The art of the staycation
Annie Doran Manager, Marketing & Brand at Tourism Prince George, talks with Travel Courier about how the destination is finding creative ways to market during the pandemic.
Tell us a bit about how you have shifted marketing strategies during the pandemic?
We relied on Destination Canada and Destination BC’s framework of Response, Recovery, Resiliency to ensure we were following all safe travel guidelines and messaging throughout each phase of travel bans.
We turned our focus to local tourism business, encouraging our residents to stay local, buy local, support local. We embarked on a partnership with 10 likeminded organizations in our community to create and deploy the www.supportpg.ca website which includes an “open now directory”, business spotlights, contesting, and a pledge to support local business.
We focused advertising and marketing efforts to our community highlighting safety guidelines and responsible tourism during the pandemic to ensure safe travel precautions were taken.
It is vital for the tourism industry to foster local advocacy and pride of residents to support the struggling tourism sector during these times. Many residents do not know the tourism offerings in their own backyards and can become great ambassadors of tourism experiences through these types of campaigns.
Annie Doran
Can you share a bit of details about the Hello Staycations campaign and how successful it’s been?
The Staycations were developed in early fall to encourage local residents or those travellers visiting family and friends to book accommodations and experiences to support our local tourism businesses. It is vital for the tourism industry to foster local advocacy and pride of residents to support the struggling tourism sector during these times. Many residents do not know the tourism offerings in their own backyards and can become great ambassadors of tourism experiences through these types of campaigns.
New packages are being added on an ongoing basis to ensure seasonal activities are being offered. The packages are modular in the way they are positioned for advertising which allows us to pivot our marketing efforts (when the time is right to safely do so) from our local community target audiences, to our regional or four hour drive market, and eventually expanding to include provincial travellers and hopefully welcoming visitors nationally and internationally when it is safe to do so.
The tourismpg.com/staycations website currently offers eight staycation packages including; Stay Bold, Stay Flirtatious, Stay Wild, Stay Fuelled, Stay Adventurous, Stay Passionate, Stay In Touch, Stay Outside. They offer an array of experiences including wine tasting at BC’s northern most fruit winery and a night’s stay at a local hotel, ice fishing experiences, guided hiking and snowshoeing, or a night stay at a ranch with a snowmobile rental. For more details on packages and how to book, we encourage you to visit: tourismpg.com/staycations.
The Staycation campaign was launched on Sept 28, 2020 on several display advertising platforms and paid social media channels. In two short months, the campaign has seen close to 400,000 impressions, 110 click thrus to our website from display advertising. Over 12 packages have been booked to date.
Many of our readers are travel advisors who are now looking to package Canada for clients who are interested in staying closer to home. What are some of the unique experiences that Prince George has to offer?
The “Stay Bold” package offers a guided snowshoe for two on the Adventure Bus to the Ancient Forest/ Chun T’oh Whudujut Provincial Park, dinner at a local Neapolitan pizzeria plus a night at the Marriott Hotel. The Ancient Forest is a unique forest, as it is the only inland rainforest in North America, nestled in the traditional territory of the Lheidli T’enneh. Hiking the Ancient Forest trail will bring you past thousand-year-old western red cedars and a rich biodiversity of plants, mosses, lichens and fungi.
The park also includes a 450 metre long universal access boardwalk which provides the opportunity for people with all abilities to experience this majestic area. Another 2.3 km of boardwalk provides access to magnificent “Big” Tree, Tree Beard, Radies Tree and a beautiful cascading waterfall.
Other packages offer experiences such as culinary tastes from Northern Lights Estate Winery, Canada’s largest fruit winery and BC’s most northern winery; or a night’s stay in a deluxe boutique corral cottage that includes a four-hour snowmobile rental, and a visit with the Ranch’s resident horses.
Prince George is situated as the largest city in Northern BC, or the “Basecamp to the North”, so our proximity to nature year round (1600 lakes & rivers within 100km radius of the city centre, mountain biking, fishing and year round recreation) parallel with big city amenities, offers a unique balance of “Rural Urbanity”. Some unique experiences that Prince George offers includes accessible trails such as the Great West Life Mobility trail. In 2021 Tourism Prince George Visitor Centre will be offering free rentals of recumbent bikes to encourage more folks to get out and explore our nature. We also have a remarkable arts and culture scene that offers immersive concerts with the Prince George Symphony Orchestra, and Theatre Northwest live theatre company, not to mention many other local artists that play live concerts and display art throughout local restaurants in the downtown.
What are some of your personal favourite local things to do, experience or eat?
Prince George offers plenty of rural and urban experiences. A perfect day in PG would be a hike or snowshoe in one of our many City parks (Cottonwood Island Park offers a picturesque walk through chainsaw face carvings in the trees created by local artist Elmer Gunderson, and an opportunity to feed the chickadees right from the palm of your hand) and then a flight of local crafted beer at one of the local breweries, and a bite to eat at one of the locally owned restaurants in the downtown, such as Betulla Burning which offers traditional Neapolitan pizza and locally sourced ingredients. We have some lovely local cafes including The Makerie which serves up coffee and a craft in a creative atmosphere.
Are you aware of any local tourism operators or accommodation providers that partner with the travel advisor community?
Many of our hotel operators work with the travel advisor community. Tourism Prince George is working closely with some of our outdoor operators to develop commissionable pricing and packages that appeal to larger audiences.
In your opinion, why is now the perfect time for Canadians to consider exploring Canada?
It is a national pride campaign where we ask our residents to be ambassadors and to contribute to our own economy rather that spending dollars elsewhere. We need to help support “local” economies and businesses. The international border closures encourage exploration of our own backyard and discovering activities or attractions in our own communities we might not have known about, creating pride of place.
What’s something you think a lot of Canadians may not know about Prince George?
That Prince George is the largest city located in northern BC and the portal to the north. We have rich Indigenous culture, celebrated through natural landscapes and traditional expression of artists including song, dance and art. Prince George is unique in its living historical attractions, museums and culinary offerings, amenities, a variety of accommodations, and proximity to outdoor adventure and natural attributes. Our community is welcoming and inclusive and is home to many passionate and diverse citizens who shape the landscape and make travellers want to tell others about our area and return for future visits.
Do you have anything to add?
Nowhere will you find more warmth in the cool north than in Prince George.
Look at any map and you’ll see us. Glowing in the heart of BC. The largest city in the upper 4/5’s of our massive province –we are a microcosm of our country. With glowing hearts indeed, Canadian to the core. An urban centre, surrounded by ancient landscapes, iconic wildlife, and the world’s only inland temperate rainforest. Prince George is a centre for business, a basecamp for the adventurer, and a portal to the North. As the region’s central hub for railway, highways and airways, we offer any traveler a soft landing – to refuel, rejuvenate and reconnect… We have four distinct seasons, but Prince George owns winter. Our city is transformed into a snowy playground where street traffic is quieted, and the sunshine reflects up from the ground as brightly as it shines down from the sky… Most urban centres try to reconstruct nature in their cities. Well, we’ve built a city that flourishes in nature. Learning with every step that growth must come with care. We look forward to you visiting us, when the time is right.
