Love for Kelowna Day began as a celebration of who we are and where we live at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020—now, it has evolved into an annual celebration aligned with Tourism Week, providing the perfect opportunity to increase awareness and celebrate the importance of our region's tourism industry. By encouraging residents and visitors to share what they love about Kelowna, we're able to showcase our region to a wider audience while also highlighting the economic and social value our local tourism sector creates. 

In the week leading up to Love for Kelowna Day, we posted across our social media channels and engaged local content creators to show off what they love about Kelowna through Instagram Reels, encouraging others to share their #loveforkelowna on May 28 to be entered to win a $500 Kelowna prize package. On Instagram alone, our organic posts reached over 68,000 accounts and received over 3,300 engagements. In addition, the #exploreKelowna blog post was viewed over 2400 times.

 

 

This year, there were over 150 posts, comments, and stories on social media from people sharing their Love for Kelowna with 75 fulfilling the contest requirements of tagging @tourismkelowna, @loveforkelowna, and using #loveforkelowna. From shouting out their favourite businesses and sharing epic views to creating appreciation posts about all the wonderful outdoor adventure, food, and drink options, participants clearly showed their love of our community and the positive impact the tourism industry has on quality of life. Below is a handful of the in-feed posts from businesses, visitors, and residents.

 

There were also more than 1,000 people who stopped in at the Kelowna Visitor Centre throughout the day—including locals who had never visited the centre before—where they were treated to Love for Kelowna cookies from Sweets by Sask along with 15% off Kelowna Vibes and Love for Kelowna apparel and accessories. City of Kelowna Mayor, Colin Basran, who executed a proclamation of May 28 as Love for Kelowna Day, also popped by to show his support. 


Want to learn more about Love for Kelowna Day? Reach out to me at carla@tourismkelowna.com