Building on its team's experience from the wildfires, floods, and COVID over the last five years, Destination BC (DBC) is working with Regional Destination Marketing Organizations (RDMOs), including the Thompson Okanagan Tourism Association, the BC Hotel Association (BCHA), Indigenous Tourism BC (ITBC), and several City Destination Marketing Organizations, including Tourism Kelowna, to develop a collaborative approach and messaging to support wildfire impacted communities.
In addition to the work being done by DBC, TOTA, Tourism Kelowna, and other partners, local businesses in the affected areas are encouraged to assist in recovery efforts in the following ways:
- Participate in the Vignette Video Series on social media
- Businesses can create a social media vertical video or vignette (i.e., short videos used to showcase a destination or product on social media).
- Vignettes should be short and eye-catching, so people want to watch them.
- These vignettes will be posted as Reels on Instagram and as videos on Facebook, so businesses are asked to include #ExploreBC and #ExploreBCnow. Be sure to tag @tourismkelowna and include #exploreKelowna so our team has the option of sharing the vignettes, too.
- Instructions on how to create a vignette can be downloaded here.
- Use and disperse the "Travel Now To..." digital ad and social media templates
- Businesses can download and customize their own display ads and social media posts their images, logos, and a unified call to action.
- View and download the templates, and find instructions on how to use them, here.
- Add upcoming events and festivals to DBC's consumer website
- Destination BC’s consumer website, HelloBC.com features events that encourage travel to and throughout the province of British Columbia.
- Events eligible for a listing on HelloBC include, but are not limited to events which:
- Are available for a limited time.
- Are open for attendance by the general public.
- Are suitable for audiences of all ages.
- Are held and experienced, in-person (no virtual or online-only events).
- Have a website where Destination BC can direct consumers to for more details about the event.
- Full guidelines and access to submit events can be found on DBC's website here.
As Tourism Kelowna will be incorporating the digital ad templates into our marketing plan to support recovery, we are encouraging businesses to focus on creating vignettes, if resources allow, so there is an array of content to be dispersed. If you have questions about the campaign, please contact Carla Bechard, Marketing Programs & Partnerships, at carla@tourismkelowna.com.
