Vaasa and Vaasa Region's new website launched today

The unique collaboration provides better service and visibility

The new website is the result of a collaboration that is unique even at the national level. The close cooperation between the participating organisations is also seen as providing better service for the customers.

Tiina Salonen, who is the Project Manager for the new website, tells us that the number of visitors to the pages increases significantly, and thereby the visibility, when users are directed to one and the same website.

– With the joint website, we want to strengthen the attractiveness of Vaasa and the Vaasa region, both in Finland and internationally, says City of Vaasa Communications Manager Leena Forsén.

– For example, information about all the nature trails in the area can now be found in one place. In the past, the region’s own residents had to search for them on the tourism sites. But now they are all at the same address, says Managing Director of Vaasa Region Tourism, Max Jansson.

Vaasa Region Development Company’s (VASEK) Managing Director Stefan Råback is pleased with the results of the work.

– The fact that the work being done spans organisational and municipal boundaries demonstrates the strength of the collaboration. Finally, it is relevant that the visitor or the person looking for information finds the right information, notes Råback.

Many needs, one address

The residents of the Vaasa region, as well as the tourists and companies who come here, are now served through a website at vaasa.fi.

In the Living section, you will find the services that Vaasa offers its residents. The See and Experience section presents sights, activities and experiences as well as the unique Kvarken world heritage archipelago for residents and tourists. The Events section contains all the events and tasks related to the organisation of events.

– Events are important for the region. Our intention has been to find all events in one place. This makes it easier for organisers to inform about their events and for tourists and residents to find interesting things to do. During the autumn we will inform more about our partnership in connection with the new event calendar, says Jansson.

The Kvarken archipelago is Finland’s only natural heritage on UNESCO’s World Heritage List. – We want to emphasise its uniqueness in such a way that both the region’s residents and tourists who come further afield easily find our visitor attractions, emphasises Kenth Nedergård, who is the operations manager for Världsarvet i Kvarken r.f. (Kvarken Archipelago World Heritage Site Association).

The Education and Work section provides information on study and work opportunities in the region. The Business section, in turn, deals with services connected to company activities and the development of them, company networks, investment in the Vaasa region and business premises.

– In the past, business-oriented services existed on different sites and anyone looking for information had to find it from various sources. Now all the most important services are on the same page and the visitor is directed, if necessary, to the service manufacturer’s own website, says Marketing Manager, Mari Kattelus from VASEK.

The About Vaasa and the Vaasa region section has, among other things, presentations, information about the region, contact information and information about decision making in the City of Vaasa.

The known addresses vaasanregion.fi, visitvaasa.fi, kvarkenworldheritage.fi and events.vaasa.fi are automatically redirected to this new vaasa.fi website.

User participation

Residents, tourists and companies have been commenting and developing the website ever since the beta version was made available for testing in the spring. The responses have been very positive. We have made changes to our pages based on the development ideas that have come in, says Salonen.

The local community spirit is getting stronger than ever, as Vaasa’s neighbourhoods have now got their own pages in the new website. The districts pages contain information about services in residential areas, events and leisure activities.

Resident associations have been involved in the creation of the content. During the autumn, residents’ voices will emerge as we encourage them to describe their own residential neighbourhoods and tell stories about them through Vaasa’s social media, explains Salonen.