotter is a person who frequently travels to different places around the world. A globetrotter from

Russia puts it this way: “I love the Faroes.

I’ll recommend everyone to visit the Faroes, because it’s remote and special.” He was on his way to Greenland.

The second biggest segment is nature lovers (14%) and the sightseers are on third place (11%). Nature lovers like wild birds, plants and other natural phenomena. Sightseers go on vacation and visit historic places. They often take photos of monuments, buildings, bridges and parks. A British sightseer expressed that he had a wonderful time and was really surprised to find a place like the Faroes left on this earth.

On fourth place, we have the culture lovers (9%), who for instance find concerts in caves really cool. These four market segments are the “core” of tourists in the Faroes. The “core” of a destination’s tourists tells a lot about how that destination is perceived by the travel community. The remaining eight segments are not significant in the Faroes.

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Market Segments

Figure 3.8

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3.5 Motivation to visit the Faroe Islands Tourists most common visit the Faroe Islands to experience nature, wildlife and natural phenomena, please see figure 3.9. This is predominately also what the Faroe Islands are trying to market. There is a coherence in what tourists perceive and what they see in the Faroes. Other popular motivations are to visit friends and relatives, to visit a dream destination or do business/education Visit Faroe Islands has also made efforts to brand the Faroes by promoting Faroese musicians. We also see other platforms emerging, e.g. food tourism, special interest tourism like knitting, painting or diving.

Many tourists commented that pictures, TVdocumentary or specific bands made them visit the Faroes. Tourists are curious to experience new and rather unknown destinations. Others state that the ferry took them to the Faroes on their way to Iceland. In this case, the Faroes

Main reason to chose the Faroe Islands Nature/Wildlife Visit Friends/Relatives Business/Education Dream Destination Artic Region Fanatic Culture Aura og Mystery Special Activity N/A Total Figure 3.9

51% 16% 10% 7% 2% 5% 2% 4% 3% 100%

was not main destination of their trip.

The Faroes have a lot to offer tourists. The objective is to be better at charging a fair price on the different services offered, because the tourists do a lot of interesting things on their own free of charge, instead of using local guides to a greater extent.

We can see an increase in the numbers of tourists visiting the Faroes. Visit Faroe Islands has also used a lot of efforts to expand the tourist season with efficient marketing in order to decrease seasonality knowing the hotel capacity is limited during summer, but mostly vacant during winter. Visit Faroe Islands looks at the Faroes as an all year round tourist attraction, because there is a great potential for unique experiences in winther season as well.

It has been proved that it is efficient to tell stories in order to get the attention from potential tourists by using different themes.

The strong brand of Visit Faroes Islands helps exposing the Faroes on different platforms and in different media reaching out as a unification factor making it easier for tourists to spot.

First visit to the Faroe Islands 75% of the respondents answered that it was their first trip to the Faroe Islands, while the rest had been on earlier trips to the Faroes.

In general, over half of the tourists go for international holidays 2-4 times a year, 12% of them do even take 5-9 international holidays a year while 26% only go for an international holiday once a year.

Over 80% of the tourists do not use the services of a travel agent when booking a holiday nor do they select pre-packaged itineraries when

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going on holiday.

Compelled tourists The compelled tourists (Visit Friends and Relatives) do have a different dimension as opposed to other tourists. We asked them whether they would have travelled to the Faroes for holiday if they were not compelled to due to business or VFR. 70% replied “yes” and 30% replied “no”.

Market segments In the market segments map we find the tourists’ interest and behaviour based on their engagement level characteristics.

The most common tourist in the Faroes is a globetrotter, who has already travelled to most interesting places in the world. He loves nature and is culturally interested, but reluctant to visit the same place twice. He’s enchanted by the special sound of the North, the feeling of

being alive and in coexistence with nature.

Most of our tourists live in big cities with a lot of comfort and modern facilities, but they want to get away from the noise, narrow spaces and overcrowded streets to find peace of mind.

The opportunity to experience something special and intimate like a Hoyma concert or even going for a helicopter sightseeing trip could be appealing to a globetrotter.

Our target group is between 25-45 years old, well-educated and enlightened, lives in a big city, but is looking for the real thing, authenticity, connecting with locals, storytelling for instance Viking stories and a place where you can discover the scent of your childhood and get inspired. This tourist finds peace in nature and likes to sleep in nature – it could be a globetrotter or a nature lover.

Another target group is the sightseer between 45-65 years old, with medium education, the

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observing type and interested in history. The sightseer wants to stay in a comfortable place during a holiday.

3.8 Transportation to the Faroe Islands

The tourists give a very positive feedback regarding the satisfaction level of their stay in the Faroe Islands. They give a rank of 4.7 out of 5, where 1 is not satisfactory at all and 5 is very satisfactory. The tourists are likely to recommend a trip to the Faroes to others, giving a rank of 4.4 out of 5 – all in all, some satisfying testimonials. See figure 3.10.

Over half of the tourists state that they arrived in the Faroes by plane from Copenhagen.

Many tourists take the ferry Norrøna and stay a couple of days before heading for Iceland.

Figure 3.12 displays these results. Most Danes arrive with Atlantic Airways from Denmark (74%) while a smaller quantity uses Smyril Line from Hirtshals (24%). On the contrary, Germans most commonly arrive with Smyril Line (55%). 65% of the French arrive with Atlantic Airways from Denmark and 29% with the ferry.

3.7 Intention to return to the Faroes

3.9 Mobility

The tourists in the Faroes are less likely to return for another trip to the Faroes giving a rank of 3.5 out of 5. One third is very confident to return, given 5 out of 5, see figure 3.11.

Number of regions Visited Normally, we operate with seven regions in the Faroes. They are defined as Norðuroyggjar, Eysturoyggin, Norðurstreymoy, Suður–

3.6 Satisfaction Level

Satisfction level

Figure 3.10

Intention to return

Figure 3.11

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Transportation

Figure 3.12

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streymoy, Vágarnar, Sandoy og Suðuroy. In figure 3.12, however, it possible to choose between 21 either towns, villages or islands.

98% of all tourists visit the capital, Tórshavn, please see figure 3.13. This is only natural as the capital is located in the centre of the islands. The hotel capacity makes it possible to have a pleasant stay and travel on one-day trips to other regions and towns. It is easy to get around in a car as the infrastructure is good and thus the tourists do many one-day trips on the mainland and return to Tórshavn for dining in the evening. On second place

over most visited regions is North-Eysturoy where Gjógv is situated with 53% followed

by Northwest-Streymoy where the village of Vestmanna is situated. Only few tourists visit more than 7 villages or areas, but more than half of them are visiting 5 areas or less. Most tourists visit 3-5 areas.

Nights spent in different regions 62% of the tourists spend the nights in only one region. As already mentioned it is possible and also convenient to stay in Tórshavn and choose day trips to other places and returning in the evenings to Tórshavn. 19% spend nights

Figure 3.13

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“The Faroe Islands were to me an educational and unique tourist experience.

Fascinating local culture!”

Justin Jillson, USA, Wilderness Seeker

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in two regions and 11% spend their nights in three regions.

3.10 Length and Stay 38% of the tourists state that they stay between 5-8 nights and 31% stay for 2-4 nights. 15% stay between 9-13 nights and 15% stay longer than 14 nights. Table 3.14 displays these results. The longer they stay the more regions they have time to visit. VFR-tourists stay longer than holiday tourists.

We have quite a number of weekend tourists who Visit Faroe Islands ought to focus on in connection with lack of opening hours of shops and restaurants. Many weekend guests wanted to buy souvenirs and clothes and dine out, but they were dissatisfied with the fact that restaurants and shops were closed on Sundays especially outside of Tórshavn.

Many also stated that they didn’t have enough time during one weekend to experience as much as they wanted. Instead they wanted to return some day.

There might be an issue with lack of information when weekend tourists want to rent a car on short notice, but they had a hard time to get guidance and sufficient information. If they are staying at a hotel, perhaps it would be a good idea to provide such basic information in advance in order to improve the service and get happier customers. Not all tourists are used to restrictive opening hours on Sundays when going for a holiday.

Travel Party size and Composition Almost half of the tourists in this survey were travelling together with their spouses, while 23% were travelling alone. 22% were travelling together with friends. 6% travelled in groups.

Accommodation 39% of all the respondents in the survey stay at a hotel, while 15% stay on campsites, some fewer stay at hostels or B&B, whereas a small proportion camp in nature. Many of the campers are very surprised by the hospitality of the locals to allow them to camp around the islands. Others missed the distinction between campsites for wagons and campsites with grass for tents. 20% of the tourists are “compelled tourists” visiting friends and relatives or on business or because of education.

3.11 Selected Activities The tourists are very active in the Faroes, see figure 3.15. Self-guided city sightseeing (89%) and self-guided small village visits (67%) are the two most popular activities among tourists in the Faroes. The self-guided lighthiking comes third (63%). Casual interaction with locals is also popular. However, these activities do not generate any profit, but it would be a good idea to develop even more interesting storytelling and combine it with city sightseeing and hiking in order to get more economic impact out of the tourists.

Figure 3.16 displays a higher activity level among VFR-tourists than on other tourists.

3.12 Product Development Recently, there has been more focus on the activities offered to tourists. However, according to the tourists, there is room for improvement. The tourists experience lack of information on e.g. changes in time tables for ferries and buses, acceptance of credit cards outside of Tórshavn, information about cancellations on boat trips, where to eat Faroese food, road signs, visible starting location for hiking routes, “queen’s view” just to mention a few.

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Length of Stay

Figure 3.14

Selected Activities - All

Figure 3.15

Selected Activities - VFR

Figure 3.16

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The tourism industry in the Faroe Islands is improving their services every year and is able to take measures to create products that tourists wish for, but do not currently exist.

More detailed information about favourite experiences is found in a separate appendix.

Activities and products to offer : • Helicopter roundtrips • Wiking routes • Develop more guided tours • Story telling combined with i.a. horse riding • Diving centre with water sports and lessons for new beginners • Ruins visits • Extreme marathon • Biking • Museums to offer activities • Faroese chain dance • Paragliding • Golf with facilities • Hoyma concerts • Other music events attracting foreigners to the Faroes • Develop the concept of “Heimablídni” where locals invite tourists for dinner/tea • Knitting courses and other trade • Painting courses • Relaxation and spa • Meditation and mindfulness • Pilgrim tours • Participating in sheep shearing • Unique experiences – meeting locals doing ordinary things with connection to the past

Overall, we see a pattern among the tourists.

The lack of information is still very pronounced as mentioned earlier both prior to the visit and during the visit. Tourists would appreciate more signs making it easier to find hiking routes around the islands and “queen’s view.”

3.13 Favourite Experiences The tourists had a lot of input to tell regarding their favourite experiences. They like the relaxed atmosphere, the quietness, the peacefullness, nature, scent of the fresh air, the birds, the sheep, the coulurful houses and people. All in all the majority of the tourists are very satisfied and taken by surprise by the beauty of nature and the friendly population.

3.14 Feed Back on Tourism

Some tourists looked for Faroese food without any luck, others found the restaurants closed in the evening, when they want to go out for a late-dinner after a whole day’s trip. Others found it unnecessary difficult to get license to fish and it was expensive.

Lack of road signs is still a problem, because the tourist struggle in finding the right places to visit or just find the shopping centre to buy some food. Lack of English translations of menus in restaurants is easy to solve in order to get happier customers.

Many tourists were surprised that the helicopter ride was so cheap, but turned very disappointed, when it turned out to be very difficult to book, because it was fully booked most of the time or the trip was cancelled due to technical problems or bad weather.

Some tourists had high expectations and looked forward to eat affordable fresh fish and local dishes, but all they found was Pizza and burger bars and they were disappointed.

In addition, the closed restaurants outside of Tórshavn and closed shops in general on Sundays was a disappointment, especially for those who visit the islands from Friday until Sunday and would like to shop. Especially, some were disappointed that everything was closed on Sundays in Klaksvík except from

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“My favorite experience?

Sheep slaughtering and this fishing trip!�

Jonna Laursen, Denmark, Nature lover

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the bakery.

Sea Shepard was very visible throughout the islands during summer 2014 in connection with their “Grindstop” campaign. The campaign had an impact on some of the male tourists we spoke to. Locals suspected them to be members of Sea Shephard, because they looked like strangers in black jackets. They were in their thirties. Some Faroese shouted something about See Shepard at them and it was not a pleasant experience. In 2015, however, Sea Shephard was not visible in the same way. Visit Faroe Islands made early in June an appeal in the media to all Faroese people to treat tourists with politeness and respect. We have not experienced any negative effect with regards to this issue in 2015.

3.15 Conclusion Our target group is the enlightened and mature tourist, who travels together with the spouse/partner. Our tourists are above average educated, have an above income and do not want the same holiday as others. Our tourists are mostly very content with their stay in the Faroes, but are not afraid of giving us constructive feedback. They are very openminded and dedicated to experience nature as it is accepting that the weather has larger impact on everyday life on the islands.

Our target group is searching for places that are not crowded by noisy tourists. Our tourists want to experience something unique, which touches the senses, the soul and mind. There is a balance that Visit Faroe Islands must be very conscious about – that is not to let the Faroe Islands be crowded by tourists, because the consequences will most likely drive away the very tourists that treasure the natural beauty of the islands, peace, the kindness of people and who like the very concept of the “UN- campaign.” We have to be aware that

the more tourists visit our islands the more difficult it will be to sell the “UN-campaign” as some tourist will perceive it as a false label.

In 2014 there were several tourists who stunned by the ramshackled cars/tractors and other things which do not belong in nature laying around to rust in nature. It is a wrong signal to send to tourist as if we do not care about nature in the outskirts.

Some of the tourists who also visited Iceland were disappointed and sad to see the large tourism industry there - Iceland is no longer unspoiled. According to them Iceland had lost some of its value as an attractive and unique destination.

The places to track down tourists would for instance be on different special interest groups’ websites in order to reach out for the right segments, for instance hiking pages, slow holiday people, knitting pages, music events pages, photographers’ pages, sports pages, marathon pages.

The Visit Faroe Islands has already for the last couple of years build up good relations to different media, inviting them to the Faroes, giving them a unique experience and the opportunity to write articles about the Faroes to the large newspapers around the world.

The tourism industry in the Faroes is in a very interesting process and many things have developed in the right direction over the past years where the players within the tourism industry join forces in strengthening the brand of the Faroe Islands.

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“I’ll reckommend everyone to visit the Faroe Islands, because it’s remote and special.

Personnally, I love it!

Only in places like this you can find the piece of your soul which you’ll never discover in a big city.

You can smell the smell of your childhood and you’ll get inspired by the nature.”

Mikhael Zaruben, Russia, Globetrotter

Mikael and Alexander, Russia

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“Færøerne - det er som at komme i himlen. Jeg tabte noget på Færøerne - mit hjerte! Mine øjne og min sjæl drak sig ganske beruset i den færøske majestætiske og skønne natur.”

Mona Jensen, DK. Globetrotter

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Questionnare

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Definition of Market Segments Globetrotter The globetrotter seeks unique attractions. He wants to see the world, try new activities, meet cultures, see the nature. The feeling of being lifted out of everyday life is a good feeling.

Wilderness seeker The wilderness seeker likes freedom and to see something different, untouched and visit places that are not yet contaminated and not destroyed by tourism.

Nature Lover The nature lover likes to travel a bit primitive, likes to go camping in nature. The nature lover travels in order to see nature and culture. He will not choose a holiday laying on a crowded beach.

Special interest adventurer People who like to travel in order to experience one special activity of their interest (moderate or high level). It could be doing some extreme sport or adventures. It could also be special interest to fish, knit, paint or watching animals like birds.

Sightseer The sightseer wants to relax, but also see the nature. It depends on which country the sightseer is visiting.

Culture Lover The culture lover likes the history of a place, the architecture, the museums, the language and the community as a whole. He likes cultural activities, music and to try local food.

Nature Appreciator Someone who likes to experience nature in a comfortable way like driving around, but not sleeping in nature. A nature appreciator likes quit places and a light hiking is also appreciated.

Ethnophile The ethnophile wants to go on adventures.

They like to interact with the locals and they try to immerse. The ethnophile does not stay on hotels, but prefers to stay with locals and learn more about, how they live and has a desire to eat local food. The ethnophile is neutral or happy about the modernity of the culture he finds in the destination.

Culture appreciator A culture appreciator stays normally in a hotel, and likes to get in contact with locals.

Sometimes this kind of tourist appreciates to take a step back and just observe.

Authenticity Seeker The authenticity seeker wants to enjoy the quietness and to be far away from mass tourism. He wants to get behind the touristy facade. He wants to get new experiences, to meet new people and learn about new cultures.

Extreme We have few extreme adventurer in this survey. They seek extreme physical activity like hiking alone in the mountains for days without any contact to others. Here is a statement from one of them: “I hiked from the western side of Iceland to the eastern side.

Then I sailed to the Faroes, where I spent 12 nights sleeping in a tent. I will then sail back to Iceland and hike from the eastern side to the western side and fly back home to Barcelona.�

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Below you will find the two questions we asked the tourists, which determine the different Market Segments.

Question 4: When you travel in general, is it the destination’s nature or culture that you want to experience? Is there something else that motivates you to travel?

A – Culture B – Nature C – Personal Challenge/Physical Activity D – Other, Question 5: When you travel in general, how closely do you want to engage with the destination’s nature or culture? Do you stand back and observe. Do light activities? Do you totally immerse yourself by, for example, living in the home of a local? Or are you somewhere in between?

A – Immersion B – Interaction C – Observation Then we decided that a certain combination of answers = a certain market segment identity. The combinations are below.

Ethnophile = 4A + 5A + personal statement that indicate the tourist is neutral or happy about the modernity of the culture he finds in the destination.

Authenticity Seeker = 4A + 5A + personal statement that indicate the tourist is unhappy about the modernity of the culture he finds in the destination Culture Lover = 4A + 5B Culture Appreciator = 4A + 5C Globetrotter = 4A + 4B + 5B Sightseer = 4A + 4B + 5C Wilderness Seeker = 4B + 5A Nature Lover = 4B + 5B Nature Appreciator = 4B + 5C Extreme Adventurer = 4C + 5A + personal statements about extreme physical activity Special Interest Adventurer (High-Level) = 4C + 5A + personal statements that indictate that every trip includes this one activtiy Special Interest Adventurer (ModerateLevel) = 4C + 5B + personal statements that indicate that some trips include this one activity and some trips do not.

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Table of content Samandráttur...................................................... 4 Høvuðsniðurstøður...................................................................... 5 Executive Summary............................................. 7 METHODOLOGY....................................................................... 7 Key Findings........................................................ 7 1. Introduction................................................... 10 1.1 Study background................................................................10 1.2 Purpose..................................................................................11 1.3 Methodology.........................................................................12 Sampling Unit.............................................................................12 Data Collection Method............................................................12 Data Collection Instrument......................................................12 Venue...........................................................................................13 Interview Schedule.....................................................................13 Sampling Frame and Sample Selection Procedure.................14 Effective and Optimum Sample Size........................................14 Response Rate.............................................................................14 Response Enhancement Procedures........................................14 Pilot Survey ................................................................................15 Data Entry...................................................................................16 1.4 Definitions.............................................................................16 Psycographic Characteristics....................................................16 Travel Party.................................................................................16 Faroe Islands Market Segment Map.........................................16 1.5 Acknowledgements..............................................................16

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2. Problem definition and survey objectives....... 18 Psychographic Market Segmentation......................................18 Visitor Journey Understanding................................................18 Visitor Experience Evaluation..................................................18 3. Survey findings and conclusions.................... 20 3.2 The Objective of Visit Faroe Islands..................................20 3.3 Demographic Profile............................................................21 3.4 Psychographic Profile..........................................................23 3.5 Motivation to visit the Faroe Islands.................................30 3.6 Satisfaction Level..................................................................32 3.7 Intention to return to the Faroes........................................32 3.8 Transportation to the Faroe Islands...................................32 3.9 Mobility.................................................................................34 3.10 Length and Stay..................................................................36 3.11 Selected Activities..............................................................36 3.12 Product Development.......................................................36 3.13 Favourite Experiences.......................................................38 3.14 Feed Back on Tourism ......................................................38 3.15 Conclusion..........................................................................40 Definition of Market Segments........................... 52

“Faroe Islands, beacause it´s a place where you can get a quiet holiday, without a lot of tourists. You can walk out in the nature for hours, and still not meet another person. If you have a busy everyday life, here you can rest your mind while enjoying the landscape on a hike.The Faroe Islands, the best destination for a mindful, quiet and peaceful holiday.”

Berd Bremer, Germany.

Globetrotter