Closer cooperation and focus on tourism between municipalities in Magma

In connection with our work in the EU project Ruritage, it became clear last autumn that close cooperation was needed between the five municipalities of Magma Geopark; Flekkefjord, Lund, Sokndal, Eigersund and Bjerkreim. The aim of this project is to find ways to utilize our natural and cultural heritage so that we increase local value creation and also local identity.

In autumn 2019, together with a contact person from each municipality, we created the so-called “Expert group for tourism”. The purpose of this group is to work systematically in order to highlight the diversity we have in our area, both within the natural and cultural heritage, to generate visibility, growth and value creation. We will do this by working purposefully with the three main areas we have seen the need to focus on through the work in Ruritage:

• create an overall activity calendar for all 5 municipalities
• create a food trail that runs through all 5 municipalities
• strengthen the Magma UNESCO Global Geopark brand for our area

In its efforts to strengthen the brand, it became natural to implement Flekkefjord Municipality’s travel destination strategy in all 5 Magma municipalities. From this strategy, the Expert Group has selected five projects to work on:

• measurability
• digitization
• sustainability as a tool
• contrast as a tool
• capacity building

In sum, these activities will lead to better cooperation in tourism across our five municipalities. Our area will become more visible and guests will find that they have more reasons to stay longer in Magma Geopark.