Last week, Tourism Kelowna’s fall advertising started running, encouraging people to pick our destination for their upcoming vacation or getaway. The fall campaign is built with a strong advertising buy to attract visitors, help them consider Kelowna, and encourage them to book soon. With the feeling of summer sun extending through September, then slowly fading into crisp fall October days, autumn in the Okanagan Valley is golden!

Markets & Tactics

Our fall paid media investment remains focused on domestic markets, running in Ontario, Alberta, and here in British Columbia. We also have additional ads specific to business, sport, and major event audiences that are set to run.
 

Image of Tourism Kelowna Fall Advertising (7)


Tactics included in our fall advertising mix include:

  • 30-second PSA’s on broadcast television;
  • 15- and 30-second digital and connected television ads on platforms like Amazon Prime, YouTube, and more;
  • 30-second feature ads in Cineplex Theatres;
  • Social media ads on Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok;
  • Print ads in Food & Wine magazine;
  • Targeted print and digital ads in Ignite (meetings and conferences) and Adrenaline (sports tourism);
  • Social media ads for meeting and event planners on LinkedIn, Meta, and other targeted channels; and
  • Content partnerships on Expedia for accommodations and flights.

All in, we expect to earn over 30 million advertising impressions between now and mid-November.


Compelling Creative

As we did this spring, to be cost-efficient and put as much of our budget as possible towards our media spend, we are re-using the creative from fall 2025 for this year's campaign.

The strong, bright, and optimistic creative, which showcases Kelowna in all its autumn glory, drew attention last year, so we’re happy to use it again this year before refreshing it for 2027.
 

Image of Tourism Kelowna Fall Advertising - Meetings


A Full Marketing Mix

It’s not just our paid advertising investment that’s working hard. After a successful first half of the year, we know many businesses experienced a pause in that momentum in August. We know everyone is eager to get back to building on that momentum as quickly as possible

The Thompson Okanagan Tourism Association and Destination BC also have campaigns in market, and our fall campaigns will work in tandem to generate additional interest and demand.

We also have other marketing tactics that run every day throughout the year. Our marketing and communication strategy includes:

  • Paid media (advertising, as outlined above)
  • Earned media (public relations)
  • Shared media (channels like social media where we share content we've created)
  • Owned media (channels we operate, like our website and e-mail marketing)
    • Our consumer email marketing distribution list is over 27K, including 22K that receive our #exploreKelowna monthly email.

While we have seasonal paid advertising campaigns, these tactics work alongside the many marketing tactics we run every day of the year to drive demand to our destination and to local businesses.

If you have any questions about our fall campaign or our brand, marketing, and communication strategy, please contact me at chris.shauf@tourismkelowna.com.