Destination BC’s latest video to promote tourism in the province features aerial shots of mountains, images of surfers walking through rainforests and beautiful pans along the coastline.
But some attendees at a consultation session on Destination BC’s new three-year strategy earlier this month in Dawson Creek were less than enthused with the image of the province the Crown corporation is projecting.
Several tourism operators were concerned about the absence of the Peace region in Destination BC’s latest promotional materials.
“If you want to sell B.C., we’re part of B.C. and we’re not seeing it,” said Andy Ackerman of Tourism Fort St. John during a question-and-answer session with Destination BC CEO Marsha Walden. “We need to feel we’re included here, and it’s hard to get excited about this when we’re not seeing us.”
Destination BC is rolling out new branding and reallocating some of its $51 million budget as part of a new plan to grow tourism in the province.
The Crown corporation aims to have the highest growth in overnight tourism spending in Canada and to make B.C. the country’s top recommended tourist destination.
It’s part of a broader move to capture more tourism dollars from Alberta, Washington state, California and China – which Walden identified as growth markets.
Destination BC has been consulting with local operators ahead of the rollout, and the feedback from the industry in the Peace was not all positive.
“I have colleagues in Vancouver who can’t even picture what northeast B.C. looks like,” said Laura Prosko, an attendee at the December 12 meeting.
She said the latest campaign, with its focus on the coast and mountains, wouldn’t help that.
Destination BC controls the biggest pot of tourism money in the province and provides around $6 million a year to the Northern British Columbia Tourism Association (NBCTA).
In Dawson Creek, the tourism office is funded by the city, but it often applies for grants from NBCTA.
Walden said the campaign’s first step is getting B.C. on the map.
“I know a lot of industry is disappointed when they can’t find their exact region in there,” she said. “But this is what consumers around the world have told us will put us on their dream list and go ‘OK, now that I’m thinking British Columbia, what can I actually do there?’ Then they’ll discover the [Liard] hot springs, the Alaska Highway, Haida Gwaii and all these other amazing things.”
April Moi, who works for NBCTA, said there’s concern Destination BC might eliminate some programs and shift dollars south.
“There is a shift from the way the programs are currently offered and how they’re structured,” she said.
Walden also hinted at cuts to some programs.
“There’s a lot of money in the system, but it’s not necessarily being harnessed in the best way possible and hopefully with different relationships and roles in the future we can maximize that.”
However, Walden said that, overall, Destination BC will spend more on tourism marketing in all regions.
“Our intent is to put more marketing dollars in every region of the province than is currently being invested. So it’s not having more money provincially to market our province, it’s more dollars in every region.”
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