Feature Photo: Kokanee Mountain Zipline – Nelson, BC
MESSAGE FROM THE CEO
As we reach the halfway point of the summer season, we are getting some fairly good news about visitor numbers to our region to this point. This summer has been a different one considering we had such an early start to hot weather, which brought about an early and intense start to the forest fire situation, which thankfully now seems to have somewhat settled down. Through all of this, we hope that you have seen many visitors at your properties, attractions, retail outlets and dining establishments so far this season and that this will continue for the remainder of the high season. We are often asked for reports on how the summer visitor traffic is, so please feel free to drop us an email to let us know how your season has been so far and/or if you have noticed any trends in visitor patterns that are different from last year.
As part of the Destination BC (DBC) Corporate Strategy, the new COOPERATIVE MARKETING PROGRAM GUIDELINES have been published on the DBC website. Within the context of the new strategy, the role of the Regional Destination Marketing Associations (RDMOs) throughout the province will be transitioning. Beginning next fiscal, a shift from marketing the destination by sectors will evolve to see the focus on marketing specifically under the overarching theme of “Touring & Exploring”. In addition, we will take a lead role in the new areas of Destination Development, Remarkable Experiences and Social Media content generation. This shift will allow our organization to contribute significantly towards ensuring our region, in the eyes of the consumer, is a must-visit destination within BC. The shift will also allow us to assist in elevating the experiences and tourism products offered in the region to the highest standard to generate referrals, recommendations and repeat visitation.
As noted in Destination BC’s newsletter on July 24th, the RDMOs are currently in discussions with DBC on new service agreements and more details will be available later this year. Destination BC has made it clear that the RDMOs will continue to play a very important role in the tourism ecosystem of this province within each of their jurisdictions.
As we embark on a new path, it is very important to us at Kootenay Rockies Tourism (KRT), that we understand your priorities and needs, as you are the consumer-facing frontline of the tourism industry in this region. We want to be able to tailor our services and programs, as best we can, to better assist you with any gaps or needs you may have. All with a view to achieve higher visitation to your property, product or community and to increase your revenues.
To help sharpen our focus within our new roles to benefit all of our stakeholders, we ask that you take 10-15 minutes to complete an important survey through the link below.
We know your time is valuable and as a token of our appreciation for completing the survey, your name will be entered into a draw to win a complimentary registration to our Kootenay Rockies Tourism Industry Conference taking place in Revelstoke October 6-7, 2015.
Thanks from the KRT team and we hope that all of you have a very busy remainder of the season!
Kathy Cooper, CEO
KOOTENAY ROCKIES AGM & TOURISM INDUSTRY CONFERENCE – OCT 6-7, 2015
GUEST SPEAKERS
The Kootenay Rockies Tourism Industry Conference promises to be fun and extremely engaging with some highly respected guest speakers on our agenda. Here is a sneak peek at two of the presentations you can look forward to.
Dr. Nancy Arsenault is one of Canada’s leading authorities on experiential travel and a Destination Canada Explorer Quotient (EQ) authorized trainer. She will be joining our Industry Conference to lead us through an exploration of who your ideal guests are and how you can design, package and deliver remarkable experiences, building upon the EQ research data now made available to all of BC’s tourism industry partners. Find out how to differentiate, add value, boost revenues and be truly competitive in today’s visitor economy.
Glenn Mandziuk is the President & CEO of the Thompson-Okanagan Tourism Association (TOTA). Now in year 3 of the implementation of its Regional Destination Development Strategy, our neighbouring region has lots of key learnings to share, including how to work together addressing top priorities and the pooling of all of the common resources that can contribute to a thriving tourism destination.
REGISTRATION
Registration for our 2015 AGM & TIC is now open! REGISTER HERE
SPONSORS & SILENT AUCTION
We would like to thank our confirmed sponsors for the 2015 AGM & TIC. This event would not be possible without the support of our valued sponsors and the generous donations to our silent auction. An investment in our event Sponsorship program provides an outstanding opportunity to support this premier regional tourism event and to position your organization as a regional leader. This is the opportunity to reach almost 100 regional tourism partners including a wide range of business owners, senior management and key decision makers from the Kootenay Rockies region and beyond.
SPONSORSHIP OPPORTUNITIES are still available and we appreciate your consideration.
Thank you also to the many businesses who have confirmed silent auction items for the conference! We are still accepting your generous donations – please contact Corinne at our office to have your items and business information on display, RECEPTION@KOOTENAYROCKIES.COM.
MEDIA RELATIONS
Kootenay Rockies Regional Media Relations Specialist – Heidi Korven – attended a Media event in Seattle that was organized by Destination BC mid-July. The event showcases British Columbia and provides us the opportunity to meet face to face with a number of key media who are based in the Seattle area. The evening was well attended with over 40 journalists who were all very keen to hear about story ideas from the Kootenay Rockies region.
As a reminder, please continue to send your story ideas to HEIDI@KOOTENAYROCKIES.COM. While crucial components to an effective story idea include an interesting hook, development of a new product, a quirky individual or place, and so on, there are other important elements to consider when developing key messages. DBC has created a quick reference document with some key questions to ask yourself. Click WHAT MAKES A STORY IDEA for the full article.
TOURISM PARTNERS MARKETING UPDATE
In July, Jody Wall, a ‘Google Trusted Photographer‘ visited the region to complete Google Photo Tours for 82 businesses. The 360-degree photos will be uploaded to each individual business listing on the Kootenay APP. Businesses will also be able to load the video onto their own website.
Tourism Rossland participated in a provincial CTV initiative with other tourism businesses in BC. Their customized 15-second spots begin the week of August 3 for a 4-week campaign on CTV Vancouver, Calgary and Edmonton. The ad spots have the potential to reach an audience of 2.27 million viewers. Congratulations to Eric Gonzalez, Tourism Rossland’s summer marketing intern for producing the impressive mountain biking commercial! Video link: TOURISM ROSSLAND.
We have 62 booths booked for our Fall Consumer shows in both our main drive and long haul markets. The consumer shows include Bridal, Snowmobile and Ski/Snowboard in BC, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Ontario, and the USA.
There is still time to book your individual ad spots in the following publications:
- Kootenay Mountain Culture (circulation 15,000)
- Mountain Life (circulation 21,000)
- Powder (circulation 105,500)
- SKI (circulation 300,000)
- Ski Canada (circulation 35,050)
- Skiing (circulation 50,000)
- S-Magazine (circulation 22,500)
- SnoRiders (circulation 40,000)
- Where Canadian Rockies – Winter (circulation 140,000)
Check out our link to all of our partnership marketing projects A-Z for the details including pricing and deadline dates.
KOOTENAYROCKIES.COM AND THE KOOTENAY APP
Have you signed up for the COMPLETE ONLINE PACKAGE yet? The Complete Online package provides the best coverage for your business. Your ‘enhanced’ listing will include all of your company details, links to your websites and social media channels, 300+ words of content describing your business and up to 5 photos. As well as links to your Google Photo tour, your special offers and map location with driving directions. As an added value, your brochure will be displayed on KOOTENAYBROCHURES.CA free for one year (retail $74.95).
KOOTENAYROCKIES.COM sees 25,223 unique visitors per year and the Kootenay APP has over 15,000 downloads. Both the website and the APP are built on the same platform – it is the consumers choice to view the 1,000+ pages of content either online or through an APP.
Check out COLUMBIA GARDENS WINERY to see how your enhanced listing will look!
TEAM MEMBER PROFILE – SHANNON HARRISON
In this issue, we want to put a spotlight on an employee who has just celebrated her 15th anniversary as a member of the KRT team. Shannon has not officially added the title, ‘juggler’ to her resume but she certainly could! She is the persona behind all of our Social Media (SM) platforms as well as our Partnership Marketing Coordinator. Shannon is honing her photography skills and many of the images on our SM platforms and website were taken by Shannon while travelling in the region.
Over the many years that Shannon has worked at Kootenay Rockies Tourism, she has developed a multitude of skills and has in recent years rapidly excelled in Social Media marketing. This has truly enabled our organization to stay well ahead of the curve with best practices on all of our SM channels and has succeeded in increasing our consumer engagement.
Shannon was born and raised in Kimberley and knows this region like the back of her hand. She took Tourism Marketing Management at BCIT and has been in the tourism industry ever since first working at JTB in Vancouver. Moving back to her hometown of Kimberley, her career has included Marketing Manager at Kimberley Vacations, Director of Sales & Marketing at Kimberley Alpine Resort and then in August 2000 she joined Kootenay Rockies Tourism where she has worked in a number of departments. Shannon always capably juggles many ongoing and diverse projects on behalf of our stakeholders, paying great attention to all of the minute details required for each to be executed successfully to generate the best results.
An avid outdoor enthusiast, you can find Shannon hiking, kayaking, snowshoeing and camping when not at work – always with a camera in tow (follow Shannon’s adventures via @Kootenay_Rocker on Facebook, Twitter and/or Instagram).
Congratulations to Shannon from all of us on her 15th Anniversary with Kootenay Rockies Tourism!
BRAND NEW SUMMER ADVENTURE PRODUCT IN REGION!
It’s a rush and fun for the whole family.
From high up in the forest canopy, experience a bird’s eye view of the stunning natural environment as you soar above Kokanee Creek Canyon on six ziplines. Located on the Kokanee Glacier Park Road at Kokanee Creek Provincial Park near Nelson, BC.
Try rock climbing with the newest, exhilarating Via Ferrata in Western Canada at Kicking Horse Mountain Resort in Golden, BC. The Via Ferrata, Italian for iron path, features a suspension bridge, steel steps, handles, ladder rungs and steel cable bolted on the rock faces of Terminator Peak in places where the trail steepens. A Discovery and Ascension Route are offered.
Revelstoke Mountain Resort and Selkirk Tangiers Heli-Skiing are offering heli-accessed summer adventures in the Selkirk Mountains.
The adventures being offered include helicopter sightseeing flights, heli-hiking, heli-assisted alpine picnics, heli-mountaineering, heli-glacier trekking and select heli-accessed mountain biking options.
Check out all of the REGIONAL ADVENTURE in the Kootenay Rockies region!
DESTINATION BC & THE TOURISM INDUSTRY ASSOCIATION OF BC
Destination BC and the Tourism Industry Association of BC are pleased to open the call for nominations for the 2015 BC Tourism Industry Awards.
These awards recognize excellence in the province’s tourism industry. Recipients provide outstanding service, exemplify best business practices and innovative marketing and deliver tourism experiences that contribute to the success of BC’s tourism industry – which currently generates $13.9 billion in revenue for the province’s economy.
Five awards will be handed out at the Tourism Awards Gala, held during the BC Tourism Industry Conference. Award information and nomination forms can be found on the CONFERENCE WEBSITE. Submission deadline is September 4, 2015.
The BC Tourism Industry Conference runs from October 19-21, 2015. The conference will offer a variety of keynote speakers, workshops and the Tourism Awards Gala on October 20th. Conference registration is open now – click to REGISTER.
DESTINATION BC – PROJECT WILD
British Columbia is a place where the wild out there, brings out the wild within. Discover what BC’s nature evokes in you and share a 15-second video on Instagram of your authentic, first-hand perspective of BC’s wilderness and cities. Tag your video with #15secondsofBC and visit PROJECT WILD to complete your submission. Destination BC will be recognizing outstanding contributions to Project Wild each week, with exclusive prize packages from local BC companies.
ABORIGINAL TOURISM BC – PACIFIC ASIA INDIGENOUS TOURISM CONFERENCE
The World Indigenous Tourism Alliance are the custodians of the PACIFIC ASIA INDIGENOUS TOURISM CONFERENCE (PAITC), hosted this year in the traditional territory of the Musqueam, Squamish, and Tsleil-Waututh First Nations and in partnership with the Aboriginal Tourism Association of British Columbia (AtBC). The conference takes place September 12-14, 2015 in Vancouver, BC.
“Indigenous people such as our host First Nations have long practiced enduring principles of what is now called sustainable tourism, a holistic approach that embraces traditional wisdom, care of Mother Earth, authentic cultures, and the warmest hospitality.
Tourism, done with careful planning and management, can be a powerful driver for Indigenous and rural economies and a positive means for preserving local community and cultural identity. However, to be most successful, tourism requires mutually beneficial alliances between local and global partners. Join us this September to learn more about how you can help bridge the values of traditional cultures and the practices of a modern world. Mitakuye Oyasin (All my Relations)” Quote: Ben Sherman, Oglala Lakota, WINTA Chairperson
For more information, please contact us at INFO@PAITC2015.COM.
NEED YOUR STOCK OF KR GUIDES REPLENISHED?
The Kootenay Rockies guides are available for free distribution. Keep your visitors informed of everything there is to see and do while they are visiting your community. Order Kootenay Rockies brochures today and fill your display rack.
To order your guides contact KAREN@KOOTENAYROCKIES.COM.
