In the last days of January, EUSBSR Policy Area Tourism Coordinators from Pomorskie Tourist Board and Oulu Region met in Gdańsk, Poland, for an intense, 2-day discussion on PA TOU activities for 2023. Pomorskie Tourist Board and Council of Oulu region teams were joined by the National Coordinators from Poland - Ms Ewa Dębska, and Finland - Ms Helena Tuuri, as well as the European Commission representative Blagovestka Riiser, who is also PA TOU Steering Group Member representing DG REGIO. 

During the meeting, we shared updates and ideas & discussed the PAC TOU work plan for 2023 to prepare better, tailored-made offers for all Baltic Sea Region tourism stakeholders, including the newly approved PA Tourism-related projects within the Interreg BSR Programme 2021-2027. Among the topics discussed was the Baltic Sea Tourism Forum in 2023 (and next years), the cooperation with tourism coordinators from other EU Macroregional strategies, as well as the potential synergies of activities with other Policy Areas.

We also talked about the upcoming tourism-related webinars for our stakeholders, including the upcoming one on the EU tourism dashboard tool, its features and usability for BSR tourism actors. Finally, we discuss the upcoming 4th EU Macro-Regional Strategies Week, which will take place in Brussels from April 24-28, 2023 (https://www.balticsea-region-strategy.eu/news-room/news/591436-mrs-week-2023 where PACs plan to participate. The first day of the meeting included a visit to the Amber Museum in Gdańsk, where we had a chance to see part of the Pomorskie Region tourism offer. 

We were very happy to host our colleagues in the Pomorskie region, and we look forward to the next PAC TOU working meeting, this time in Oulu, Finland.