Cultural Heritage Tourism Handbook - LinkBC

Ontario ShowcaseMoving to a Four-Season DestinationPrompts InnovationIn 2006, the founders of the Alliance, a private-public tourismmarketing organization, recognized it had to be an innovativeleader. The goal was to expand on Stratford’s reputationas home of the Shakespeare Festival, into positioning thecommunity as a vibrant, four seasons tourism destination.After extensive research, the Alliance defined its senseof place and personae based on the “3 Cs” – character,culture and cuisine, which they determined to be their bestcompetitive assets.Attracting Younger VisitorsThe 3 Cs holistic strategy positioned Stratford as more thanjust a serious theatre destination. While the alliance couldhave chosen to cultivate traditional festival clientele, whotended to represent an older demographic, they choseinstead to focus on younger cultural tourists seeking multipleexperiential getaways.The most important priority for the team was capitalizing onthe internet and its profound effect on consumer behaviourin terms of sourcing, shopping and buying leisure getaways.The team was aware that the younger population was“wedded to the Web, with its complex of information, socialplatforms and entertainment options,” says Zakreski “butwe also recognized that the older market was its fastestgrowing user group.” He adds that Stratford did not havea large marketing budget compared to competitors, andrequired efficient tracking of their process. For these reasons“we embarked on a strategy whereby over 75% of ourconsumer advertising campaigns and ‘shelf-presence’ wouldbe online by 2009.”Community-Based InternetMarketing Draws Visitors toStratfordCanada’s Premier Art TownIn most areas of tourism, there are one or two communities that “setthe bar” for good practice. For the Canadian cultural tourism industry,one such town is Stratford, Ontario. Over the past few years, it hasmade great strides in developing a highly effective set of approachesto online marketing. Eugene Zakreski, executive director of the StratfordTourism Alliance, shared their journey with us.Internet Strategy DevelopedIn 2007 they engaged a professional internet strategy partnerand over the next 24 months launched campaigns, testeddifferent tactics, and adapted their strategies based onthe results. Says Zakreski: “If we were the ‘new’ Stratford,the creative messaging had to be fun – e.g. ‘Come for thechocolate, Stay for the Plays’ – and there needed to bea different approach to our marketing. We completelyrevamped the tone, content and design of our Web Site,www.visitstratford.ca increasing the content by 200% withsignificant improvements in navigation.”Branching Out on the WebGiven the importance and appeal of video, the teamdecided to use it to entertain – creating short and witty,conversational video testimonials by famous residents ofStratford listing their “5 Favourite Things about Stratford”.They also used videos to inform – offering a number of shortattraction profiles, featuring everything from the gardensof Stratford to shopping, dining, and walks. To engage theyounger market further, a successful YouTube channel wascreated to showcase Stratford’s videos to a wider audience.To further help people plan their visit, they created 13fictional characters whose individual tastes, ranging from “Ilike food” to “I like heritage architecture” provide a snap-shotas to how to spend 48 hours in Stratford based on one’sinterests.“We understood right from the start that it was not enoughjust to create a site that organically ranked highly in searchengine results,” explains Zakreski. “It was more importantto have ‘recency’, new content, and constant promotion tostimulate immediate travel.”Zakreski shared a number of strategies& tactics they’ve employed since:• Launched seven seasonal digital marketing campaigns annually,from winter campaigns (Victorian Christmas and StratfordUnplugged) to the Swan Weekend in spring, as well as summerand fall seasonal sites.• Invested in experientially-driven online campaigns, from theSpring Heritage Festival to Savour Stratford, a culinary program,each with specific campaign websites. Each is supported withpaid online advertising (Google AdWord buys and banner ads),a customized media plan based on high-traffic sites for culturaltourists, and advertising on Facebook.• Since 2009, they have operated 2 Twitter channels with dailyconversations and 2 social blogs.• Sending two monthly e-newsletters to 8,000 subscribers – onetargeting general visitors with special offers and another for thoseinterested in culinary experiences.• To expand reach, they formed a partnership with a Toronto entertainmentand social website that appeals to 20 and 30-somethings.The site now features monthly editorials and videos about Stratford.• The team recognized and responded to trends in multi-platformonline experiences, designing a mobile version of their site atm.visitstratford.ca last spring.• Over the past year, they’ve launched mobile ad campaignsincluding a Visit Stratford app with features such as augmentedreal time, allowing the user to create personal itineraries and shareStratford experiences with friends using Twitter and Facebook.The app is a means to plan a trip in advance, a digital guide whenin Stratford, and serves as a social media platform.• Closing the marketing loop, the team is now updating printadvertising and guides with digital features in the form of QRcodes, also mentioned in the PEI Showcase. The content andtone of self-guided heritage tours has been updated and noweach stop features a QR code, accessed by a smartphone, thatprovides an additional 1-2 minute audio commentary for each site.Find out more: www.visitstratford.caSignificant Growth NotedSays Zakreski: “The results of our efforts have been significant,with triple-digit growth in visitors to our various websites overthe past few years, double-digit growth in visitors to Stratford inthe fall, winter and spring seasons, and noticeably younger adultcouples enjoying the Stratford Experience.”Stratford’s profile as a holistic cultural destination has increased. TheSavour Stratford Culinary Festival was named Best Culinary Experiencein Ontario for 2010, and the Alliance was awarded the CulinaryTourism Leadership award in 2011. AOL Canada recently namedStratford as the top culinary destination in Canada. TripAdvisornamed Stratford one of the top 10 Canadian cultural destinationsfor 2010, and the Canadian Tourism Commission named Stratfordin the top five romantic destinations.But the alliance isn’t stopping there. “On the drawing boards is thelaunch of an outdoor digital art festival,” says Zakreski, “applyingdigital video technology to project imagery on six or seven historicalbuildings in Stratford’s downtown heritage district, every weekendover an 8-week period. Our aim is to not only use digital media topromote the 3Cs Stratford Experience but to also create a newattraction, reinforcing our claim as Canada’s premier arts town.”76 77