Northern British Columbians and travelers on route to Alaska will be the main target for Tourism Prince George's 2011 marketing campaign.
Tourism Prince George CEO Aidan Kelly said the organization will be building a larger presence in communities across the North and online. Stronger than projected revenue from the Additional Hotel Room Tax is allowing the organization to expand its marketing efforts by $50,000 compared to last year.
"We will have a much larger presence online, because that is where a lot of folks get their information from," Kelly said. "There is no more excuses. We have the resources and we have to deliver the results, quite frankly."
Tourism Prince George was created as a destination marketing organization on Jan. 1, 2010. During the first year it hired Kelly and developed a functioning board of directors.
This will be the group's first year as a fully-functioning tourism society. Prior to 2010, tourism promotion, including the two tourist information centres, was managed by Initiatives Prince George.
"Tourism is a critical area of opportunity for Prince George," Kelly said. "It's a $14 billion industry in B.C. -- that's not a small impact."
People living in the North are one of the largest groups of visitors to the city, he said.
"A lot of people of traveling here for a variety of reasons: shopping, concerts, services,"Kelly said. "If they're already here for a service run... we need to entice them with personal experiences. It doesn't have to be a specific event, it could be a hike or snowshoe at Forests for the World."
Tourism Prince George will be promoting the city at community events throughout the region to show Northerners what's happening in Prince George, he said. In addition, Kelly said the organization will provide resources for residents to "be tourists in their own town."
"[Residents] become your best ambassadors. Word-of-mouth marketing is still very valuable in today's world."
Last week city council approved the budget for the tourism agency. The city contributes $327,000 from general taxation and the hotel tax is projected to raise $500,000. An additional $208,000 is raised through various sales.
Of the $1 million budget, $450,000 will go to marketing and $258,000 to operating the visitor information centres. Salaries and overhead expenses make up the balance of the budget.
