A Travel Penticton campaign to present real time video of the region's conditions played a key role in attracting tourists unsure of valley weather and smoke conditions last summer. The campaign has been nominated for an innovation award at next week's B.C. Tourism Awards.
(STEVE ARSTAD / iNFOnews.ca)
February 20, 2019 - 3:00 PM
PENTICTON - A unique idea that encouraged tourism during last summer’s wildfires has put Travel Penticton in the running as a finalist for a provincial tourism award.
Travel Penticton executive director Tom Tischik called the tourism agency’s Real Time social media campaign “overwhelmingly successful” last summer. The campaign was developed to provide a way for local business to deal realistically with the impact wildfires and wildfire smoke were having on the local economy.
Tischik said in a press release businesses needed to communicate in honest terms a message the region was open for business and counter negative publicity regarding smoky skies.
“There were many days when the weather was great and tourism business were open for business. The Penticton team realized we needed way to convey this message to potential travellers in a truthful and meaningful way,” he said.
The Real Time campaign produced 41 videos that were posted to Facebook and Instagram through late July and August. The posts generated more than 430,000 impressions on Facebook and 19,600 impressions on Instagram.
Tischuk said the videos, which showed valley weather and visibility conditions on a real time basis, were highly appreciated by visitors, giving them the confidence to visit Penticton when they might not otherwise have had.
The campaign has been selected as a top three finalist in the innovation category at the 2019 B.C. Tourism Awards. Winners will be announced on Thursday, Feb. 28 in Vancouver.
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