The essentials at a glance
Basis for the development and marketing of Upper Lusatia
This is the Upper Lusatia marketing plan, the digital information portal with a primarily tourist focus.
The Upper Lusatia marketing plan is a complex puzzle made up of many individual pieces. The background to this is that numerous responsibilities in Upper Lusatia are spread across different shoulders - and rightly so. Upper Lusatia is the largest region in Saxony with two state borders. The management of such a destination requires the coordinated action of many players. On the one hand, the marketing plan is there to derive the most transparent and comprehensible information basis possible for third parties from this complexity . In addition to the Upper Lusatia destination strategy, it also represents one of the most important decision-making bases for the SMWA, the TMGS, the LTV and the SAB for the evaluation and approval of funding for development and marketing measures. For us, it serves as a corridor for action, a working basis and orientation in an increasingly complex tourism landscape.
The Oberlausitz team
The majority of the Oberlausitz team consists of tourism experts. We are responsible for the tourism industry. This means supporting restaurateurs, hoteliers, leisure facilities, museums and excursion destinations of all kinds.
The term "tourism professionals" includes the destination management organization, local tourism organizations as well as municipalities and tourist information offices.
The districts of Bautzen and Görlitz as well as other institutions such as the Chamber of Industry and Commerce are also on board in an advisory capacity.
To the contact partners
The tourist structure of Upper Lusatia
The diagram on the right shows the different players at the various levels of the tourism structure and how they interlock. The special feature of the structure lies in the currently seven local tourism organizations,, which organize the immense cultural and geographical diversity of the region locally. The most diverse focal points and specializations are both present and desired . Cross-regional topics are dealt with jointly with the DMO in line with the lead product strategy.
The vision
Our actions are guided by our vision of creating "borderless" tourism in Upper Lusatia and the border triangle.
Guests should be able to enjoy their vacation experience without having to worry about changing signage systems, complicated booking channels, structural hurdles or language barriers.
There should be as few administrative obstacles as possible between tourism professionals and partners from outside the industry. The focus is on cooperative collaboration for the shared tourism region of Upper Lusatia.
Further development of the tourism organizational structure
The MGO has started the process of further developing the organizational structure of tourism in Upper Lusatia. The aim is to develop a competitive Upper Lusatia. The aim is to set up Upper Lusatia with an organizational structure that is up-to-date in terms of content and financially sufficient and to achieve the greatest possible benefit for the partners in the region.
Our methodology for deriving needs-based development projects
A product evaluation matrix helps to derive development projects. It was developed together with the Tourism Advisory Board.
It can be used to assess regional themes and offers, incorporate them into supra-regional (further) development and marketing or adopt them. The matrix can also be used to plan and implement differentiated approaches.
The development of campaigns follows a specific approach. It is non-binding, but forms a guideline for action.
Our approach for marketing projects with market potential
Seasonal highlights such as Easter, Whitsun, the summer vacations and Christmas are annually recurring travel and accommodation events. We are increasingly focusing on image-building campaigns here. They build on existing awareness and use it to convey image-shaping messages. In this way, we want to increase the level of awareness and appeal of Upper Lusatia, both of which are crucial for guests' willingness to visit.
In less busy periods, we try to place specific offers and products in suitable source markets and target groups. The target groups depend on the product or offer - as do the source markets, but mostly on the available budget.
Source markets and target groups
95% of the source markets are in Germany. There is a high concentration in Saxony itself. Berlin and Brandenburg are also important regions.
The majority of foreign guests come from the Netherlands, Poland, the Czech Republic, Austria and Switzerland.
The target group definition is based on the SINUS Institute. It was redefined in 2020 for Saxony, its leading products and also for Upper Lusatia with its leading products and potential topics.
Sinus-Milieu is a value-oriented target group definition which, in contrast to mostly age-oriented definitions, often reflects reality more accurately. Working with Sinus-Milieus allows a more needs-oriented development and marketing of products, as has been a matter of course in the consumer industry for many years.
Financing of projects and campaigns
The DMO has no significant budget of its own for development or marketing projects. Third-party and funding must be acquired for projects and campaigns. Otherwise they are often not feasible.
LTOs, local authorities and service providers in particular are potential partners who can participate. This is usually done on the basis of the performance principle, i.e. if an offer (in this case: project) meets demand, implementation comes closer.
The challenge is therefore to develop demand-oriented projects that generate investment budgets and can also hold their own in the tourism competition in the context of "Upper Lusatia". In case of doubt, it is important to resolve contradictions between the regional internal view and the national or international external view of the region. The regional committees and well-founded approaches in the derivation and planning of development and marketing projects help here.
Selected funding projects
The DMO implements a number of promotional projects together with regional partners from the administration and business community. The aim of the funding projects is always to contribute to the development and marketing of the leading products and potential themes of Upper Lusatia.
The funding backdrops vary and range from LEADER funding and small cross-border projects to large-scale INTERREG projects. The DMO takes on various roles and can be both a LEAD and a project partner.
In the interests of transparency, subpages have been created for some projects with details of the projects, calls for proposals and further information.
To the major project "Via Sacra - A contribution to the preservation and promotion of the common cultural heritage"
To the major project "Via Sacra - A contribution to cross-border networking and the development of a tourism product in the border triangle"
To the project "Geological treasures"
To the project "Upper Lusatian mountain trail"
To the "Lusatian fish" project
To the project "Travel for people with disabilities"
To the project "Tourism development and marketing of the UNESCOWorld Heritage Site Muskauer Park"
To the project "Cultural tourism profiling Upper Lusatia"
To the online tool "famil-o-mat"
To the cooperation program Interreg Poland - Saxony 2021-2027: Castles and palaces connect us Poland-Germany
Strategic objectives
We are guided by our jointly developed strategic goals, which all result in generating more added value for tourism in Upper Lusatia:
- Increase the length of stay from 2.7 days by +0.3 days to 3.0 days
- Increase in guest arrivals from 710,000 by around 90,000 to around 800,000
- Increase in nationwide brand awareness from 61% to 75%
- Increase in Germany-wide popularity rating from 31% to 50%
- Profiling as the strongest cycling region in Saxony
- Quality leadership in guest ratings
- Profiling as a family travel region
Thematic orientation
In order to define a specific thematic focus, the Tourism Advisory Board has decided on the following guidelines:
From now on, 3 key themes will be formed under the umbrella brand of Upper Lusatia. Each key theme is geared towards a specific target group and thus sets the course for the creation and design of key products.
The 3 key themes are named as follows:
Content focus
The content focuses are based on the main themes and all represent unique products in their own right.
They are not only well-known, but are also symbolic of the region with a special external appeal.
These include the Upper Lusatian twins and the Upper Lusatian Mountain Trail for the "Active in nature" area.
In the area of cultural experiences, the UNESCO World Heritage Site Muskauer Parkwhich is a prime example of landscape design and is considered a masterpiece of landscape architecture.
In the area of family adventures, is also represented by the leisure activities a wide range of impressions and experiences.
Marketing and management plan
Management and marketing planning is based on the tourism strategy of the Free State of Saxony and the strategies of Tourismus Marketing Gesellschaft Sachsen mbH, the state marketing organization. Its key themes and target groups are analogous to those of Upper Lusatia. The aim is also to position Upper Lusatia well within Saxony's development and marketing strategy. Everyone benefits from this.
Advertising campaigns are planned where the Upper Lusatian lead and potential themes or lead products are already marketable. If the products are not yet ready for the market, the main focus is on development projects.
The marketing plan generally shows the current planning status.
