For Immediate release
Seekers Media wins 2nd Award of the Year for Innovative Tourism Partnership
Cranbrook, BC (October 10, 2014) -- This week, the City of Cranbrook, in partnership with the Canadian Rockies International Airport, Pacific Coastal Airlines and Seekers Media received the award for Best Community Tourism Initiative presented at the Kootenay Rockies Tourism AGM. A first for the City of Cranbrook, the award was presented to the community that developed and implemented the year’s most innovative tourism marketing campaign.
The City of Cranbrook, Canadian Rockies International Airport and Pacific Coastal Airlines continue to develop attraction strategies to increase tourism to the region. They partnered with the Kootenay Rockies Gran Fondo and contracted Seekers Media to produce a multi-media campaign.
“Our goals with the campaign were to increase tourism to the region, and promote the Kootenay Rockies Gran Fondo as a means to showcase Cranbrook as an active tourism destination. We contracted Seekers Media to help see through our interests via a social and digital media campaign,” explains Kevin Weaver, Economic Development Manager for the City of Cranbrook.
Strategic content supporting these goals was produced, including a collection of editorial and a video on biking in the region. It was key that this content spoke not only to the Gran Fondo event that happened September 7, 2014, but also promoted and encouraged active travel to the region throughout the year. This content was then published on www.FestivalSeekers.com, an award winning multi-media platform that has built a strong audience of active travelers.
“We were excited to be part of this campaign”, says Kevin Boothroyd, Director of Sales and Marketing with Pacific Coastal Airlines. “It allowed us to showcase our airline and our continued partnership with the City of Cranbrook and Canadian Rockies International Airport through the use of social media, a significant part of our overall marketing strategy.”
The campaign helped generate a 40% increase in registrations from the year before and a 77% increase in out of town registrations, some from as far away as the U.K.
“A campaign like this helps further the Canadian Rockies International Airport’s interest to remind people that access to the Kootenay Rockies and all of its remarkable experiences couldn’t be easier via our airport,” explains Tristen Chernove, CEO for the YXC.
“From this campaign the region’s tourism stakeholders have gained a new appreciation for the power of social media, partnership campaigns and the value in content marketing,” says Cranbrook Mayor Wayne Stetski. “The timing of this award is perfect, considering that the city’s tourism interests continue to expand with ongoing work to establish a tourism Destination Marketing Organization and development of a 2015 media and marketing plan. This plan will help insure Cranbrook and its residents continue to welcome people from around the world to enjoy its historical, cultural and active travel experiences, bringing with them additional economic prosperity to the community.”