Outputs and Results

Work Package T1 Lead: Arts Over Borders

The purpose of Literary Tourism Development framework testing and model development is to share the LT experiences of each of the four Partner regions. Partners will transfer these complementary skill-sets to co-develop and pilot a range of new innovative LT solutions that create new opportunities for SMEs and increase their market reach beyond national borders.

Led by Northern Ireland Partner Arts Over Borders, a literary tourism scoping study was carried out early in the project. The scoping analyzed the unique strengths/opportunities and identified the potential role of small and medium enterprises in establishing literary tourist destinations and products. It also informed and ensured appropriate positioning of the Literary Models pilot projects in each region. The development and testing of the four pilot projects have been developed over the course of the project. These form a complementary, but united set of Literary Tourism test models devised and documented for future transferability, which reflect and capitalise on each region’s unique own sense of place and literary strengths.

The four models are:

Pilot Project 1: Wilde Island Town, Wild Things Model, Northern Ireland: 

Arts Over Borders celebrates both Oscar Wilde’s and Samuel Beckett with the launch of two new literary products. Oscar Wilde, with the installation of 150 gold-leaf swallows on buildings around central Enniskillen and close to the new mural of The Happy Prince by Jordan Shaw, and Beckett with 64 black and white chess board squares in 64 separate indoor locations across Enniskillen.

• A Wilde idea for Revitalisation of Enniskillen.
• Beckett & Wilde – Launch of Fermanagh Literary Tourism Project.

Pilot Project 2: Children’s Literature, Scotland - South-west Scotland is looking at how the new National Centre for Children’s Literature at Peter Pan Moat Brae House in Dumfries may become a magnet for family tourism across this region. Wigtown Festival Company who run the annual Wigtown Book Festival, continue to develop their child-and family-centred literature model. Story Book Dumfries – as it is now called – aims to establish the main town of Dumfries & Galloway as Scotland’s home of children’s literature, a destination for families to visit and a national cultural resource. The Wigtown team has taken inspiration from the recent establishment of Scotland’s new National Centre for Children’s Literature at Moat Brae House, where Peter Pan author JM Barrie played as a child. But Story Book Dumfries is not tied to any one organisation. It offers a platform for a wide range of partners who believe in the power of children’s literature to inspire and bring tangible benefits (economic, cultural, social and educational) to the Dumfries community and beyond. The next steps will be to commission a website, a city-centre visual arts project and an inaugural children’s literature conference to take place in 2022. Delivery of activity is planned to align with Scotland’s Year of Stories 2022, a nation-wide umbrella festival that celebrates the country’s storytelling heritage. Find Out More HERE.

Pilot Project 3: Literary Performance Model, Ireland - The Wild Atlantic Way Literary Performance Model: In the Republic of Ireland, The Western Development Commission offers new insight into Ireland’s great writers by creating a string of performances. This exciting literary programme aims to stimulate cultural tourism, engage local artists and provide a unique literary interaction for audiences. Two models have been developed and piloted, a collaboration between curator/producer Dani Gill with sound designers, visual artists and theatre makers has resulted in the creation of The Lighthouse Project, a series of walks inland in the vicinity of lighthouses where people can can download and listen to a track whilst experiencing creative walks, peppered with surprises along the way. See The Lighthouse Project YouTube Videos HERE.

Independent Literary Producer Brendan McEvilly has collaborated with local authors to develop a live stage show that contains visuals filmed around the west of Ireland by filmmaker Jamie Goldrick. Audiences have literature presented in a format including curated live performances in tandem with pre-recorded elements. More HERE.

Find out more about The Wild Atlantic Way Literary Performance Models HERE.

Pilot Project 4: Digital networking model, Finland - Spot-lit Digital Solutions: Digital networking is a key element which has taken on new significance since the start of the pandemic. The Kainuu region of Finland has led the way with the development of Digital Applications to showcase the rich literary assets across the four partner regions. The Regional Council of Kainuu has worked closely with the local university, Kajaani University of Applied Sciences to pioneer the use of digital technology to help literary tourism business tell their story at home and abroad and promote Literary Tourism. 

T4: Transformative Guide for SME’s in Literary Tourism.

At the end of the Spot-lit project in June 2022, the combined learning of the 3-and-a-half-year project will be brought together, in one place by Lapland University of Applied Sciences. The creation of a ‘Transformative Guide for SMEs in Literary Tourism’ will draw together the many strands of the project to create a comprehensive resource and source of inspiration. The guide will speak to both the SMEs in the sector and for the many stakeholders who want to work with those businesses. This “Best practice literary tourism methodology/guide” will capture key learning from the Literary Tourism Industry Support Programme and its implementation process as well as other learning generated through project development and implementation. What has been the impact of COVID-19 on literary tourism? During the last few months Lapland University of Applied Sciences (LUAS) has proceeded to work on the Guide. The background research includes mapping the current state of literature tourism in the project area. Data has been collected throughout the project timeline through a questionnaire with agreed set of economic indicators. Surveys have been made available to SMEs in the literature tourism field and to the public sector. Despite the various national supports available, it was clear from these surveys that the creative industry needed more support than is currently available. Literary Tourism theatres, festivals and events have been particularly badly hit. Three quarters of the Literary Tourism businesses contacted reported that they furloughed between 25% and 75% of their staff between March and November 2020. The survey respondents identified the most important digitization processes during the pandemic to be digital marketing, online campaigns and opening online stores. Despite the huge challenges, the survey reported how Literary Tourism businesses have begun to align themselves with ‘the new tourism’ projected for a post Covid future – reshaping themselves towards more small scale, sustainable and individual tourism that takes in elements of the recreation economy. In this context, Literary Tourism is very well positioned to respond to the rising demand for ‘staycations’, integrating meaningful outdoor activities in the writer landscape with authentic cultural experiences. The provision of mentoring and innovation supports through Spot-lit has been warmly welcomed by the 28 recipient businesses as a much needed and accessible means of bringing new products to market in a harsh economic climate. LUAS has also been working on a “Wider context narrative” to outline the wider strategic context and impacts on project progress and implementation outcomes. The guide will be published as a concluding outcome of the project early next year. It will be circulated to key stakeholders such as national tourism development and SME support organisations, to highlight the potentially positive role of the Literary Tourism sector in market development and SME growth.

View/Download Baseline Audit of Northern Periphery and Arctic (NPA) Literary Tourism Activity HERE. 

https://www.spot-lit.eu/about/#spotlit-models

The SME Development Programme aims to support SMEs to increase market reach beyond local markets through the ‘Development and Delivery of a Literary Tourism SME Development Programme’. The heart of the Spot-Lit project is its engagement and support of small businesses in the Literary Tourism Sector.

Led by The Western Development Commission and delivered by WDC, ICBAN, Wigtown Festival Company & Regional Council of Kainuu with expertise and support from associate partners City of Literature Edinburgh and Reykjavík Unesco City of Literature, a bespoke ‘Business Support Toolkit’ has been developed which is a blueprint or guide to help businesses to develop or grow Literary Tourism experiences. The Toolkit then informed the delivery of a comprehensive business support programme incorporating soft supports; mentoring advice; product/service development sessions; IPR Support and up to €10,000 product development support. Each partner country has delivered the programme in a format and structure that meets the need of the businesses in that location. Download Spot-lit Business Support Toolkit HERE. (Pdf ).

Following the delivery of thematic workshops to inform and guide SME’s on the potential for product development in Literary Tourism, the project partners recruited 27 businesses across the partner regions to take part in the SME development Programme (called the Literary Tourism Product Innovation Programme LT-PIP) to develop new literary tourism experiences. The range of enterprises and the LT products being developed are extremely wide ranging.

Click HERE for details of the participating businesses and their literary business products in Ireland.

Click HERE for details of the participating businesses and their literary business products in Scotland.

Click HERE for details of the participating businesses and their literary business products in Finland.

Click HERE for details of the participating businesses and their literary business products in Northern Ireland.

 A unique and positive outcome of the programme has been the appetite and willingness of businesses to work together, share their ideas and collectively focus on the development of Literary Tourism in their regions. To enhance this further the partners have delivered a Business Exchange Programme/cluster where participants across the Northern Periphery and Arctic region can network and collaborate and share their learnings of the programme.

 

Spot-lit.eu project partners in the Kainuu region of Finland have led the way with the development of Digital Applications to showcase the rich literary assets across the four partner regions. The Regional Council has worked closely with the local university, Kajaani University of Applied Sciences to pioneer the use of digital technology to help literary tourism business tell their story at home and abroad and promote Literary Tourism. Kajaani University of Applied Sciences have developed 14 mobile phone apps for literature associations, organisations and SME’s to showcase their literary tourism products and services. The development of these apps will further connect Literary Tourism businesses to the web of support businesses in their area. Maps have been integrated, allowing the app user to see points of interest in his/her area that are relevant to tourism or culture, such as accommodation providers, tourism attractions, museums, restaurants, artisan food and drink offerings, public transportation, tours, trails and more. These apps put literary tourism in the NPA on the map in a very literal way. 

• Seven Digital Apps to Explore the Culture of Kainuu Fnnish region.
• Two Northern Ireland’s Literary Destination Apps: Wilde Island Town & Northern Literary Lands.
• Explore South West Scotland Literary Destinations.
• Ireland’s Literary West Digital App 

Download the Apps for Android HERE

Download the Apps for iPhone HERE