Boosting BC tourism when it was needed most

Challenge

The Covid-19 pandemic impacted the peak summer travel season for many destinations; British Columbia was no exception. With over 50% of the industry’s annual revenue expected during the season, the provincial marketing organization Destination BC (DBC) solicited our help in proactively helping the province’s tourism industry recover. We needed to help them by encouraging British Columbians to visit their home province during the summer of 2020 and to provide opportunities for collaboration with various DMOs throughout BC.

Approach

We focused primarily on high- and mid-funnel tactics (mid-funnel and low-funnel tactics were delegated to DBC’s digital agency) in an effort to reach travel-hungry BC residents throughout their booking journey. Throughout three distinct stages of the funnel (dreaming, planning and booking) we provided more efficient means of reaching travellers, thereby significantly amplifying the power of DBC’s media spend at the exact time when the industry needed it most.

Results

In addition to creating a program that massively extended DBC’s reach, we enabled DMOs across the province to expand their messages at a vastly reduced cost. Overall, fully 25 DMO partners participated in the co-op program, while 19 took advantage of the subsidized print opportunity. Most destinations experienced record-breaking visitation over the summer, at a time when the industry needed every dollar. Our efforts not only vastly improved the efficiency of Destination BC’s media buy, they enabled the organization to generate critical industry support for thousands of tourism and hospitality workers at one of the most challenging times in the province’s history.

Global BC Instagram Stories

Co-op Print