This thesis is commissioned by Aspö Charter, a boat charter operator in the Turku Archipelago. Their home harbour is on the island of Aspö. They operate the vessel M/s Amanda that can carry up 34 passengers. Their focus is on experience tourism, with a wish to give everyone the authentic archipelago experience.

The aim of this thesis was to identify the characteristics of their ideal customer and based on that create a buyer persona. The objectives are to gain knowledge on the important concepts of buyer personas, learning about the method needed to create them as well as doing research, in the form of interviews and a survey, in order to figure out the characteristics that define Aspö Charters ideal buyer persona.

The theoretical framework is based on two main themes, which are buyer personas and experience tourism. The theoretical framework presents the main concept of both themes, providing a good base of knowledge moving on to the methods and research part of the thesis.

The methods chapter presents the chosen research methods for the aim of this thesis. The chosen methods were 8 qualitative interviews conducted in a semi-structured format and then a survey in order to confirm the findings of the interviews. The interviews and the survey were conducted in the spring of 2021.

In the analysis chapter, not one but two buyer personas are found out - a corporate buyer persona and a leisure buyer persona. They are then presented by reflecting upon the theory.

To conclude the thesis, the process as well as the findings are reflected upon. Included are further research suggestions as well as points that have come up during the process.