Canadian Tourism Commission has sent two bloggers on a cross-country adventure to inspire fellow travelers to follow in their footsteps, and discover what Canada has to offer.
Victoria Revay and Carolyne Weldon will document their seven-week trek across Canada through blog entries, photos and videos on CanadaIsABigPlace.ca.
Gloria Loree, executive director, communications and media and public relations for the CTC, said the blog allows the government-run organization to engage more actively in the social media space.
“People worldwide are following blogs instead of reading travel sections in newspapers, or they’re doing both,” she said. “So I think having these bloggers out there, reporting on their real experiences and updating it daily is engaging a lot more people we might through one single channel.”
Revay and Weldon will also make regular updates to YouTube, Twitter, Facebook and Flickr accounts.
Both women celebrated Saint-Jean-Baptiste in Quebec yesterday. “The streets of Quebec turned to a sea of blue-and-white Fleur-de-lis flags and hats,” read one of the entries. “The backdrop was fireworks and large drum circles that formed in pockets in the middle of walkways and underneath monuments.”
The online pilot project is part of the “Locals Know” campaign that aims to encourage Canadians to seek out new and exotic experiences in places they likely weren’t familiar with before.
The effort launched earlier this month with print, magazine, TV and online developed by DDB Vancouver.
Each execution asks, “Where is this?” and drives viewers to LocalsKnow.ca, where they are encouraged to upload photos of their favourite Canadian travel spots and great-unknown experience.
“What we’re trying to do is remind Canadians to have a look in their backyard this summer,” said Loree. “This type of journey that both of the bloggers are taking really supports that kind of thinking.”
Almost all provinces and territories, as well as other industry partners like Air Canada are participating in this national program.
Air Canada also sponsors the blog, and provided Revay and Weldon with air passes for flexible traveling, said Loree.
The CTC said it would invest $10 million per year in the next two fiscal years to support the tourism industry and stimulate Canada’s economy.
