destination horse

The long-term goal was to contribute to southeast Skåne as a well-known and well-visited "horse tourism destination".

The aim was to mobilize and develop horse tourism in southeast Skåne – to inventory, bring together, collaborate and jointly test new methods for business development, packaging, marketing and sales of sustainable horse tourism.

The project carried out several training courses and breakfast meetings for horse entrepreneurs on various themes such as riding trails, laws, regulations, agreements, support and grants. One training course focused entirely on how horse entrepreneurs can have a more business-like operation that is financially viable, and among the lecturers was Rhys Evans, PhD in Equine Economics at the Bergen University of Agricultural Sciences, who also held a workshop with the participants.

Each meeting brought together an average of 30 horse entrepreneurs who, in addition to getting to know and networking with each other, had the opportunity to make important contacts with municipal representatives, officials at the County Administrative Board, etc. This led to many new collaborations between the horse entrepreneurs and created an understanding of each other's businesses. A breakfast meeting resulted in Horse Trail – Österlen and Neighbors, an event that, after its successful premiere in early summer 2018, is now a recurring annual event.

The project received a lot of positive attention and was covered in both local newspapers and national horse magazines. The project leaders also spoke about the project at the Government Offices in Stockholm.

After the end of the project, it was clearly seen that the number of entrants to horse competitions arranged by the Skåne Equestrian Federation had increased and that many riders from clubs who do not usually compete in Skåne participated.

The project also contributed to politicians and officials in southeast Skåne becoming aware of horse tourism.

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The project contributes to different industries collaborating to create a new market through equestrian tourism offerings, which also contributes to the development of the tourism industry. The project will highlight locally produced products and services and make them more accessible. The project contributes to business development and packaging of services and products for companies in the equestrian industry in southeast Skåne. The project also involves marketing equestrian tourism in southeast Skåne, in the rest of Skåne, in Sweden and in Europe, which contributes to the development of the tourism industry. The project contributes to fulfilling the goals of the Rural Development Programme by contributing to business development and strengthened competitiveness. The project is based on collaborations between different companies, organizations and authorities for the development of equestrian tourism in southeast Skåne. The project contributes to economic development in rural areas.