Creativity, growth and internationality are drivers of experience industry in Tampere
The main objective of the development programme for experience economy is that Tampere is known as a cluster of international creative industries and experience industry. The experience economy is a growing sector that is being developed in Tampere in the same way as other industrial sectors.
Tampere is known for its theatres and events, ice-hockey and congresses, Särkänniemi and saunas; the range of experiences is broad. It has an excellent foundation for the development of experience economy.
Tampere has also purposefully invested in the framework and services of the event city and, for example, in the production incentive for the audio-visual sector launched in 2018. As a result of long-term work, major events in the city have made Tampere an attractive city on the domestic and international markets.
– Even before the development programme, we have done a huge amount of work on experience economy. During the current term of the City Council, the aim is to create good openings that we can build on in the future, says Customer Account & Project Manager Maiju Viiki.
Experience economy is growing and flourishing
As part of the development programme for experience economy, an ecosystem project for creative industries is under way. The aim is to get a comprehensive overview of the actors in the creative sector in Tampere, and the extent of the activities, growth opportunities and bottlenecks.
Knowing exactly what is going on makes it easier to plan the city's industrial policy.
– One of the strengths of Tampere is that we see the experience economy as a growing sector that needs to be developed with the same mentality as other branches of industry, says Viiki.
The biggest growth opportunities in experience economy are in promoting international business, for example in gaming and audio-visual companies. The City of Tampere wants to support local business activities and be an enabler of creative industries.
– For example, we have arranged a space for Tampere Game Hub, the local umbrella organisation of the games industry, where gaming businesses can meet, network and work together, says Anna-Kaisa Heinämäki, Competitiveness Director at City of Tampere.
Inspector Koskinen and intangible rights
One of the areas of development is intangible rights. A lot of people in Tampere know Inspector Koskinen, for example, a detective series by author Seppo Jokinen about a police officer who solves crimes. More recently, Koskinen has been made into a television series that makes Tampere familiar not only to Finns but also to an international audience. This, in turn, has inspired local tourism companies to offer products and events related to Koskis (Koskinen).
– Koskinen is a great example of how a creative work has started to expand. We want more of these kinds of themes because the growth opportunities of intangible rights are unlimited, Viiki says.
Meaningful life is attractive
Experience economy is not just about business and business growth. The development programme builds conditions for people to live a meaningful life.
Cities are increasingly competing for residents, experts, students, companies and tourists. An interesting city known for a good life attracts all of these.
- The most attractive cities in the world are known for their creativity, high-quality culture, diversity of actors and an interesting urban culture in general, Heinämäki says.
Studio to Tohloppi, digitising the event city
The development programme for experience economy also builds in practice. The construction project for the new Tohloppi studio was launched at the beginning of this year and its preparation takes place under the development programme. The aim is that the new studio will be completed in 2023 and will make Tampere region a more attractive place for audio-visual productions: TV drama and entertainment, and film.
The development programme for experience economy should improve and digitalise services intended for event organisers. Organising events should become smoother.
– For example, in the future, venue reservations should be handled digitally and clearly in one place, says Heinämäki.
Event visitors get their share of digitalisation: the city offers an online event and hobby calendar. In the future, calendar users will find it easier to get answers to their 'what shall we do today’ questions. Difficulties with selection can be helped by bumping events and filtering content.
The Tampere.Finland application also has an event calendar. In addition, the application will have a section that gives visitors to individual events more detailed information such as related events, offers or other information relevant to the visitor.
So, what kind of Tampere is the development programme building? At least multivocal, enabling, creative, forward-looking and, at the same time, relaxed in the manner of Tampere folks or “manselaiset”, Viiki and Heinämäki say.
