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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCAO-003-19Clarington CAO Report If this information is required in an alternate accessible format, please contact the Accessibility Coordinator at 905-623-3379 ext. 2131. Report To: General Government Committee Date of Meeting: March 4, 2019 Report Number: CAO -003-19 Resolution: #GG -151-19 File Number: By-law Number: Report Subject: A year in review, Tourism 2018 Update Recommendation: 1. That Report CAO -003-19 be received for information. Municipality of Clarington Report CAO -003-19 Report Overview Page 2 Clarington Tourism continues to evolve and employ new marketing and communications campaigns to tell our Clarington story. Tourism tracks and utilizes the latest social media and digital marketing trends to maximize the Municipality's digital footprint. This report provides Council with a snapshot of the new initiatives and ongoing work done in 2018 to promote tourism. This report will be viewed in conjunction with a Clarington Tourism highlights video. 1. The Tourism Story 1.1 Clarington has been named the 2019 FEO Municipality of the Year as announced by Festivals & Events Ontario. The award was given to Clarington during a ceremony on February 28. It's an award that recognizes the Municipality's outstanding support for the various festivals and events across Clarington. Staff from Tourism, Community Services and Operations worked together on an application detailing Clarington's contributions to all the events. For more information, please see the press release that outlines the criteria and the award. 1.2 Clarington Tourism continues to evolve and use new tactics to tell our tourism story. As social media continues to grow in popularity, Clarington Tourism has utilized this key tool in new and creative ways to generate new content and share the tourism experience. Tourism staff have developed videos, vlogs, and Instagram stories, to promote and share Clarington in a new and interactive way. The response to this engagement, both from stakeholders and visitors, has been overwhelmingly positive. This new approach to telling our tourism story has gained traction, with many local stakeholders requesting assistance and wanting to have their business highlighted using this format. 1.3 To adapt to the growing social media and digital marketing trend, Clarington Tourism partnered with Big Clic to maximize its digital presence. In June 2018, Tourism adopted programmatic advertising, essentially using a computerized model to determine where Clarington Tourism ads are placed and what audiences Tourism will reach. The advantage of this type of advertising is that Tourism is able to obtain key performance indicators to measure success. Tourism ran three major campaigns with Big Clic between June and October, and received 1,077,849 impressions from visitors, with a click -through rate of nearly three -times the online standard average, which is 0.08 per cent. 1.4 In April 2018, Clarington Tourism partnered with a consultant to undergo a service review. The Tourism Service Review report CAO -012-18 was presented to Council on September 4, 2018. The review examined how Clarington Tourism provided its key services, and looked at areas of improvement. In the end, 16 recommendations were made to help maximize this key service, including the creation of a Tourism Advisory Committee. The Committee, made up of tourism stakeholders and local business owners, will advise staff and Council on strategic activities and initiatives to promote Clarington. Report, CAO -015- 18 with the advisory committee, terms of reference was reviewed and approved by Council in December and on February 25, Council selected committee membership. Municipality of Clarington Page 3 Report CAO -003-19 2. New Campaigns and Initiatives Experience Clarington 2.1 In June 2018, Clarington Tourism partnered with local tourism businesses and operators to launch a series of experiences/0 /0 focused on directing visitors to key areas. k 4, 2.2 The Sweet Summer Trail launched in the summer of 2018 andt encouraged Clarington visitors and residents to follow a map `J.- experiencing various activities and businesses in Clarington. This was designed as a self -guided tour through the Municipality encouraging visitors to stop at specific participating businesses for a summer treat or a unique experience. The initiative was promoted through social media, a press release was sent out and resulted in an article posted on durhamregion.com called "Clarington Tourism launches Sweet Summer Trail tour." 2.3 The Great Apple Adventure was another self -guided tour experience that launched in the fall. Clarington Tourism designed this tour to highlight Clarington's fall story including our harvest. The tour featured many local businesses as well as large local events including Orono Fair, CbMgton's Bowmanville Apple Fest and Newcastle Harvest Festival. Clarington GREAT APPLE Tourism partnered with Central Counties Tourism on this initiative, receiving sponsorship for joint marketing and advertising to promote this tour. Due to the funding support received from Central Counties, we were able to expand our reach, work with a local blogger and influencer to promote the tour. As a consequence, Clarington Tourism was able to attain 111,299 in impressions and more than 1300 likes through Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Tourism Story through Vlogs and Social Media 2.4 In May 2018, Clarington Tourism launched its popular Vlogs or video blog series. These are short promotional videos, which have gained traction and have been highly successful. In fact, their popularity has grown, and many local businesses say that these short videos are a driving force for new customers and visitors. The two most successful videos highlighted downtown Hampton during road closures and construction, and Pingle's Farm Market during harvest season. Both videos combined received 8,900 views and nearly 100 shares. Since June, 13 vlogs have been created and attained more than 28,800 total views. Tourism in the Media (columns, stories and press releases) 2.5 Also new in 2018, Clarington Tourism launched its own column in Metroland's Clarington This Week. The column is both printed in the paper and showcased on durhamregion.com. This is yet another marketing initiative, capable of reaching an audience that may not have access to technology, smartphones or the web. Past columns include: Fun -filled experiences to make life easier Municipality of Clarington Page 4 Report CAO -003-19 Fall for Clarington while on route enioyinq the Great Apple Adventure Make holiday memories in Clarington Partnerships with Stakeholders 2.6 Clarington Tourism continues to engage and partner with stakeholders to promote Clarington and tell our story. Local businesses have partnered with Tourism on the tours and experiences, Central Counties and Durham Tourism have supported these initiatives either through joint -funding or in-kind promotion. In the summer, Clarington Tourism partnered with Durham Tourism and Canadian Tire Motorsport Park (CTMP) for Race Day at Yonge Dundas Square in Toronto, promoting CTMP, the venue and local racing events held in Clarington. The day was a huge success and allowed Tourism to highlight Clarington's agri-tourism assets to race fans, showcasing Tyrone Mill doughnuts and fresh local cider from Archibald's Orchard & Estate Winery and Algoma Orchards. 2.7 In November 2018, Clarington Tourism partnered with the Clarington Board of Trade and Office of Economic Development (CBOT) on a Business Retention & Expansion study focused on the local tourism industry. Tourism and CBOT are working together to determine the needs of our local tourism businesses and operators. This study will assist Clarington Tourism in strategic planning and provide information on how best Clarington Tourism can support our local tourism stakeholders. Tourism staff also participated at CBOT's 10th Annual Energy Summit, promoting the community and tourism assets to the visiting workforce. Tourism staff have also been involved on the steering committee for the Orono Economic Development Strategy to provide insight and support from the division. Sport Tourism 2.8 The Sport Tourism market in Clarington continues to grow and the Tourism office is working diligently to target those visitors and encourage them to experience our Municipality `between games.' Clarington Tourism has worked closely with Community Services to ensure visitors who are in Clarington for large tournaments and sporting events are also aware of our local events, attractions, restaurants and our tourism story. 2.9 Each year, Clarington Tourism develops a `Between Games' Brochure (please see example in Attachment 1) that is displayed and handed out at our facilities that host sporting events. This brochure details all the activities and events in Clarington. Tourism also has allocated space in all our recreation facilities where visitors can find our maps, guides and community information. 2.10 Tourism works closely with the Community Development Coordinator who shares information about facility bookings and large tournaments that come to Clarington. Community Services has provided Tourism with contacts for the sports associations participating in any of these large events. Before scheduled events, Tourism staff continually reach out to sports associations asking how Clarington Tourism can assist, answer questions, and help create experiences for visiting teams and their families. Municipality of Clarington Page 5 Report CAO -003-19 2.11 It is important to note that Sports Tourism in its entirety consists of several components. One of which is the local sports tourism piece discussed above, while the other deals with large sporting events such as Pan Am Games, and the attraction of these large sporting events to the Municipality. Clarington Tourism collaborates and works closely with Durham Tourism, specifically, the Sport Tourism Coordinator, Lori Talling. Tourism staff have discussed several opportunities with the Community Services Department to host, bid on, and attract large tournaments to Clarington. Unfortunately, at this juncture, the Municipality is unable to accommodate these events due to lack of field space, ice time and actual physical space. 3. Concurrence Not Applicable 4. Conclusion 4.1 This report provides a brief overview of some of the key activities and initiatives in the tourism area in 2018. Clarington Tourism completed another successful year, reaching out and working with local stakeholders to share our unique Clarington story. Tourism is looking forward to an even better year promoting Clarington's award as the 2019 FEO Municipality of the Year. This community has lots to be proud of and to share. 4.2 Tourism staff provide a huge amount of assistance in marketing, promotion and advice to the local business community. Staff not only promote local festivals and events, but they also work with stakeholders and assist them with a variety of needs including individualized lessons in social media, marketing and web support. Staff also host several small community events at the Tourism office, promoting the Municipality to residents and encouraging them to learn about tourism services. 4.3 As social media and marketing trends evolve, Tourism staff stay on top of these trends and create exciting campaigns that resonate with and attract visitors. Submitted by: Andrew C. Allison, B. Comm, LLB CAO Staff Contact: Basia Radomski, Manager of Communications and Tourism, 905-623-3379, Ext. 2214 or bradomski@clarington.net