EXPERIENCE is a major project to boost visitor numbers in the low season through an innovative, sustainable tourism strategy.

The €24.5m project was co-funded by the Interreg France (Channel) England (FCE) Programme, which committed €17m from the European Regional Development Fund.

Running from September 2019 to June 2023, 14 project partners, led by Norfolk County Council, developed new autumn and winter experiences to attract new visitors across the six project pilot areas in England and France: Norfolk, Kent, Cornwall, Pas-de-Calais, Compiègne and Brittany.

Why is a new tourism strategy needed and what will it achieve?

EXPERIENCE was proposed as a project to address the growing recognition that there were common issues facing tourism the in FCE region and to develop a new and innovative tourism strategy. The EXPERIENCE tourism strategy addresses three issues and sets out a new approach to tourism.

Seasonality

• Tourism imbalance with far fewer visitors in the low season.
• Lower visitor spending and high levels of seasonal employment across the sector.
• Visitors did not travel between October – March as there was no tourism offer.
• Infrastructure was not available or adapted for use at this time of year Businesses will not open if there are no tourists.

Engagement

• Dependent on peak season, destination-based tourism approach. Travellers losing interest in mass-market tourism.

• The growing trend towards experiential tourism is based on regional uniqueness, authenticity and looking to try something new throughout the year.

• Covid-19 accelerated the shift from mass-market locations as visitors began to seek out and demand a new type of tourism.

Sustainability

• The existing tourism model relied on the consumption of natural and cultural assets.
• Traditional tourism approaches were outdated and potentially damaging to host environments and communities
• The success of the tourism industry was measured by economic impact alone.
• Metrics for environmental and social impact were under-developed and less tracked than those for economic impact.

1. Introduction
2. Experience Project Outcomes
3. Experience Recommendations
4. Actor engagement & training to meet demand
5. An experiential tourism offer using unique natural & cultural assets
6. Low-season tourism infrastructure
7. Experiential tourism marketing & distribution
8. Evaluating & Improving sustainability within a new low season tourism offer