Tourism is one of the few industries that grow worldwide. Finland is currently in a good position as an international tourist country. The characteristics and strengths of Finnish tourism coincide with several international trends, such as safety, cleanliness, nature experiences and well-being tourism, which are sought to counterbalance the busy everyday life. Scandinavianism, local lifestyle, urban urban culture and individual local specialities and events attract tourist groups to Finland. Recently, Finland has been highlighted in several international media as an interesting and international tourist destination. It is now time for the Finnish tourism industry to turn international attention into new growth, euros and jobs. Visit Finland’s director Paavo Virkkunen: “The whole industry must boldly break old barriers and increase cooperation to increase tourism to its full potential as a livelihood. This also requires bold and rapid efforts. The impact of foreign tourists on the national economy is around EUR 4 billion a year and the sector employs 140,000 people. However, there is still a lot of potential that is now a great opportunity to seize. "Tourism also has a significant regional economic and image impact on the vitality, employment and attractiveness of South Karelia. However, tourism is very vulnerable to changes in the international economy, global exchange rate changes and raw material prices have hampered the development of the tourism industry, especially in South Karelia. On the other hand, new growing tourism markets, middle-classification of international tourism, digital innovations and changes in the operating environment create new opportunities to increase the attractiveness of South Karelia and increase year-round tourism income in the region.The project seeks new and innovative solutions for the development of South Karelia and Saimaa tourism (South Karelia and South Savo) with the following main headings: 1. Designing and testing the Saimaa cooperation model and building the Saimaa brand2. Development and tailoring of South Karelia customer-oriented content and services to different target markets and groups3. Development of the purchase and sale of tourism products and services4. The project supports the objectives of the new Regional Development and Growth Services Act on the role of the province in promoting tourism. The project’s measures promote the international growth of companies and develop the international attractiveness of South Karelia and Saimaa. The aim of the project is to develop tourism so that South Karelia and the entire Saimaa region together become a central part of the overall picture of Finnish tourism and the land brand. The Saimaa region wants to be Finland’s third and internationally renowned tourist area alongside the Helsinki Metropolitan Area and Lapland. This outcome is reflected in an increase in the number of international tourists in the region. Project planning has been carried out in close cooperation with tourism operators in the Saimaa region.The main objectives of the tourism strategy for the province of South Karelia are the growth of the industry and the development of the internationalisation of enterprises. The project implements the implementation of the tourism strategy and supports practical business cooperation in the Saimaa region. The cooperation also highlights the wider networks at national level, the joint actions of Visit Finland and the Järvi-Suomi region in the international tourism market.Tourism is primarily the business of companies, dialogue, sales, marketing, product development and cooperation, both between companies and between companies and consumers. The development of tourism is a wide-ranging development of companies’ business and operating environment and culture. In the project, this development of the internationalisation of tourism companies is carried out based on the needs of the companies and market demand. A completely new and significant measure is to prepare and test through practical measures the operating model and role of the tourism organisation in the Saimaa region between different actors at urban, provincial and national level. Regional organisations create conditions, opportunities and incentives for the success of companies, for example by bringing buyers and sellers to meet and improving the sales and marketing capabilities of companies in the region.The new value is that operators in the region have participated and committed to the cooperation, roles and importance of regional tourism organisations and other providers, such as tourism sales companies and service providers, in internationalising the region, in the success of cooperation and increasing attractiveness.The project creates new frameworks and operating models for expanding tourism cooperation in the Greater Region of Saimaa and the whole Järvi-Suomi region.