As summer tourism gears up in British Columbia, Destination BC is prioritizing international travelers.
Head of Global Marketing Karla Gagnon says they are aiming to enhance BC’s brand to attract tourists from the United States, United Kingdom, Australia, and Germany.
“We want to get responsible travelers – somebody who will come here and spend more time, slow down, and explore different areas the province has to offer – outside Vancouver, Whistler, and Victoria.”
Gagnon says they are using an integrated marketing strategy in those markets, with a focus on social media to capture attention.
“It includes our travel trade, our travel media teams, as well as a Consumer Direct campaign, and then a paid search and paid social media posts and of course, our channels, which is website, email, and social media,” said Gagnon.
“All of those working together really helped provide a little bit of a ripple effect getting BC top of mind on those responsible travelers.”
However, due to tough competition, Gagnon says getting people to extend their travels in BC can be difficult.
“What we are seeing is the length of stays out of the US tend to be a week – we haven’t been able to crack that American traveler to really kind of embrace all of their holiday time to travel in BC,” she said.
“UK and Germany travelers are coming for two weeks, and over the winter time when we have the Australian travelers in January up at Sun Peaks and all 13 destination ski resorts – they stay for two weeks to a month long.”
Meanwhile, Gagnon points to Destination BC’s “Rainforest to Rockies” campaign launched earlier this year, which she says involves the “iconic Canadian journey” from the Pacific Ocean right up to the Rockies.
“It highlights three main routes – Highway 1 through Kamloops, Highway 5, and Highway 3 – It talks about responsible travelers to come, slow down, and take time to see all these amazing communities along the route. That launched in the UK in January and Australia in February.”
With the advanced booking window for international travelers ranging from six months to a year, Gagnon says their organization’s spring and summer campaigns are just wrapping up.
“We are starting to move into fall and next ski season; our ski campaign for next year will launch in Australia in May.