We’ve said it once (ok, probably more than once) and we’ll say it again: no one can grow tourism on their own.
One of the great things about our Come Wander brand platform is that no one has to; it provides an overarching brand for the region, one that guides our regional programming and messaging for the foreseeable future and one that tourism stakeholders like you can leverage. Together, we can share the stories of the region, engage audiences, and inspire visitors to Come Wander Ontario’s Highlands.
Over the past eight months, we have been thrilled with the increasing engagement and support we’ve seen from industry for this brand messaging. This month, I wanted to take time to highlight one recent organization that went a step beyond to incorporate Come Wander in their new winter event.
Last month, the Perth BIA hosted their first ever Rejuvenate Yourself, a one day event that placed local wellness practitioners at shops around town. Visitors were encouraged to wander the stores of downtown Perth to not only shop and to search for the perfect find to refresh their life, but also to sign up for treatments onsite to re-energize their spirit. This was an event perfectly fit for any Serenity Seeker.
Rejuvenate Yourself incorporated three key facets of Come Wander: it supported a wandering ideology, highlighted the unexpected authentic moments that make this region so incredible, and offered excellent (as well as unique) visitor experiences.
Prior to the event, Kari from the Perth BIA reached out to share messaging with the OHTO team, to give us a heads up about this exciting new event coming to Perth and how they were planning to leverage the Come Wander brand with the tagline ‘Come Wander Perth.’
By taking the step to share this with our team, by responding to questions and providing us additional information as the event developed, we were able to support the promotion of this event through our brand and across our various digital channels.
For example, this event was featured on ComeWander.ca in a content piece titled ‘New Year, New You,’ which connects events across the region happening in January and February to typical New Year’s Resolutions. In addition to this ComeWander.ca event story being shared across our social media, we also planned and promoted additional original social media posts specific to Rejuvenate Yourself. On Facebook alone, this post reached over 3000 people.
The event was a success, with 17 businesses participating and many reporting they saw new customers visit their stores that day. Groups of shoppers travelled from outside Perth to attend the event and the Perth BIA is already brainstorming ways to expand the event next year: to incorporate other pampering treatments, add additional activities, and bring local restaurants on board.
This is just one example of how we can work together to grow tourism in Ontario’s Highlands under the Come Wander umbrella. With support of the brand growing and more businesses and organizations embracing it, we are excited to see where the future will take us and what other unique ideas will come forward.
Looking for simple ways to be represented in Come Wander content and leverage this brand?
We understand that you’re busy and that large projects like the above example might not be realistic for everyone, so here’s a reminder of three simple ways to be featured:
- Inspire content and stories of the region by responding to Monthly Guiding Questions
- Let us know what you have coming up at your place of business each season by filling in our Seasonal Product Knowledge forms
- Visit TourismPartners.com to create or update your Ontariotravel.net listing – our regional page on Ontariotravel.net is where we’re linking consumers looking for a comprehensive directory of everything to see and do in Ontario’s Highlands, so make sure you’re on it!
If you have an idea of how you’d like to leverage the Come Wander brand outside of these, or want to discuss possible ways we can work together under this umbrella, please feel free to contact me.
I look forward to continuing to wander together,
Julie Mulligan
Marketing Manager, OHTO
OHTO Insider 