2013 DCBA Strategic Plan - Destination Cape Breton Association

Destination Cape Breton Association Strategy Plan 2013AppendicesA. Product Development CommitteeB. Roger Brooks RecommendationsC. Canadian Signature Experiences CollectionD. Louisbourg 300 Marketing Strategy and Media PlanE. Communications and Sales PlanF. Golf Cape Breton StrategyG. Marketing Committee ChangesA Clear Focusii

Destination Cape Breton Association Strategy Plan 2013Figure 1 – Online Package and Experience Participants ............................................................................. 12Figure 2 – Maritime Occupancy and Spend Comparison ............................................................................ 20Figure 3 – Online Campaign Performance .................................................................................................. 21Figure 4 – Media Spend / Recall ................................................................................................................. 21Figure 5 – Occupancy Trending ................................................................................................................... 22Figure 6 – Web Visitor Geographic ............................................................................................................. 25Figure 7 – Reasons for web visits ................................................................................................................ 29Figure 8 – Advertising Media Plan .............................................................................................................. 30Figure 9 – Facebook Ranking ...................................................................................................................... 35Figure 10 – Geographic Locations for Twitter Followers ............................................................................ 36Figure 11 – Travel Intentions Survey .......................................................................................................... 41Figure 12 – Geographic Location of Visitors to Information Centres ......................................................... 42Figure 13 - Number of Visitors per VIC ....................................................................................................... 44A Clear Focusiii

BackgroundIn January 2010, Destination Cape Breton Association embarked on a new direction. It evolved from amembership driven organization to a destination marketing organization. Two plans previouslycompleted were used as references to form the go forward base both internally for organizationalstructure and policy and procedure adherence and externally to define Cape Breton’s branding andpositioning opportunities. In late 2010, ACOA also completed a new plan that adheres to the guidingprincipal of research will drive product development that will in turn drive marketing. Destination CapeBreton Association (DCBA) adheres to this same continuum.The new DCBA has three pillars of business which are the basis of DCBA’s 2013 strategy:Product DevelopmentMarketingVisitor ServicesMission Statement:Utilize our iconic, quality, market ready travel motivators to improve Cape Breton Island tourism throughincreasing the Island’s visitation numbers, accommodations occupancy and length of stay of our visitors,and ultimately, the economic impact of the tourism industry to the Cape Breton Economy.1.0 Cape Breton’s Product Development Agenda1.1. BackgroundProduct Development is one of the three pillars of business of Destination Cape Breton Association(DCBA). Using operator feedback and knowledge gained as the primary building blocks from 2012initiatives, the 2013 Product Development Plan will remain focused on developing transformativeproducts and providing unique opportunities for enhancement to operators and communities in order toensure visitors receive consistent and quality product offerings Island wide.DCBA intends to maintain our support and continue our development efforts around the primarymotivators of travel to Nova Scotia and Atlantic Canada as identified in “The Evolution of Tourism”, NovaScotia Provincial Tourism Strategy, the “Growth Strategy for Tourism – the Right Products Drive NewDemand,” as well as the integrated tourism strategy for ACOA lead by Tourism Atlantic. These travelmotivators include:• Coastal/Seacoast Experiences;• Sightseeing and Touring;• Culture, Entertainment and Heritage;• Cuisine;• Outdoor Activities;• Major and International Events; and• Experiential Accommodations.6

Using the above travel motivators as reference points, DCBA conducted research in 2012 specific tovisitors to and within Cape Breton Island. As a result, DCBA has identified the key travel motivators mostpertinent to travel to and within Cape Breton Island as follows:Coastal Experiences,Sightseeing and Touring,Culture and Heritage, and outdoor activitiesOutdoor ActivitiesGolf1.2. Goals for 2012The 2012 product Development Plan heavily utilized the tools developed by Tourism Atlantic / ACOAand Nova Scotia Tourism along with what had been customized for Cape Breton; the 12 Essentials.The product development goals for 2012 and the results included:1. Work one-on-one with 15-20 operators who have undergone a ’12 essentials’ assessment tohelp them identify their experience’s strengths and weaknesses. Support their efforts inenhancing their existing product offering.CBRM:ooooooooOld Sydney Society (both Museum experience and Ghost Tour experience),Cape Breton Centre for Craft & Design,Fortress of Louisbourg Association,Sydney Port Corporation,Beggar’s Banquet,Two Rivers Wildlife Park,Cape Breton Fossil Centre,Cape Breton Miner’s Museum,Victoria County:oooFireHouse Ironworks,Alexander Graham Bell Museum,Glass Artisans Studio,Inverness County:oooAnn Schroeder Studio,Cape Breton Highlands National Park,Centre de Le Micareme,Richmond County:oGuiding Lights of Isle Madame2. Deliver 5 industry workshops on topics such as experiential tourism and packaging.7

o Total of 7 experiential tourism and packaging workshops delivered: (over 75participants in total)• Sydney (15 participants),• Inverness (12 participants),• Saint Peter’s (9 participants),• St. Ann’s (8 participants),• Baddeck (13 participants),• Membertou (Creating Visitor Experience & Packaging) (18 participants)Experiential Tourism workshops: Follow-up questionnaires were distributed to the75 workshop participants in late 2012. Of the respondents, 11 operators indicatedthat they had created new experiences, made changes to existing experiences, orboth created a new experience and made changes to existing experiences as a resultof attending the Creating Visitor Experiences workshops. Those operators included:Victoria County:• The Gaelic CollegeRichmond County:• The Guiding Lights of Isle Madame• The Summer Surf Program at Point Michaud Beach• Rock Loaf FarmCBRM:• The Sydney Mines Heritage Society & Cape Breton Fossil Centre• CBRM Recreation• Old Sydney Society• Kenny Boone Gallery and StudioInverness County:• Municipality of the County of Inverness Recreation• Tears of GlassoAs well, eight operators indicated that they intend to use the information andknowledge they acquired to do so in the future (2013 and beyond). Those operatorsincluded:Inverness County• Dwayne MacEachernCBRM:8

• Cape Breton Miner`s Museum• Louisbourg Economic Society• Old Sydney SocietyVictoria County:• Alexander Graham Bell National Historic SiteRichmond County:• Cape Breton Sailing Charters• Municipality of the County of Richmond• The Guiding Lights of Isle Madame3. Increase the number of partners who participate in training and educational opportunitiesby 50% (Edge of the Wedge, GMIST, best practices missions and market readinessprograms), and ensure that all opportunities are promoted through www.dcba-info.com.o Increase of 92% over 2011(from 12 participants in 2011 to 23 participants in 2012).GMIST participantsColin MacDonald, Gaelic CollegePauline MacLean, Highland VillageSharon Paul, EskasoniJamie Doyle, MembertouRobert Slade, WagmatcookJennifer LeBlanc, Old Sydney SocietyKelsey Peters, DCBAIda LeLièvre, Les Trois PignonsMariève Thérriault, Cape Breton Highlands National ParkDiane Poirier, Co-Operative Artisanale de CheticampSara Nettleton, Rock Loaf FarmRobin Mombourquette, Richmond CountyMargaret Hurdman, Guiding Lights of Isle MadameGreg Silver, Cape Breton Sailing ChartersBest Practices participantsExperiential Cuisineo Scott Morrison, Flavoro Earlene Busch, Chanterelle Country InnMeetings and Conventionso Mary Tulle, DCBA,o Paul Carrigan, Sydney Port Corporationo Paul MacDonald, Centre 200o Cathy MacKenzie, ECBCo Richard Paul, Membertou Trade and Convention CentreAdventure Tourism9

ooKelsey Peters, DCBATera Lee – Framework Cycle & Fitness4. Increase the number of purchasable market-ready experiences on novascotia.com,cbisland.com and in print collateral by 30. By delivering workshops and providing tourismadvice to private sector partners, we will aggressively work with partners to createpurchasable experiences in support of our core experiences / travel motivators.o Increased online listings (both experiences and packages) by 90 from 2011 to 2012Online Packages and ExperiencesRising Tide ExpeditionsFortress of Louisbourg AssociationEskasoni Cultural JourneysFéis an EileinCape Breton Miner’s MuseumCape Breton Centre for Craft & DesignCape Breton Fossil MuseumThe Lakes Golf ClubPoint of View SuitesOld Sydney SocietyFortress of Louisbourg National Historic SiteGlenora Inn & DistilleryFireHouse IronworksAnn Schroeder StudioNormaway InnCabot LinksLePortage Golf ClubIsland Sunset ResortCape Breton Highlands National ParkHike the HighlandsVelo Cape BretonRight Some GoodGreat EARTH ExpeditionsDundee Golf Club & ResortCape Breton Sailing ChartersBras d’Or Lakes InnNorth River Kayak ToursHighland VillageGaelic CollegeAlexander Graham Bell MuseumBaddeck Gathering CeilidhsDonelda’s Puffin Boat ToursSilver Dart LodgeMunicipalityCBRMCBRMCBRMCBRMCBRMCBRMCBRMCBRMCBRMCBRMCBRMInverness CountyInverness CountyInverness CountyInverness CountyInverness CountyInverness CountyInverness CountyInverness County/Victoria CountyInverness County/Victoria CountyIslandwideIslandwideIslandwideRichmond CountyRichmond CountyRichmond CountyVictoria CountyVictoria CountyVictoria CountyVictoria CountyVictoria CountyVictoria CountyVictoria County10

Bell Bay Golf ClubHighlands LinksAmeobaSilver Dart LodgeCabot Trail MotelKeltic LodgeCastle MoffettChanterelleBaddeck Forks Golf ClubCape Breton ResortsPackages and Experiences BookletPoint of View SuitesCape Breton Centre for Craft & DesignFortress of Louisbourg National Historic SiteCape Breton Miner’s MuseumFéis an EileinThe Lakes Golf ClubEskasoni Cultural JourneysGlenora Inn & DistilleryFireHouse IronworksIsland Sunset Resort & SpaCabot LinksLePortage Golf ClubNormaway InnCape Breton Highlands National ParkCeltic ColoursVelo Cape BretonRight Some GoodBras d’Or Lakes InnCape Breton Sailing ChartersDundee Golf Club & ResortBaddeck Gathering CeilidhsAlexander Graham Bell MuseumHighland Village MuseumGaelic CollegeNorth River Kayak ToursKeltic Lodge Resort & SpaCape Breton ResortsCabot Trail MotelChanterelle InnCastle MoffettBell Bay Golf ClubHighlands LinksSilver Dart LodgeVictoria CountyVictoria CountyVictoria CountyVictoria CountyVictoria CountyVictoria CountyVictoria CountyVictoria CountyVictoria CountyVictoria CountyMunicipalityCBRMCBRMCBRMCBRMCBRMCBRMCBRM/Victoria CountyInverness CountyInverness CountyInverness CountyInverness CountyInverness CountyInverness CountyInverness County/Victoria CountyIslandwideIslandwideIslandwideRichmond CountyRichmond CountyRichmond CountyVictoria CountyVictoria CountyVictoria CountyVictoria CountyVictoria CountyVictoria CountyVictoria CountyVictoria CountyVictoria CountyVictoria CountyVictoria CountyVictoria CountyVictoria County11

Donelda’s Puffin Boat ToursFigure 1 – Online Package and Experience ParticipantsVictoria County5. Support 20 operators to participate in Tourism Technology, a website enhancementprogram delivered in partnership between the Tourism Atlantic branch of ACOA and theAtlantic Provincial tourism industry association.Richmond County:• Village on the Canal Association• A B&B by the RiverPort Hawkesbury:• Maritime Inns & ResortsMunicipality of the County of Inverness:• Clove Hitch Bar & Bistro• Doug Fraser Art• Glenora Inn & DistilleryCape Breton Regional Municipality:• Martin Arms Hotel• Feis An Eilein• Old Sydney Society• Sydney Mines Heritage Society and the Cape Breton Fossil Centre• Membertou Heritage Park• Cape Breton Miners MuseumMunicipality of the County of Victoria:• Baddeck Marine• Gaelic College of Arts & Crafts• Colouratura Art Gallery• English Country Garden B&B• Lantern Hill & Hollow• Cabot Shores Wilderness Resort• Cabot Trail Motel• Castle Rock County Inn6. Opportunity Assessment of the Tourism Product in designated areas by Roger BrooksoCeilidh Trail Assessment & Cabot Trail Re-assessment completed7. Deliver the Strategic Tourism Expansion Program (STEP) for two communities. STEP isdesigned to close the gap in tourism communities by assisting communities in becoming12

sustainable tourism destinations and accelerating the exposure of experiential tourismtechniques and formulas to a wider audience of tourism entrepreneurs and influencers.oSTEP processes underway in Louisbourg & Baddeck8. Deliver a storytelling session (52 participants total)oFive storytelling sessions were held Islandwide:• Louisbourg (6 participants)• Sydney River (10 participants)• St. Ann’s (10 participants)• Inverness (16 participants)• St. Peter’s (10 participants)9. Offer the Accelerated Market Readiness Program (AMR) to operators (Target 10). AMRrefers to a business improvement program that offers individual tourism operators theability to increase their standards of excellence and be more responsive to emerging tourismtrends in an inexpensive and timely manner.oNine AMR participants and two value-added reports completed in CBRM andInverness County:CBRM:• Louisbourg Playhouse• Old Sydney Society• Cape Breton Centre for Craft & Design• Cape Breton Miners Museum• Sydney Port CorporationInverness County:• The Clove Hitch• Inverness County Centre for the Arts• Les Trois Pignons• Centre de La MiCareme• Celtic Music Interpretive Centre (value-added report)• Glenora Inn & Distillery (value-added report)oAccelerated Market Readiness: A follow-up questionnaire was distributed to allparticipants of the AMR. All respondents responded that they were either verysatisfied or satisfied with their consultant, were provided with a satisfactory reporthighlighting organizational strengths and recommendations for moving forward, andwere provided with after-care in a timely and effective manner.In order to ensure that we have the proper in-house capacity to deliver product development initiatives,the hiring of consultants may be deemed necessary, in addition to mentorship with the province.13

1.3. Go Forward - Ensuring After-Care for OperatorsDoing business in tourism has changed dramatically over the past number of years. The shift towardexperiential tourism has seen many destinations delivering experiences in new and innovative ways. TheCanadian Tourism Commission (CTC), Canada's national tourism marketing organization, is a recognizedleader internationally in understanding who the potential travellers to Canada are. THE CTC has gonebeyond traditional market research to find out exactly why people travel and why different types oftravellers seek out entirely different travel experiences. This has resulted in the Explorer Quotient® (EQ).This innovative market segmentation tool comes from the science of psychographics – an evolution ofthe traditional field of demographics. Instead of defining people based on age, income, gender, familystatus or education level – psychographics look deeper at people's personal beliefs, social values andview of the world. These factors are what drive real people to seek out certain types of experiences.Knowing who our customers are and what kind of experience they're after helps us attract our bestcustomers and make the most of their visitor experience.There are 9 explorer quotients and Cape Breton Island is the ideal destination to target two specifically;the cultural explorer and the authentic experiencer.Cultural ExplorerIn the world of explorers, you are a Cultural Explorer. You seek constant opportunities to embrace,discover, and immerse yourself in the entire experience of the culture, people and settings of the placesyou visit. Not content to just visit historic sites and watch from the sidelines, you want to participate inthe modern-day culture as well. You often attempt to converse with locals, attend local cultural festivals,or go off the beaten track to discover how people truly live.Most likely to be seen at heritage sites, cultural events, museums, and festivals.http://us.canada.travel/EQTypes/CulturalExplorerAuthentic ExperiencerIn the world of explorers, you are an Authentic Experiencer. With a foot in both worlds, you appreciatethe understated beauty of natural and cultural environments. You enjoy using all of your senses whenyou explore your chosen destination and really get to know the places you visit. You quickly adapt topersonal challenges and risks, easily figuring out how to make the most of every situation. You want tobe fully immersed in your travel experiences and tend to stay away from group tours and rigid plans.Most likely to be seen at nature reserves, world heritage sites, hiking trails, and museums.http://us.canada.travel/EQTypes/AuthenticExperiencerIt is critical to the success of our operators that we offer opportunities and support to enhance existingand new product offerings Island wide based on the EQ Visitors that we target; the Cultural Explorer andAuthentic Experiencer.14

The following tools will be used again in 2013 along with the introduction of a new mentorship programto ensure that the groundwork started in 2012 will achieve both the required and desired results forvisitor experiences.“The 12 Essentials of a Cape Breton Experience”: In order to ensure consistent and quality products,the need exists to continue evaluating our tourism product (constantly and consistently), as well as towork closely with each operator who has undergone an assessment so that they are able to effectivelyidentify and address areas that require improvement. As a result of delivering a series of ExperientialTourism workshops and one-on-one mentorship sessions with operators who have undergone the 12Essentials assessment in 2012, there is now increased opportunity to open the lines of communicationbetween DCBA and the operators and create a more engaging and approachable relationship betweenall parties involved to ensure that the goal of building and delivering a quality tourism experience can beachieved.Accelerated Market Readiness Program (AMR): AMR refers to a business improvement program thatoffers individual tourism operators the ability to increase their standards of excellence and be moreresponsive to emerging tourism trends in an inexpensive and timely manner.The purpose of the AMR program is to give tourism operators the opportunity to engage with anindependent qualified tourism expert on issues specific to their own operation to see if they are truly“market ready.” In its simplest form, being “market-ready” translates into being positioned to maximizethe customer experience which will in turn lead to an optimization of sales levels for that tourismoperation. The AMR process allows the operator the chance to think about the areas of the businessthey would like to target for improvement and seek the proper advice from the tourism consultant attheir very own place of business, not in a conference setting.AMR allows tourism operators the opportunity to participate in a practical hands-on mentoring typetraining program that examines issues specific to their business. From their discussion with the tourismconsultant they receive the benefit of advice from an independent expert who will benchmark theirbusiness and leave them with a concise report complete with suggestions for improvements that can bemade to their own operation. Most importantly, the program is offered in a very time efficient andinexpensive manner for the operator.The 11 operators that went through the AMR assessment in 2012 identified the below as “next step”priorities.Participants will work on implementing the following development efforts independently:9 of 11 operators (81%) would benefit from enhanced signage.8 of 11 operators (73%) would benefit from the development/enhancement of a business plan.7 of 11 operators (64%) would benefit from a façade program.6 of 11 operators (55%) would benefit from the development of a clear positioning statement.5 of 11 operators (45%) would benefit from retail design.DCBA will support participants in the following development efforts:5 of 11 operators (45%) would benefit from standardized staff training.15

5 of 11 operators (45%) would benefit from an enhanced online presence.In 2013, the AMR program will act as the core program in which all product development initiativesrevolve. It will serve as a key component to the “Cape Breton Island Recommended Experiences” aspreviously outlined, as well as a pillar to the 2013 Plan. DCBA will target 40 participants for the AMRprogram in 2013.“Cape Breton Island Recommended Experiences”: Using the “12 Essentials of a Cape Breton TravelExperience” as our platform, DCBA will work with a product development expert to develop a marketingand mentorship initiative in 2013 that motivates accommodations, attractions, and experience providersto continuously strive toward excellence. The result will be the formation of the RecommendedExperiences Network. A mystery shop will be done as a qualifier for participating businesses. Businessesand organizations that will look to become partners in the Recommended Experiences network willdemonstrate a vast knowledge of Cape Breton Island, high standards of quality, and superior customerservice.Experiences/Packaging: Research shows that more visitors than ever are looking to experiences thataccurately represent a destination rather than generic activities that do not rightfully showcase what adestination has to offer as supported by the CTC EQ. DCBA must properly identify and showcase ourauthentic experience offerings and work with operators to create unique packages for purchase.In alignment with the Nova Scotia Tourism Agency, Tourism Atlantic and the Canadian TourismCommission, DCBA has placed increased emphasis on offering its’ visitors authentic Cape Bretonexperiences. An experience can include anything from an outdoor experience to a cultural experience;from a coastal experience to a culinary experience. The experience must; however, rightfully representwho Cape Breton is in terms of its’ identity and brand. In identifying key experiences, DCBA intends toencourage partnerships and strategic alliances between tourism operators with the goal of increasingthe number of package opportunities offered online significantly and on a continuous basis.In 2013, in partnership with our Municipal partners and Product Development committee (Appendix A),DCBA will establish criteria for experiences and packages to be used for promotion online and in print,and develop an inventory of existing experience and package offerings. Our goal is to increase thenumber of new, purchasable market-ready experiences on novascotia.com, cbisland.com and in printcollateral by 30 from 90 in 2012 to 120 in 2013.Professional Marketing Assessment: In 2012, destination development expert Roger Brooks and histeam at DDI assessed the Ceilidh Trail region and reassessed the Cabot Trail region through the eyes of afirst time visitor. In the form of an open-community session and report, various development items wereidentified including: signage (public and private), wayfinding (ease of getting around), general appeal(architecture, beautification), critical mass/business mix, business hours and merchant curb/facadeappeal, visitor information services, visitor amenities (parking, restrooms), local attitude, attractions(things to see and do), etc. The end result was a thorough listing of recommendations for both regions(Appendix B).16

In 2013, DCBA’s objective is to identify those recommendations in which we can support, and maintainstrong relationships with working groups and municipalities throughout the implementation processwith recommendations we are directly and indirectly involved with.DCBA will work closely with the Municipality of the County of Inverness and operators along the CeilidhTrail to:Coordinate the creation of a Hidden Gems listing,Coordinate the creation of a “Best of the Ceilidh Trail” listing, andCoordinate the creation of “locals know” itineraries for website and other promotional use.The combination of these three items will form a “locals know” for each trail on the www.CBIsland.comwebsite.A form has been sent to all participants of the preliminary Ceilidh Trail meeting to begin populating the“Best of the Ceilidh Trail”. Furthermore, any submissions of “locals know” itineraries will be filteredthrough the local VICs to DCBA.DCBA will engage Roger Brooks and his team to Cape Breton Island in 2013 to assess a new geographicregion the Cape Breton Regional Municipality.Website (re)development (tt.com): In 2012, DCBA recognized the importance of enhanced webpresence for all Cape Breton Island operators. As a result, and in partnership with ECBC/ACOA, DCBAadministered a website (re)development program for 20 tourism businesses on the Island. Our role wasto financially assist operators in the development and redevelopment stages of their website that wouldhelp better promote their product offering. The first component of the (re)development programrequired participants to undergo a thorough website assessment through TIANS. In a follow-upquestionnaire, all but one 2012 TourismTechnology.com participants expressed complete satisfaction inboth the quality of the TT.com report and consultation as a whole.As in 2012, DCBA recognizes and maintains our support in terms of the need for website developmentand redevelopment assistance and an enhanced online presence. In 2013, DCBA will ensure all websiteredevelopment work from 2012 operators/organizations is completed within the specified time frame asindicated in the participants’ Website Redevelopment Policies (one calendar year from date of offer).*The tt.com program is presently under review by Tourism Atlantic and their respective programpartners. Once the new program is launched, DCBA will endeavour to work with TT.com on any newand/or enhanced online/website program.Strategic Tourism Expansion Program (STEP): STEP is an ‘off the shelf’ solution that guides communitiesthrough a strategic process of building and executing a STEP Forward Sustainable Tourism Plan thatincorporates experiential product development.A STEP program includes working with a qualified consultant to guide the community through the 6-stepprocess that results in a STEP Forward Sustainable Tourism Plan.17

At the end of the process, the STEP community will understand the actionable items in destinationdevelopment; the changing tourism trends in the industry; have the tools and knowledge to createexperiential products; have actionable, sustainable tourism community plan; have a network andsteering committee of community leaders and stakeholders engaged in executing the STEP ForwardSustainable Tourism Plan; and be recognized formally as a STEP Community graduate.In 2013, DCBA will continue to offer administrative support to the two STEP communities, Louisbourgand Baddeck, that are currently participating in the program.Canadian Signature Experience Collection: The Nova Scotia Tourism Agency has identified the CanadianSignature Experiences Collection, through the Canadian Tourism Commission (CTC), as a key priority inproduct development going into 2013. In turn, DCBA will work with industry and Municipal partners toidentify and recommend 2-3 experiences for consideration into the program. Note that while anyeligible company is encouraged to apply, to ensure the Collection meets the market demands, priority in2013 will be given to: urban, culinary, and cultural experiences and businesses that sell through traveltradechannels as identified by the CTC as priorities in their2013 Application criteria. (Appendix C)Workshops and other training opportunities: Workshops and training opportunities remain prioritiesgoing into 2013. DCBA will deliver five industry workshops on topics such as experiential tourism andpackaging in conjunction with Dr. Nancy Arsenault, The Tourism Café, and potentially Experience PEI.DCBA will also align with the Nova Scotia Human Resource Council to assess the training needs of CapeBreton Island operators. The objective for 2013 is to define the scope of the research, assess the needsof our operators, determine the availability of existing resources (e.g. Emerit certification), develop aplan for 2014, and identify key partners/players to work closely with throughout the execution process.Priorities for the development of experiences in 2012:i. Provide industry with access to information and tools they can use through www.dcba-info.com(Experience Nova Scotia: A Toolkit; experience & packaging workshops with NS Tourism ProductDevelopment; Tourism Atlantic Toolkit).ii. Support operators’ efforts to enhance their existing product offering through the use of the “12Essentials” (educate industry through dcba-info.com, workshops, AMR, etc.)iii. Work closely with partnering organizations (RANS, Taste of NS, TIANS, etc.) to identify and takeadvantage of development programs already in placeiv. Based on AMR operator feedback, focus on areas that will increase the market-readiness ofexperiences including:a. Business plan development,b. Signage,c. Façade,d. Development of a clear positioning statement,e. Staff training, andf. Retail design.v. Provide support to all operators who participated in the AMR program in 2012 (realize prioritiesand work with industry partners to identify programs already available).vi. Encourage partners to participate in training and educational opportunities (Edge of the Wedge,GMIST, best practices missions and market readiness programs), and ensure that allopportunities are promoted through www.dcba-info.com.18

vii. Support working groups in the implementation of recommendations as a result of Roger Brook’sOpportunity Assessments of the Tourism Product on the Ceilidh Trail and Cabot Trail. For theCeilidh Trail, focus on:a. The Hidden Gems,b. “Locals know” itineraries, andc. The Best of the Ceilidh Trail.viii. Provide further administrative support to the two participating Strategic Tourism ExpansionProgram (STEP) communities.ix. Identify and recommend 2-3 Cape Breton experiences for the Canadian Signature ExperienceCollection through the Canadian Tourism Commission (CTC)x. Develop and foster strong relationships with key stakeholders, operators, and product clubsthrough community engagement and participation efforts (STEP, workshops, AMR, etc.)xi. Work closely with Municipality partners and Sales and Industry Relations to encourage industryto develop exciting new experiences and packages to market onlinexii. Place emphasis on Cape Breton Island travel motivators based upon the travel intentions surveyand other in-house visitor researchIn order to ensure that we have the proper in-house capacity to deliver product development initiatives,the periodic hiring of consultants may be deemed necessary.Product development goals for 2013:i. In partnership with our Municipal partners and Product Development Committee, establishcriteria for experiences and packages to be used for promotion online and in print.ii. Work with Municipality representatives to develop an inventory of existing experience andpackage offeringsiii. Work with representatives in the Municipality of the County of Inverness to create a “LocalsKnow” weblink on www.CBIsland.com, including:a. Hidden Gems,b. The Best of the Ceilidh Trail, andc. Itineraries.i. Itineraries will be filtered through the local VICs to DCBA.iv. Deliver five industry workshops on topics such as experiential tourism and packaging inconjunction with Dr. Nancy Arsenault, The Tourism Café, and potentially Experience PEI.v. Increase the number of new, purchasable market-ready experiences on novascotia.com,cbisland.com and in print collateral by 30. By delivering workshops and providing the tools andtechnical support to private sector partners, we will aggressively work with partners to createpurchasable experiences in support of our core experiences / travel motivators.vi. Work with a product development expert to develop a marketing and mentorship initiative thatmotivates accommodations, attractions, and experience providers to continuously strive towardexcellence.vii. Offer the Accelerated Market Readiness Program (AMR) to operators (Target 40). AMR refers toa business improvement program that offers individual tourism operators the ability to increasetheir standards of excellence and be more responsive to emerging tourism trends in aninexpensive and timely manner.viii. Working with the Nova Scotia Tourism Human Resource Council and Economic and RuralDevelopment and Tourism Assess as partners, the training needs of Cape Breton Islandoperatorsix. Roger Brooks to conduct a destination assessment in Cape Breton Regional Municipality.19

2.0 2013 Marketing Agenda2013 marks the third year for Destination Cape Breton Association as a levy-funded DestinationMarketing Organization (DMO). Over the past two years, DCBA has followed the continuum outlined inthe ACOA tourism plan – Research drives Product Development which drives Marketing. The 2013marketing strategy will closely adhere to this continuum through research and results-based decisions.Research sources include our Travel Intentions and Conversion study conducted through cbisland.comand administered by third party vendor Vision Critical, our Google Analytics, and our operator surveysconducted throughout the summer of 2012.The plans and information in the marketing strategy below are as closely directed by prior research aspossible.2.1 2012 ReviewThe objectives and results for the 2012 tourism season are reviewed below:Increase accommodations Occupancy by 1% (8000 room nights)Cape Breton Island experienced a decline of 1% in occupancy for 2012 over 2011. Atlantic Canadianprovinces experienced the following results as a comparison to our visitation:Occupancy Changes over 20110.50-0.5-1-1.5-2-2.5-3NBNSNFLDPEICBIFigure 2 – Maritime Occupancy and Spend Comparison Increase visitors serviced through CBIsland.com by 15%o 4.73% increase in web visitso 7.37% increase in average time on site Reduce bounce rate to under 30%o Bounce rate was 44.2%• Bounce rate for the “awareness” campaign as recommended by our mediaconsultant was considerably increased due to the impression based goals forthis type of online buy. See comparison below to our internal search basedcampaign.20

Campaign Active Dates # Clicks Duration BounceDCBA AdWord Buy 8/10 – 10/31 6,257 4:11 40.1%Awareness/Other 7/13 – 10/31 5,038 1:48 64.3%Figure 3 – Online Campaign PerformanceImprove the ability to plan and book CBI vacations through cbisland.como The trip planner and mapping function were added as additions to website re-buildcompleted in June of 2012.• Highlight and promote the 12 Essential Certified Experienceso The recommended criteria process is under review for potential implementation in 2013 asa joint initiative of PD and marketing. Increase visitation to Experiential Icons by 5%o -4.8% Fortress of Louisbourg National Historic Siteo +5% Cape Breton Highlands National Parkso -1% Alexander Graham Bell Museumo +2% Highland Village MuseumTrack and measure conversion values for targeted promotional & advertising campaignso Conversion values were measured by visitor recall for our campaigns as reported by ourtravel intentions and conversion study. Recall per media source is shown below:% of Ad Spend Visitor RecallNewsprint 32.7% 22%Television 8.3% 52%Radio 16% 5%Online 23.1% 33%Magazine/Specialty 23.8% 28%Figure 4 – Media Spend / RecallIncrease Cape Breton Island Profile and brand awareness among the travel media marketso Some of the earned media received for Cape Breton Island in 2012:1. National Geographic Traveler - Best of the World: 20 Must See Places for 20132. Vacay.ca – Most Romantic Destination in Canada3. Matador Network – Cabot Trail #4 of 39 top most inspiring routes for a road trip2.2 Marketing Go ForwardThe marketing plan for the 2013 tourism season including target markets, demographic, and mediachannels will be based on our research completed in 2012.Following the advice of consultant Roger Brooks specific to marketing Cape Breton Island, DCBA willcontinue to focus on the scenic and outdoor beauty that brings us accolades such as “One of 20 Must21

See Places of 2013” by National Geographic Traveler, but also add more profile to the cultural andartisan experiences that help foster increased visitor stay and spend.Louisbourg 300 is an anchor event for the island for 2013, and considerable marketing initiatives are alsounderway to promote the celebration and associated experiences with a separate and targeted mediabuy directed by DCBA.2013 Marketing Goals & Objectives:For the 2013 season, there are two sets of objectives – primary and supporting.Our primary goals are outlined below:Increase in room nights soldo The average number of room nights sold from 2010-2012 was 383,333. The number ofroom nights sold in 2012 was 375,000. The goal for 2013 is to bridge the gap betweenthe 3 year average and 2012 by recovering 8,333 room nights which represents a 2%increase over 2012.o Given the continued decrease in Atlantic Canadian travel, a goal of rising back to thethree-year average would position Cape Breton to maintain a steady visitation trend.OCCUPANCY 2010 - 20123210-1-2-3-4-52010 2011 2012Halifax 2 0 -1NS 1 -1 -2CBI -1 -4 -1Figure 5 – Occupancy ChangesoThere are two factors that are anticipated to drive the increase:1. The LB300 celebration and significant marketing campaign to support visitationto the Fortress ($500K regional spend and $250K in Quebec). See Appendix D forthe LB300 media strategy and advertising buy.2. The targeted and conversion based marketing campaign for Cape Breton Island.The 2013 campaign will focus on the markets and the mediums that proved22

strongest for us in 2012 according to our Travel Intentions survey and Googleanalytics. We will not be testing new markets this season but will be focusingour investment specifically to where we are shown to have the strongest visitorinterest.Increase spend per visitor partyo According to our Travel Intentions and Conversion survey, the average spend per visitorparty for 2011 was $804 and for 2012 was $978, representing an increase ofapproximately 15%o The goal for 2013 is to increase 5% over 2012 to an average spend of $1027Visits to Experiential Icons to increase by the percentages shown below:o 15% Fortress of Louisbourg National Historic Parko 5% Cape Breton Highlands National Parko 3% Alexander Graham Bell Museumo 5% St. Anne’s Gaelic CollegeIncrease in our return on investment (ROI) from our advertising buyo The ROI for the 2012 ad buy was $21.16 representing an increase over 2011 of 22%o The goal for 2013 is an increase of 5% for an ROI of $22.22The supporting objectives are defined to help drive results of the primary goals. Our supportingobjectives are the following:Increase average length of stayo According to Travel Intentions, the average length of stay in 2011 was 3.1 nights and in2012 increased to 3.7 nights which represents a 19% increase.o The goal for 2013 is 3.9 nights which is a 5% increase over 2012.Website improvementso An increase in web visitation by 10% which would bring total visits to 117,168o Maintain an overall bounce rate of 40% or lesso Maintain a bounce rate of 35% or less for all Pay per click campaigns (Adwords)Gain more media attention for the destinationo Work with diverse media contractors to increase the earned media and profile of CBIsland among top writers and publicationso RB Media will be engaged again 2013 for attendance at media shows and working thetraditional channels of media relationso Siren communications will be engaged to help expand island promotion through newand non-traditional means.(Note: In 2012, Golf Cape Breton engaged SirenCommunications whose work determined $4.2M in earned media from 52 writers and81 placements.)The following are defined as the required actions to help achieve both the primary and supportingobjectives:Targeting our marketing investment to the geographic areas that show the strongest results andpropensity to visit CBI per our Travel Intentions and Conversion Study. For determining futuretest markets, we will work to gain information from the Canadian Tourism Commission (CTC) on23

leveraging their Market Portfolio Analysis, which is a model that rates and ranks markets againsttheir market potential.Investing in the media sources that provided the strongest visitor recall and quality of websitevisitation. Quality is measured by bounce rate and time on site.Refresh Cbisland.com with stronger content and imagery, and enhancement of signature pagesreflecting our natural and experiential icons, i.e. Cabot Trail, Fortress of Louisbourg, Artisanexperiences, etc.Significant attention to be paid to SEO, organic and paid searches regarding Cbisland.comrelated content. A full site analysis has been completed and recommended improvements areunderway concurrent with the website refresh.Our VIC staff will be receiving consultative sales training for the 2013 and onward. Based on thefindings of the Nova Scotia 2010 Visitor Exit Survey, we know that visitors are significantlyimpacted through their visits to our VICs. Some supporting statistics of how they are impactedare:oooo61% learned of an event, activity or area of the province they were not aware ofcurrently34% took part in an event or activity as a result of their visit31% visited a different area of the province as a result of their visit4% extended their stayUnderstanding the impact on length of stay and participation in events, the staff will receivetraining using the BURC methodology. BURC stands for:ooooBuilding rapport – thanking the visitor for coming to CBI, showing interest in their visitorparty, etc.Uncovering clues – Where is the visitor from, how long do they plan to stay, what dothey have planned for their activities, what are they most interested in doing?Recommendations – based on what clues were uncovered, recommend appropriateexperiences including at least one purchasable experience. When applicable,recommend increased stay and offer to help with bookings (i.e. couple here for the firsttime planning on driving the Cabot Trail in one day – recommend activities based ontheir interests that fill at least one additional day and assist with accommodationbooking)Close the visit by confirming that all needs were met and again thanking the visitor forchoosing our island for their vacationCALL to action – in partnership with Golf Cape Breton, a concierge booking representative willbe hired for the season to manage booking and travel inquiry calls. A toll free number (TFN) willbe obviously displayed on both websites and be the call to action for Golf to inquire/book golfpackages and associated experiences, and the call to action for all packages, experiencebookings or inquiries for general travel on Cape Breton Islando The concierge representative will have a sales focus and be well versed in CBI travel andour golf product. Their objective will be to complete bookings and increase purchasableexperiences and length of stay using a consultative sales approach.24

oAll visitor interactions will be documented through Survey Monkey so that results andanalysis is readily available and be used frequently to understand visitor desires andmodify the approach as necessary to maintain results2.2.1 Sales and Industry RelationsIn 2012, DCBA contracted a Sales and Industry Relations Representative. Recognizing the need for moreconsistent two-way communication with our industry partners, engagement of industry in DCBAsupported marketing opportunities, and support for the conversion-based visitor objectives, therepresentative was contacted to assist in filling these requirements. Further details for this position areoutlined in Appendix E2.2.2 Target MarketsHalifax and area and OntarioHalifax and Ontario will be our key geographic regions for DCBA marketing for 2013 based on 2012research results. Of the Canadian visitors to the website which represent 68% of the total, 35% werefrom Ontario and 34% from Nova Scotia.According to the 2012 Travel intentions survey, visitors to our website break down as follows:Overall Visitation to websiteCanadian Website Visitation28%4%68%35%30%25%20%15%10%5%0%CanadaUnited StatesOtherFigure 6 – Web Visitor Geographic25

The marketing investment in Halifax and area will include traditional and non-traditional methods whiledue to the investment required to penetrate traditional markets in Ontario, our investment in thatregion will be specifically online.2.2.3 Niche MarketsNiche markets are areas of our marketing efforts that work to satisfy a specific set of needs from ausually smaller, and more engaged demographic than the mainstream leisure markets. Each of theniche markets will have a specific approach and management focused on the specific market. The goalsfor each Niche market are outlined below and will be measured in cooperation with our partners toevaluate and assess Niche Market results and opportunities.The three niche markets that DCBA will work with are:Golf Cape BretonGolf Cape Breton while independent of destination Cape Breton as a funded body operates in completealignment with the research will drive product development that in turn will drive marketing continuum.The Director of Golf Marketing for the golf course partners of Golf Cape Breton is located within theDCBA office and capitalized directly on many of the co-op opportunities that exist.Many elements of the new and strategic marketing plan for Golf Cape Breton have been completedsince its completion in 2011 to lay the foundation for future marketing initiatives. An economic impactstudy, completed by TM Solutions Inc., indicated that the Cape Breton golf industry has an annualeconomic impact of $9 million. A new website was designed to more effectively promote the Golf CapeBreton product and was complemented by new photography that showcases the consortium courses.Golf Cape Breton also embarked on an aggressive media relations strategy to capitalize on the openingof Canada’s First True Links course, Cabot Links. This resulted in an increased awareness of the product,a heightened media interest that generated $4.2 million in earned media that featured Cape Breton golfand provided a springboard for this year’s marketing initiatives. Our perception as a ‘hot’ golfdestination has also created opportunities for high-level events and the development of a Festival ofGolf.The overarching goal of Golf Cape Breton’s marketing efforts was to increase green fees. The 2012season saw an increase of 42.7% overall in paid green fees over 2011.Golf Cape Breton Goals for 2013: To increase green fee rounds and revenue on Golf Cape Breton courses by 10% or approximately4000 green fee rounds. To increase market awareness through advertising, events, partnerships, media relations andpublic relations. To increase website visitation by 20% to 21,000 and website conversion to 20%. To continuously demonstrate the value and impact of Golf Cape Breton to Cape Breton, NovaScotia, Atlantic Canada and Canadian economies by showing economic impact through the saleof golf packages, events and activities.26

See Appendix F for the full Golf Cape Breton 2013 strategyMeetings and Conventions MarketCape Breton has overdue potential to capitalize on the “events” market. Events can be described asmeetings, conferences, trade shows and cultural and sports events. This market has key industrypartners present the Cape Breton Island brand in a more consistent and focused approach. The 2012goal was to bring partners together to start to gain an understanding of what the cape Breton potentialis as a host destination for the meetings and conventions market.It has been recognized that there needs to be a lead organization driving the events market for capeBreton and in particular within CBRM. DCBA moved forward in 2012 to establish a key group of M&Cstakeholders and who can support a dedicated staff person leading this initiative and effectively growingthis segment.Results for 2012:• 5 CBRM partners participated in Best Practices Mission• Mobilized a key stakeholder group from CBRM, Baddeck and Port Hawkesbury• Pat Lyall, CEO destination Halifax was brought in to present to the partners on where our region“is today” as a destination and in particular and “incentive destination”• The Events Cape Breton registration has been transferred to DCBA• Recruitment has begun for an Events Cape Breton Executive Director and will be lead andfinancially supported by ECBCIn 2013, DCBA will play a lead role in the advisory board that will be formed to work with a newExecutive Director for Events Cape Breton. It is anticipated that this individual will work closely withDCBA and the industry stakeholder group to develop a short and long term plan to attract events toCape Breton.Cruise SectorThe cruise industry is strong and growing. In fact, the cruise industry is the fastest growing category inthe leisure travel market. Since 1980, the industry has experienced an average annual passenger growthrate of 8% per year. An estimated 15 million travelers cruised in 2010, and the current cruise ship orderbook for CLIA member cruise lines includes 24 new builds in 2011 and 2012.New growth in the Niche Cruise sector (small-ship, luxury, and adventure / expedition cruising) presentsan emerging market with strong growth opportunity. The niche cruising market is forecasted to grow at18%-25% vs. 6%-8% for the larger vessels worldwide. The consumer demand for Niche Cruising is drivenby several factors. Two of the most significant factors include growing consumer interest in moreenriching, experiential travel and, with the growth of cruising in general, customers moving up frommainstream or premium lines into the niche sector as they seek higher service levels and newdestinations.As one of five main port partners, Sydney Ports has been actively engaged for years in bringing cruiseships to Sydney and Cape Breton.27

DCBA worked with Ambassatours / Grayline to assist them with developing a city tour program for CapeBreton Regional Municipality. Ambassatours/Grayline will be providing double-decker pink bus tours forthe 2013 season.Cruise results for 2012• Visitation up 28.2%• Sydney city tour product launched• With Sydney Ports Corporation being the lead, working on addressing and rectifying Issues fromcruise lines in 2012 with Parks and shore excursion providersThrough financial support from Nova Scotia Tourism and ECBC, Destination Cape Breton has supportedthe three small ports of Louisbourg, Baddeck and Cheticamp going through a small port readinessprogram. In 2013, DCBA will look to mobilize a small port cruise strategy through Tourism Atlantic todetermine what opportunities exist for small ports in Atlantic Canada.We will continue to support our cruise passengers through visitor servicing with the Golden K. Inaddition, we will work with the Sydney Ports Corporation as required and requested on an opportunityby opportunity basis.2.2.4 Marketing ChannelsWebsiteThe CBIsland.com website remains the hub of activity and call to action related to marketing CapeBreton Island. In 2012, our web statistics and information gathered from our Travel Intentions surveyshowed the following key points:• Average times visited the web site was 3.028

• 44% of these visitors arrived at the web site via a search engine, 13% via another web site & 11%arrived via NovaScotia.com• 52% already decided on a trip to Cape Breton and were visiting the site to plan their trip• 29% had placed Cape Breton on their list of prospective destinations and were searching theweb site for things to do / see & for accommodation options• 18% were surfing the web site or were curious about Cape Breton or were working on a schoolproject29%52%18%Planning Trip Researching Trip OtherFigure 7 – Reasons for web visitsIn 2013, Cbisland.com will continue to evolve with website technology. Of the improvements beingimplemented to the website, some of the key upgrades are listed below:Upgrading of the markup language to HTML 5 which will enable us to effectively showcaseimagery and video of Cape Breton Island icons on both computers and mobile devicesEnabling responsive design technology so the website automatically responds and resizes towhatever type of size device on which the site is accessed including notebooks, tablets andphonesImprovement of signature pages to include video and content updates to showcase anddifferentiate the Cape Breton Island experience. Some of the signature pages will include:o Fortress of Louisbourg with a LB300 focus for 2013o The Cabot Trailo Cultural experienceso Artisan experiences• All CTC designated “Signature Experiences” will also be identified on the site. I.e.Celtic Colours29

Visual improvements to the quality of images and look of templates for operator packages andexperiencesOverall visual upgrade to compliment the updated creative to be used for the 2013 campaign.An itinerary hub will be created to house sample itineraries to suit the visitor’s desired vacation.Sample itineraries will be created for various number of days planned to spend on the island, aswell as for vacation themes such as romantic getaway and island adventures.A “Locals know” section will also be added to showcase Local experience recommendations pertrailAdvertising Media Plan:Our Travel Intentions and Conversion study from 2012 provides the direction needed to help target our2013 investment to the mediums that provided the highest return in visitor recall. The table belowoutlines the recall from the main marketing channels used in 2012.% of Ad Spend Visitor Recall 2013 SpendNewsprint 32.7% 22% 24.4%Television 8.3% 52% 30%Radio 16% 5% 0%Online 23.1% 33% *23%Magazine/Specialty 23.8% 28% **15.7%Figure 86*The research results from our 2012 online campaign enable us to be very targeted with our 2013investment therefore reducing the overall spend and increasing the focus to the methods that drove thestrongest results**The research results from our 2012 magazine buy also show specifically what publications impactedour visitor recall; therefore we are investing in those specifically and opting out of the others whichreduces the investment necessary.Given this depth information, our approach to the spend in each of these channels will be directed asfollows:Magazines and Specialty PublicationsIn 2012, we will continue with a similar spend in magazines focusing on those with the highest % recall.Our magazine buy will include:Saltscapes Magazine – Our continued partnership with Saltscapes will provide a two-pagespread including editorial, images and call to action. For 2013, the focus will change from“Take a Hike” to “Take a Drive” and showcase the phenomenal trails for which the island isfamous, as well as experiences along the way.Nova Scotia Motorcycle Guide – two page spread including advertising and description of theisland’s trails30

Doers and Dreamers – In partnership with the Nova Scotia Tourism Agency (NSTA), Cape BretonIsland and The Fortress of Louisbourg are featured in the 2013 guide with a five-page insert. ForCape Breton, a two-page spread features a new image of experiencing the Skyline Trail to showthe beauty of the island, as well as smaller images and description of the artisan, cultural andculinary experiences supporting Roger Brooks’ suggestion mentioned earlier in this document.The Travel Guide to Cape Breton – In partnership with City Printers, the 2013 Travel Cape Bretonwill feature updated editorial content, inclusion of operator provided packages and experiences,and a six-page feature on Louisbourg 300. The print run will be larger to increase off-islanddistribution.NewspapersIn 2011 and 2012, newsprint was tested in Toronto, New Brunswick and Newfoundland with weakresults. However, The Chronicle Herald continues to remain a strong source of visitor recall representing45% of all survey respondents who recalled our ad from a newspaper in 2012. In support of ourconversion based visitor goals for 2013, our newsprint buy will be focused on the Chronicle Heraldincluding:18 weekly ads in total and starting the last week of May with banner size teaser ads, and runningthrough the summer with 1/3 page ads each SaturdayFull page ads in both the Summer and Autumn tourism insertsOne full page aditorialOnlineOur investment in online advertisement will also focus on the channels that provided the strongestvisitor recall and most qualified web traffic in terms of bounce rate and time on site. In 2012, our onlinebuy was quite broad and significantly impression-based and included general interest sites such as theWeather Network and online newspaper sites, run-of-network advertising and online magazines. Thisbroad approach led to a decrease in qualified traffic. In an attempt to improve the results, some of theinvestment was pulled back from the impression-based sites and re-focused on Google Adwords whichproved to gain a much more targeted and interested audience. Due to the improvement from theAdwords campaign, the investment in 2013 will shift to be primarily Adwords-based which will enable usto target our audience (authentic experiencer and cultural explorer) by interest, geographic location andInternet search behaviour.The remainder of the online investment will be focused on other sites which brought a good returnincluding Trip Advisor and NovaScotia.com. We will also be testing a select group of sites that are alsotargeted to our demographic interests such as Vacay.ca which continues to acclaim Cape Breton Islandas a must-see visitor destination and the Saltscapes website where Cape Breton Island experiences willbe continually featured on the main page of the site.TelevisionIn 2012, the Nova Scotia Tourism Agency arranged destination spotlights on the popular evening newsprogram Live at 5. The opportunity was offered to the various regions to have the show aired live fromtheir location. Cape Breton Island capitalized on the opportunity to have the show aired twice from the31

island - in June from The Fortress of Louisbourg and in August from Cheticamp. According to the TravelIntentions and Conversion study, television had by far the highest percentage of visitor recall showing52%. It is also suspected that the Cape Breton Center for Craft and Design commercials featuring their“Creative Island” campaign may have impacted this success.For 2013, Destination Cape Breton Association will be working with our creative partner to have a newcommercial created to air on CTV and CTV 2 covering much of the mainland of Nova Scotia and airingduring the television shows that most strongly match our key demographic. In addition, we will also betaking part in the destination spotlights offered by the NSTA again, and helping to financially support“The Creative Island” campaign airing again.RadioRadio was a test medium for DCBA for 2012 recommended by the Media purchasing partner who wascontracted for the 2012 media buy. Radio showed weak results in visitor recall and will not be part ofour 2013 DCBA marketing investment.Out of Home/PromotionsHalifax Waterfront KioskThe popularity of the Halifax waterfront with visitors and locals alike make this an ideal location to reachand communicate with potential visitors to CBI. Research has shown that 71% of all visitors to NovaScotia visit the Halifax waterfront.In 2012, DCBA operated a Cape Breton Island stand-alone kiosk on the waterfront as both aninformation and sales portal with the goal of sending Halifax residents and visitors to Cape Breton Island.Over 9500 people received consultation at the Halifax Waterfront Kiosk in 2012. Visiting the kiosk wasused along with the website as a call to action for marketing messages delivered in the Halifax area. Dueto the success of the kiosk in 2012, a three-year lease has been signed allowing DCBA to operate a kioskat least until the end of season in 2015.32

Halifax Kiosk Goals for 2013Goals for the kiosk for the upcoming season include:• Increase opportunities for industry partners to leverage the kiosk as a marketing tool for theirbusiness. Some opportunities will include:o Visual displays on the building itself featuring partner experiences i.e. Celtic Colourso Display of content on the video screenso Brochure distributiono QR codes leading visitors to partner websiteso In person entertainment or engagement representing the partner’s offered experience• Stronger tracking of results from kiosk consultation through Halifax Kiosk specific visitor surveys• More detailed tracking of how visitors were driven to the kiosk• Converting more kiosk visitors to CBI visitors through the consultative sales approach outlined inthe section above titled “Methods to Achieving Goals”Cape Breton Bus WrapsCape Breton Island will continue to promote our destination using buses from the Ambassatours fleet.For 2013 the designs on the busses will be renewed to reflect our new creative imagery and messaging,and also to promote our cultural and artisan experiences along with the scenic beauty of the island.There will be three busses this year. The forth represented Golf Cape Breton and will not be renewed for2013.These 56 passenger buses will travel throughout the Maritimes, Newfoundland, Quebec, New Englandand New York.The vehicles will be involved with cruise passengers in Halifax throughout the May to October seasonand will be transporting school groups and public groups in the winter throughout Nova Scotia. Thesevehicles have a huge canvass to advertise on and capture attention. When not in use the buses would beparked facing the traffic at the Bayne street location where our Halifax traffic can be reminded of CapeBreton Island. This opportunity results in being both a moving and stationary billboard for Cape BretonIsland.Bus Wrap Goals for 2013 Enhance the awareness of Cape Breton Island as a travel destination Promote our unique and purchasable experiences that help to extend length of stay and visitorspend More strongly promote the website as the call to actionSocial Media Plan:The Social Media work plans will continue to be managed through a contract partnership for 2013 andare outlined below through the following social networking channels:33

FACEBOOK - WWW.FACEBOOK.COM/TOURISMCBAs the most flexible channel outside of the website for sharing content and engaging potential visitors,Cape Breton Island’s Facebook reach has grown significantly in 2012. Using Edgerank checker tobenchmark Cape Breton Island’s Facebook efforts against the Travel / Leisure industry in North America,the following above industry average results are shownIndustry Average Cape Breton Island DifferenceEdgerank Score 14 22 +61%Likes per fan 0.70% 1.21% +72%engagement per Fan 2.09% 2.29% +10%Comments 0.10% 0.05% -53%Reach 25.92% 40.82% +57%Clicks 0.17% 0.79% +349%34

Shares 0.14% 0.38% +174%Storytellers 0.97% 2.22% +128%Best Post Type Photos, then Status Photos, then Links +155%Virility 4.68% 4.57% -2%Figure 7 – Facebook RankingCape Breton Island has a strong and engaged following that continues to grow. This following, combinedwith a consistent approach to posting relevant and engaging content, gives Cape Breton Island a verystrong platform with which to work to improve overall engagement and conversion to website visitation.Research and analysis tools for tracking, measuring and benchmarking the Facebook efforts will ensurewe can watch our audience engagement and alter when necessary.Facebook Goals for 2013Recommended changes to the approach for telling the Cape Breton Island Vacation story on Facebookare described below:Increase engagement - This will be attempted through two main approaches.ooA more focused approach to connecting and sharing Cape Breton experiences on thischannel will be utilized prior to the events happening with the ability to drive conversionto website visits and ideally visitation to Cape Breton Island. This focused approach willcome from a closer partner- ship with Key signature partners and product clubs fromaround the island, as well as setting scheduled messages and key objectives for toptravel motivators and partners.The second approach is to populate the past in the Cape Breton Island TImeline. Thisrefers to adding content to the past timeline of Cape Breton Island such that significantevents in History are available on our time- line. (for example: The Flight of the SilverDart took place 104 years ago on February 23rd) Marking and noting these events willadd credibility to Cape Breton’s significance in History as well as provide great contentour tourism operators can link to and share to their audience.The three key objectives for Cape Breton Island’s face- book page for 2013 are as follows:• Continue to show steady growth in followers and reach of message. Target of 20% increase toour follower base, approximately 4050 followers.• Engage audience and provide relevant content and information targeted towards our keytraveler types – Cultural Explorer and Authentic Experiencer. Target of 15% engagement rate.• Provide a channel for past visitors to sharing their Cape Breton Island Experience.TWITTER - @TOURISMCBTwitter has been a content channel which has been used predominantly in the past for listening to ouraudience and curating relevant content to share with Cape Breton Island followers in all channels. Thebreakdown of Cape Breton Island’s Twitter community are as follows:35

• Community is 1,774 twitter users• 1,637 users following Cape Breton Island• Famous Followerso Lonely Planet,o Canada Keep Exploringo Chevrolet Canadao Natalie MacMastero 67 influential Followers - Users who have many more followers than they are following• 70 Newbie Followers - Followers who have only signed up in the last 3 months• 523 Friends - users who Cape Breton Island is followingLocation of Followers - Although not exact, an online tool that analyzes twitter followers and provides,“best guess” information on key demographic information that is not usually available. The followingmap shows the approximate geographic location of the Cape Breton Island twitter account followers.Figure 80 – Geographic Locations for Twitter FollowersCape Breton Island has a valuable resource with their twitter account. The account has a goodcommunity base and a reputation for relevant content.Twitter Goals for 2013With some strong influencers as part of our twitter community, Cape Breton Island will work to usetwitter more proactively now to drive more website traffic and information on Cape Breton experiences.• Continue to use twitter for curating relevant content, and connecting with key influencers in36

the online space.• To ensure when working on the long term approaches of sharing messages and eventinformation, that there is messaging provided to engage twitter followers specifically. Forexample, if posting about the annual foodie event Right Some Good, a list of all the dates andvenues could be included in a single facebook post, but in Twitter it would go out a numerousposts each showcasing a venue.YOUTUBE - CBTOURISMFor the past two years, youtube has simply used to house video content. The Cape Breton youtube pagewas used to upload videos and embed or share the link as content in our other channels including thewebsite. As a strong added benefit, youtube insights provide good demographic and viewershipinformation that is key in planning to better take advantage of youtube as a promotional resource. From2012, the following data was collected.• Overall Views increased by: 7,936ooo76% viewed from embedded on a website (CBIsland.com)18% viewed on the youtube page6% viewed from mobile deviceIn 2012, Youtube made some significant platform changes and reinvented itself to act more like a socialmedia platform, which is good news for Cape Breton as a channel. In the past, YouTube primarilyfeatured viral videos, but this move gave all videos a better chance of being found.Youtube Goals for 2013As with the twitter account, our Youtube channel gives us a good basic platform from which to work insharing video content with our audience. With the new options available on Youtube, and our previouscontent combined with plans for new content creation, there is great opportunity to make the CapeBreton Youtube channel a strong tool in promoting Signature Cape Breton experiences.The objectives for utilizing youtube in 2013 are:• Ensure all videos when uploaded are properly tagged with location and relevant keywords.• Take a more proactive approach to managing the Youtube channel by taking basic steps inbuilding a community in this space. This would involve finding and following key influencers intravel video, and subscribing and commenting on their content to begin to build reputation.These steps will be the first phase of community building that will require some basic steps and a littlemore attention to the channel as a content stream. This will be a requirement with the new videocontent planned for 2013, and will help in making this new video a visitation driver for Cape Breton.PinterestIn 2013 we will work to make Pinterest a content channel utilized by Destination Cape Breton in sharingphoto content of Cape Breton and Signature Experiences. All recent indications are that Pinterest isshowing strong returns for those using the channel in their branding and content marketing efforts.The following points are a variety of statistics that have been compiled to show the popularity and early37

esults of Pinterest as a viable content channel:• Pinterest is now the 3rd most popular social network in the U.S. in terms of traffic. (Experian)• As of February 2012, Pinterest had accumulated 10.4 million users. (AppData)• Over 80% of pins are repins which shows virality. (RJMetrics)• Pinterest is retaining and engaging users as much as 2-3 times as efficiently as Twitter was at asimilar time in their history. (RJMetrics)• Daily Pinterest users have increased by more than 145% since the beginning of 2012. (Mashable)• As of January 2012, American users spent an average of 97.8 minutes on Pinterest. (eMarketer)• Over 1/5 of Facebook-connected users are on Pinterest daily (which represents more than 2million members). (AppData)• 80% of Pinterest's users are female which is in line with our key demographic and travel planner.(comScore)• Estimated unique visitors to Pinterest.com increased by 429 percent from September toDecember 2011. (Compete)• As of January 2012, Pinterest accounted for 3.6% of referral traffic. (Shareaholic)• Total same-store referral traffic from Pinterest to five specialty apparel retailers rose 389% fromJuly to December 2011. (Monetate)• In January 2012, Pinterest reached 11,716,000 total unique visitors. (comScore)• With over 11 million unique monthly visitors (and counting), Pinterest became the fasteststandalone website to eclipse the 10 million per month mark ever. (PR Daily)• A call-to-action pin description sees an 80% increase in engagement. (Pinerly Study)• Shoppers referred by Pinterest are 10% more likely to make a purchase than visitors who arrivefrom other social networks, including Facebook and Twitter. They’ll also spend 10% more onaverage. (Wayfair)Pinterest Goals for 2013• Search out and connect with key influencers (individuals or brands) related to travel in generalor key experiences that are offered on Cape Breton Island. With these Key Influencers, there is awhole community of people waiting to be exposed to a message or piece of content thatresonates with them. If we are building our community and sharing or communicating with theKey Influencers, we are exposing the Cape Breton brand to their followers as well.• Work to build a community of followers through regular consistent posting of relevant contentthat conveys the message we want to share with our audience.Consumer and Media ShowsIn 2012, DCBA attended:Atlantic Canada Showcase held in St. John, NewfoundlandToronto Outdoor & Adventure Show in OntarioSaltscapes East Coast Expo in Halifax, NSSaltscapes Expo in TorontoPromoted Cape Breton Island in the Quebec RV show by supporting the Acadian productFor 2013, we will shift our focus and work to create a unique Cape Breton presence through experientialicons; ie. Louisbourg 300, Gaelic College 75 th Anniversary, and product ready packages and38

experiences. With Louisbourg 300 being one of the focal points of Cape Breton experiential tourism in2013 DCBA will be leveraging the Saltscapes Expo as a lead-in to this event. We will be creating aninteractive consumer experience that will attract all ages with 18th century animators, productdemonstrations and key visual pieces that will put visitors to the show in the Louisbourg experience.In 2013 DBCA will participate in the following Consumer shows:o Ottawa Outdoor Travel & Vacation Show, Ottawa, Ontarioo Quebec RV Show in Quebec City (Promoting Cape Breton Island by supporting theAcadian product)o New York Times Travel Show, New York, NYo Rendez-vous Canada, Ottawa, Ontarioo Saltscapes East Coast Expo, Halifax, NSPartnerships:Nova Scotia Tourism AgencyAs a Destination Marketing Organization (DMO) working to bring us to a leadership position in theMaritime Provinces, it is imperative that we work closely with our Partners at the Provincial level topromote Cape Breton Island. Through relationship building and supporting in provincial programs, wewill work to better be able to showcase Cape Breton’s Core Experiences through the Provincialmarketing efforts. This is being done through working with provincial partners on the following tasks:Supply photos and information for the Doers’ & Dreamers’ Guide that match our coreexperiences;Regular meetings with the novascotia.com website manager to evaluate & review campaignsand measure the level of on-line conversation about Cape Breton Island;Partnering with provincial plans to attend consumer shows outside of our Primary markets;Continued focus on cross promoting Nova Scotia and Cape Breton through sharing and linking ofSocial Media efforts; andWork in partnership on media visits and familiarization toursWorking in partnership to promote the Louisbourg 300 celebration. NSTA is managing acampaign focused in the Quebec market and DCBA is managing a regional campaign, incollaboration and with the common goal of leveraging LB300 to increasing visitation to TheFortress, the Province, and Cape Breton IslandCanadian Tourism CommissionIn addition to leveraging marketing opportunities with the CTC through programs such as SignatureExperiences, for 2013 DCBA will also look to work with the CTC in a learning capacity seeking to adaptfurther best practices including following their committee structure in the planned changes to ourmarketing committee and learning/following their research methodologies. As a recognized leader intravel marketing, we will look to adapt as many approaches as possible in 2013. See Appendix G toreview the structure changes for the Marketing Committee.39

2013 Marketing PartnershipsIn early 2013, DCBA commenced meeting with stakeholders from several of the organizations offeringkey experiences on Cape Breton Island including Celtic Colours, Celtic Heart of North America, Golf CapeBreton, Cape Breton Center for Craft and Design and Cape Breton Resorts in an effort to engage inmarketing partnership opportunities and cooperatives henceforth complementing each other’sstrategies.Several synergies for alignment between the groups resulted during the initial meetings includinggeographical targets of Halifax and area and Ontario as well as some past and current marketingchannels.The following starting objectives were defined for year one of the partnership:• Sharing of key words for Google Adwords buys between partnership members so as not topurchase competing words or drive up each other’s cost per click• DCBA to share details of our marketing campaign and opportunities to share costs i.e. offeringsections of our Chronicle Herald ads to key partners which will complement our messagePending the results and participation 2013, the group will look to further develop the partnership in yeartwo by collaborating more closely on marketing strategies and media buys.The marketing partnership between DCBA and Parks Canada continues for 2013.For 2012, thepartnership was in the form of a contribution agreement through which Parks Canada provided $50,000to DCBA to support the promotion of the Island including Parks Canada experiences, in particular LB300.An additional $50,000 is anticipated for 2013 which will be entirely dedicated to the LB300 marketinginitiatives.Promotional Items:Promotional products are something that many Tourism Associations use to put their message in thehands of visitors. DCBA will have promotional products on hand for our visiting public as well as specialpromotional items for our travelling media. These promotional products will be used for M&C, MediaFam tours, tradeshows as well made available to our industry partners for special events. Allpromotional items will have the same brand and consistent messaging.2013 ResearchThe Travel Intentions Survey and the Conversion Study will continue in 2013. Various distributionmethods will be tested with the goal of increasing our number of survey responses and quantity of data.Tests will include the time of delivery to the web visitor (instantly vs. 30 seconds into the visit) as well asfrequency of offering the survey when the web visitor has refused to partake on the first visit.40

Figure 11 – Travel Intentions SurveyOther research methods to be utilized for 2013 are outlined below:Google Analytics will continue to be monitored weekly at a minimum frequency for the followinginformationo Results to website goals of increase in visitation and decrease in bounce rateo Quality of web traffic being driven to the site through our online advertising campaigno Results to goals of our Google Adwords campaignso Trends in travel searches and related contentOperator surveys will continue in 2013 to keep a pulse on visitation per regionExit surveys were implemented at the VICs in August of 2012. These will be implemented at thebeginning of the season for 2013. Each visitor counselled at a VIC will be given a card with asurvey URL and QR code linking to the survey URL. The visitor will be asked to provideinformation on their visitor party and their Cape Breton Island experienceResults collected from the 2013 research initiatives, in adhering to our continuum of Research drivesProduct Development which drives Marketing, will be used to direct our activities for the 2014 tourismseason.41

3.0 Visitor ServicesCape Breton’s Visitor Servicing AgendaDCBA continues to build on the platform introduced in 2012 focusing on our Visitor Information Centers(VICs) becoming more “Visitor Inspired.” Using best-practice documentation from destinations likeNorthern Ireland, who have had great success with this strategy, it is our ultimate aim to provide visitorsservice and information that is accurate, easy to access and moves the visitor towards a Cape Bretonexperience specifically tailored to their needs and desires.Working with and training our VIC agents and providing them with tools to assist the visitor on aninformation-seeking level enables them to sell a personalized Cape Breton product. Providing VICs andoperators with resources to facilitate connectivity and information sharing will help operators provide amore sellable product and will, at the same time, enable the VIC staff to provide more variety for thevisitor, ultimately engaging the visitor to stay longer and spend more while substantially enriching thevisitor experience.3.1 2012 ReviewThe goal for visitor service centers is to inform, motivate and help disperse visitors within a destinationto engage in more experiences. Understanding the impact that VICs can have on a visitor's stay on CapeBreton Island, a goal of increasing visitors serviced at our VICs of 10% was set for 2012. The actualincrease realized was 18%. The chart below shows the geographic breakdown of visitors serviced at ourVICs.Geographic Location of Visitors to VICs (%)OntarioUSANova ScotiaQuebecWestern CanInternationalOther ATLFigure 92 – Geographic Location of Visitors to Information Centres42

In an effort to increase awareness of our tourism product / experiences among our VIC staff and islandoperators, DCBA initialized a Familiarization (FAM) tour in 2012 that engaged 22 core VIC staff andindustry participants visiting 27 island operators.As storytelling and the use of technology have become priorities within our VIC training, all core VIC staffparticipated in Story Telling and Technology Workshops. Technology training included online and socialmedia engagement, as well as itinerary and brochure creation on cbisland.com.Research is a driving force behind all DCBA initiatives; therefore, in an effort to better service ourvisitors, we have collected data on what collateral our visitors want to use. DCBA has discovered thatour visitors are requesting: provincial and regional travel guides, brochures based on key travelmotivators, trail information, outdoor activities, walking maps, artisan information, major attractions,and other destinations. Overall we observed a decrease in traditional rack cards.With 86,662 cruise ship passengers landing in Sydney in 2012, DCBA continued our partnership withDCBA’s Cruise Ship Information Kiosk and the Golden K.DCBA is continuing to have a Memorandums of Understanding (MOU) with local tourism associations ormunicipalities in operating VICs on Cape Breton Island. DCBA administers funding through a provincialemployment fund, provides training, supervision, payroll services, and hosts the internet networkconnecting them to DCBA and each other. The Baddeck Area Business and Tourism Association (BABTA),the Margaree Tourism Association, the Municipality of Richmond County and Cape Breton RegionalMunicipality (through our current sustainability funding) are fully engaged financially with theirrespective VICs to cover cost over and above the PEP subsidy. DCBA continues to provide training,supervision and support to the VICs covered under these agreements, as well as to two community VICsin Cheticamp and Inverness.The Visitor Information Centre (VIC) Committee was established in early April 2011. The role of thecommittee is to identify essential components of visitor information services necessary to develop aVisitor Information Strategy (VIS) that will be a foundation piece of DCBA’s marketing program. In 2013,we will work with industry, municipal, and community partners to develop a strategy that meets theneeds of the visitor, while driving incremental tourism revenues in Cape Breton.The Visitor Information Services Committee is a sub-committee of the Industry Committee.Visitor Services Committee:Visitor Services ManagerIndustry RepresentativePort Hastings VIC (Provincial representative)Industry RepresentativeIndustry RepresentativeIndustry Representative43

3.1.1 Goals for 20121. Consultant to be hired and go-forward plan developedo Pending based on restructure of NSTA and Economic and Rural Development andTourism2. Increase the number of visitors to our VICs by 10%o 18% increase achieved - The chart below shows the geographic breakdown of visitorsserviced at our VICs.VIC Location Number of Visitors % Change from 2011Baddeck 22,050 +6.8%Cheticamp 14,407 -10%Inverness 5,817 +35%Louisbourg 6,575 -5%Margaree 7,256 +5.4%St. Peter’s 13,674 -1.5%Sydney 19,291 +26%Halifax 9,808 NATOTALS 98,878 +18%Figure 103 - Number of Visitors per VIC3. Conduct one Industry and Travel Counsellor Fam Touro VIC Familiarization Tour – 27 operators provided insight to our 22 participants onwhat visitors will see and do in Cape Breton 2012. For the first time, we used a busfor the FAM tour and were able to maximize drive time by having operators andproduct groups board the bus to do presentations4. Opportunities with CB Highlands National Park in Ingonish and Cheticamp being explored to for 20135. Core VIC staff participation in Storytelling Workshopstorytelling workshops were held in Louisbourg, Sydney River, St. Ann’s, Inverness andSt. Peters. 52 Participants in total including VIC and Operators6. Employ bilingual staff in our Sydney and Louisbourg VICs. Steps taken:Bilingual staff hired for 2012 season in Sydney and Louisbourg7. Core VIC staff given additional technology trainingTraining provided on creating operator brochures on cbisland.com itinerary builder toolSocial media training with staff has been completedVICs communicated with socialmedia@dcba.ca to pass on daily events of interest8. Collect data on what collateral our visitors want and useVisitors want the following data and collateral:44

ooProvincial and Regional Travel Guides and Maps (Doers and Dreamers, Festivals andEvents, Cape Breton Travel Guide,) internal calendar of events printout very useful to thevisitor, brochures based on key travel motivators (Motorcycle Guide, outdoor activities,local walking maps, artisan map, hiking trails, Taste of NS Guide); staff frequently printmaps from Google maps to satisfy demand/requests for local street maps, locations ofmajor attractions, Fortress of Louisbourg, Alexander Graham Bell Museum, Miner’sMuseum, Cape Breton Highland’s National Park, etc. and ferry schedules.In respect to 'Other Destinations,' visitors look for information specifically on Halifax,South Shore, Fundy Shore, NFLD, NB, & PEVIC’s also reported a decrease in traditional rack cards usage9. Marketing and Visitor Services developed online fulfillment package to meet enquiries year round10. Conducted one Industry Professional Development session to reinforce a tourism culture in CapeBretonInverness Service Industry Initiative11. Exit surveys conductedProcess just completed end of seasonQR codes and survey information provided to visitors by VIC staffSurvey platform is now complete and will be available for the full 2013 seasonContinued partnerships with Cruise Ship Information Kiosk with Golden K(Total Cruise ship passengers landed in 2012 - 86,662)QualityAt the end of the 2009 season, the Department concluded the Award of Quality Program. DestinationCape Breton Association supports measuring the professionalism and effectiveness of our VisitorCentres and will continue this program in 2013. DCBA has a contract with a recognized and reputableorganization to ensure professional standards are being met by means of an annual inspection in theform of a mystery shop. The NSTA financially supported the inspections being done.3.2 Go Forward and 2013 GoalsTourism marketing initiatives are designed to lure visitors to a particular place, but visitor servicinginforms and motivates and also helps to disperse visitors to other areas to see and do more and, as aresult, spend more.To be effective, visitor centres need to be strategically located, operate as a partner network and be theresponsibility of the host area. .Goals for Visitor Services in 2013:45

Increase the number of visitors to our VICs by 10%;Conduct one combined Industry and Travel Counsellor Familiarization Tour to increase productknowledge and cross-selling opportunities between industry and VICs;Pilot project selling Parks Canada passes and Cape Breton books at Sydney VIC;Core VIC staff participation in specific “Visitor Inspired” training sessions to enrich the visitorexperience and encourage length of stay and increase spend;Core VIC staff to be given additional technology training;Consistent user friendly resource tools for VIC/Operators to build better communication;Initiate Monday Morning Information Sessions to foster communicate between DCBA and VICs,to engender a cooperative approach, provide market updates, discuss progress towards 2013sales goals, provide training, and problem-solve opportunities for improvementCollection of data on specific collateral our visitors want and use;Marketing and Visitor Services to develop online fulfillment package to meet enquiries yearround; andConduct two Industry Professional Development sessions to reinforce a tourism culture in CapeBreton.The 2012 participating industry partners were satisfied with the efforts and results of the Halifax Kiosk,and this supported our continued partnership in 2013. While the kiosk did provide a presence on theHalifax waterfront, there is an opportunity to improve this presence to be more uniquely identified.In 2013 we will:• Continue with the Cape Breton Island standalone kiosk on the Halifax Waterfront• Present an engaging atmosphere with regularly-scheduled animators and artists to provide aglimpse into what the visitor could find during a Cape Breton vacation• Provide the direct promotion of the Essential Cape Breton Experiences booklet• Track conversion of visits to the Halifax visitor kiosk through website conversion study and onsitevisitor surveys done through online surveys and QR codesActionsCapitalize on Strengths and OpportunitiesHuman Resources:The knowledge, expertise and enthusiasm of VIC staff helps to add value to the visitorexperience. This potential needs to be fully developed into a training program to teach staff toread the customer and their requirements, tell our story, and capture the customer details toshare with Marketing.Enhance visitor satisfaction through highest quality of personal visitor welcome and informationservice delivered at the VIC.Clearly define role for seasonal staff.46

Hold Monday Morning Information sessions to discuss progress toward 2013 goals, providemarket updates and foster a cooperative approachIntegrate staff with marketing activities to create a pro-active culture.Provide social media training sessions for core staff.Implement a VIC satisfaction survey process to evaluate services.Extend the outreach of information gathering and sharing currently happening between VICsand operators to engage others to expand our information network.Marketing:Integrate with marketing activities to create a proactive culture.Work with industry and marketing to make it easy for potential visitors to plan and book theirvisits to and within Cape Breton.Support Cape Breton major marketing campaigns by providing relevant information andfacilitating the telling of our major stories of interest to visitors.Increase volume to Visitor Centres through cross promotion of distribution channels andintegration with marketing initiatives to maximize visitor spend.Develop and implement a promotional campaign to inform visitors of services provided at VICs.Explore additional products and services for visitors such as internet access, local crafts,souvenirs, tickets for local events and attractions.Industry:Engage others and extend the outreach currently happening between VICs and Operators toexpand information network – create a tourism culture.Develop common service standards and training for industry front line staff.Work with industry to become active in Visitor Services.Partnerships: Engage the appropriate provincial Tourism staff responsible for Visitor Servicing indiscussions on Visitor Services funding through our Partnership Agreement.MOUs and partnerships with area associations and municipalities strengthened with longtermplanning.Formalize an MOU for Visitor Information Centre/s for CBRM.47

APPENDIX AProduct Development CommitteeProduct Development Committee 2013Mary Tulle, Destination Cape BretonKelsey Peters, Destination Cape BretonJeff Stanley, Richmond CountyPaula Davis, Town of Port HawkesburyNona MacDermid, Municipality of Victoria CountyDonna MacDonald, Municipality of the County of InvernessHeather MacDougall, Cape Breton Regional MunicipalityMireille Fiset, Nova Scotia Tourism AgencyCathy MacKenzie, Enterprise Cape Breton CorporationLester Marchand, Fortress of LouisbourgLori Burke, Cape Breton Centre for Craft and DesignPaul Gallant, Acadian product representativeTracy Menge, Aboriginal product representativeTerry Smith, Celtic product representative48

APPENDIX BRoger Brooks RecommendationsCabot Trail Re-Assessment Recommendations:Marketing1. Find a funding source and continue the work of the Cabot Trail Working Association. Going forwardwith these recommendations will require: a. A full-time effort b. 60% should be dedicated to marketingc. 40% should be dedicated to continued product development d. A really strong working relationshipwith the DCBA, Nova Scotia Tourism, and the ECBC2. Make the trip to the Cabot Trail worthwhile from anywhere on the planet: Market to the FourTimes Rule. This message needs to be loud, clear and everywhere: “If you spend seven to ten days onCape Breton Island, you will end up with a world-class experience you’ll talk about the rest of your life.”3. Change the focus from driving and recreation to music, food and the arts. Include the Ceilidh Trail inthe Cabot Trail experience. As soon as visitors cross the Causeway, they should turn left or head toBaddeck and start there.Expand the visitor experience: Visitors could spend 2-3 days on the Ceilidh Trail; 5 days on the CabotTrail (not just one); and 2 days in the Sydney/Louisburg area.Why do visitors come today?a. Outdoor adventureb. Scenic touringc. Coastal experiencesd. Culture, arts and heritagee. Culinaryf. Niche markets: golf, cruises, etc.# 1 reason should be: Food, music and the arts in a world-class setting.49

4. Rework your marketing budgets – individually and collectively. If you want new business, residents,or visitors, your marketing efforts should start in front of a computer screen.Your marketing dollars should be allocated as follows:• 45%: Internet/website/social media/apps/peer reviews• 20%: Public relations, media, brand building• 20%: Advertising – to drive people to your website• 10%: Collateral materials• 5%: Outdoor, trade shows, other marketing avenues5. Create and promote “The Best of the Cabot Trail” brochure and online guide. You must promoteyour “anchor tenants.” An anchor Tenant is a business that you would drive an hour or more to visit,specifically. To be successful, you must have at least one or two anchor tenants.DDI Cabot Trail Re-assessment Follow-up RecommendationsIn this “Best of” brochure, market your top five restaurants, retail shops, activities, and attractions. Donot include lodging, because you want every lodging facility to provide these brochures in their rooms.The “Best ofs” must meet certain criteria. You can’t just list everything, and you can’t just allow anyshop, restaurant, attraction, or activity to pay to be included. They must actually be the “best” of whatthe Cabot Trail has to offer. Here are sample criteria you can start with to make the selections:• They must be highly regarded (80%+ positive peer reviews, regional publications, Taste ofNova Scotia, etc.)• They must have good curb appeal• They must be open June through October (to start)• They must be open until at least 6:00 pm• They must be open six days a week• They must be unique to The Cabot Trail6. Create a book of “Cabot Trail Hidden Gems.” This should be filled with specific unique experiencesthat visitors can enjoy while on The Cabot Trail – experiences that locals would know about. This shouldbe modeled after the book, 101 Things to do in Door County.7. Create detailed itineraries from local residents. Provide specifics – in order of what a visitor shoulddo, when they should do it, allowing the proper amount of time, with details.Create itineraries for weekends, week-long, couples, families, girls’ weekends out, etc.50

8. Evoke emotion in your marketing efforts. If you want your marketing to be effective, you MUST standout from the crowd to grab folks’ attention.• Headlines and bullet points are read much more than body copy. Be brief.• Create and use professional photography and videography. Focus on the people in the photos,not places or things.• The top 3 inches of your brochure are critical. Promote the experience first, then the businessor town. Use yellows on a dark background.• Try using WordPress for your websites. Spend your money on the content – not the deliverysystem.9. Invest in a world-wide public relations program. You should see a $3 return on investment (earnedmedia) for every dollar you spend on a PR effort.10. Provide specifics – not generalities. The most important missing ingredient in most marketingmaterials is specifics. Specific information makes trip planning easier for your visitors. The easier youmake it, the longer people will stay, and the more often they will come back.11. Really get into the social media game. Three priorities for using social media:• Don’t spend more than one hour a day.• Watch what people are saying about you on peer review sites, such as TripAdvisor. Respond totheir comments and criticisms.• Going viral is a good thing. Be ultra-creative.2DDI Cabot Trail Re-assessment Follow-up Recommendations12. Populate peer review sites. Add your attractions, lodging facilities, restaurants, and shops to peerreview sites. This makes it easy for visitors to find you and to share their comments.Ask your customers to provide a review.13. Work with Navteq and get maps updated and populated.14. Change your “Look Offs” to “Viewpoints.” Promote the activity – not a location.15. Sell “The Cabot Trail” road signs. Visitors want them!Product Development16. Create a “world famous” photo opportunity.One suggestion: In front of a “The World Famous Cabot Trail” sign. It should be about one third smallerthan the existing one near the Red Barn. It should be lower to the ground, and the view behind the signshould be gorgeous. Have the words “The World Famous” be black lettering.51

17. Fix the kiosks you put up four years ago.• Kiosks need regular maintenance to always look good.• Include a QR code or brochure distribution next to a list of local activities.• Include a large full-sized map with “you are here” notation.• List the attractions in the immediate area with a QR code, or brochures to provide specificinformation.• Maps and prints should always be mounted on foam core board.18. Work with neighbors to live up to the “world-class” brand position you’ve earned.• Consider not allowing portable signs around the Cabot Trail. They truly are tacky, and makethe Cabot Trail look tacky too.• Screen trash and storage areas. Add curb appeal.• Fill in the potholes.• If you have a readerboard sign, use it or remove it.• Add beautification. Not only does it make your place of business attractive, it makes it obviousyou’re still in business!• Screen or move trash/construction materials, so they aren’t obvious.• Be open during the day on weekends.• Merchant signage should sell specifics. Promote your primary lure.19. Gradually work to replace the “old” Cabot Trail road signs. 3DDI Cabot Trail Re-assessment Follow-up Recommendations20. Merchants need to broaden their merchandise offerings. Be sure to keep an eye on market trendsand customer requests, provide a variety of offerings with different price-points.21. Develop a program to fix parking lot pot holes.22. Get rid of business signs more than 10 km from the location of the business.23. Clear some of the viewpoint stops, so the views aren’t obstructed.24. Work on cell phone access around the trail, and promote local hot spots (with internet access).25. Create QR posts at various places – on kiosks.26. Make it easy for visitors to purchase passes to the National Park through online purchasing and24/7 kiosks.52

27. Add a wayfinding sign at the north end intersection, where the road Y’s to Meat Cove and Bay St.Lawrence one way, and Ingonish and Baddeck the other way.28. Over time, change the “look off” sign icons to an image of a camera.29. Provide distances on kiosks and wayfinding signage. This should be done for trails and roads –making it easier for visitors to decide to engage in an activity or see an attraction. If they don’t know thedistance, they may decide not to take a chance, in case it’s too far.30. Create a major gateway to the Cabot Trail. Suggested location: along highway 105 just west of theRed Barn. It should make a profound statement of arrival.31. Create a directory sign of the icons used around the trail.32. Keep pushing to get the roadway improvements done!Ceilidh Trail Assessment Recommendations:1. You should refer to the Ceilidh Trail as “Cape Breton’s Sunset Coast”2. Include the Ceilidh Trail sign on the overhead signs, or create a MUCH larger sign so it’s not soeasily missed.3. Create a colorful Ceilidh Trail sign and have them placed every 5 km throughout the trail.4. Sell the Ceilidh Trail road signs (really!) It can fund placing them along the Trail.5. If funding becomes available consider reworking some of the exhibits - stories instead of facts,figures & artifacts.6. Adhere to the rules of business signage7. Get rid of all CLOSED signs.8. Change the text on the sign to black or a dark color.9. We had no idea what the “Tom Rankin Exhibit Room” was all about. Consider: “InteractiveCape Breton Sound Hall of Fame.”53

10. Make it obvious when your businesses - and attractions - are open: days and operating hours.11. Rule to remember: 70% of first time sales come from curb appeal at Restaurants, retail shops,lodging facilities, golf courses...12. Add a sign at the boardwalk letting us know how long it is or where it goes.13. The easier you make it, the more likely you’ll close the sale. How far is it? Add distances toyour signs.14. Develop a series of QR code posts.15. Create a better sign and gateway - this is perhaps one of the provinces best beach locations!16. Develop signage for the “back” of the Visitor Info Centre.17. Trim the shrubbery so we can see the arrow. Better yet: move the sign just prior to the drive.18. Add a trail directory sign at the trail head. How long is it each direction? Does it connect tothe resort?19. Develop an Inverness “Downtown Development Plan.” Work on the 10+10+10 Rule of “criticalmass.”20. Create and promote “The Best of the Ceilidh Trail” brochure and online guide21. Create a book of “Ceilidh Trail Hidden Gems”22. Create detailed itineraries from local residents23. Work with Navteq and get maps updated and populated24. Get rid of business signs more than 10km from the business25. Provide specifics - not generalities26. Populate peer review sites54

APPENDIX CCanadian Signature Experiences CollectionCanadian Signature Experiences Collection 2013 Application CriteriaThe Canadian Tourism Commission is looking for a range of visitor experiences, offered by Canadiancompanies that will entice international travellers to choose Canada! The experience must exemplifyCanada’s tourism brand and engage travellers with the culture, people, or geography in ways that areauthentic and memorable are ideal. Your company must have a website with a clear call to action forsales; and demonstrate your company’s international marketing capability in at least one of the CTC’smarkets. You must be able to demonstrate how you will invest in attracting more international visitorsover the next two years. Additionally, and of great importance the company must be the owner,provider, deliverer of the experience and the point of sales for customers. Finally, your company mustbe legally registered to operate in Canada; carry a minimum of $2 million liability insurance and allrequired operating permits. You must:Have been in operation a minimum of three years delivering experiencesWant to increase international sales in one or more of the CTC markets;Be actively marketing internationally; andBe willing to complete an annual Members’ renewal (if accepted).While all eligible businesses are encouraged to apply, to ensure the CSE collection meets the marketdemands, priority in 2013 will be given to: urban, culinary and cultural experiences and businesses thatsell through travel-trade channels.55

APPENDIX DLouisbourg 300 Marketing Strategy and Media PlanAdvertising and Promotions PlanApril 201356

TABLE OF CONTENTSPageI. Overview 2II. Goals and Objectives 3III. Target Audience 4IV. Strategy and Tactics 7V. Action Plan 14VI. Budget 1657

I. OVERVIEWThe 300 th anniversary of the founding of Louisbourg is a major milestone in the history of CapeBreton Island and a reason to celebrate with a major event that Parks Canada has identified astheir main national event for the year – Louisbourg 300. From April to December in 2013, avariety of events and experiences will be held as part of this signature event. It represents awonderful opportunity to showcase this national historic site, renew its position as a majortourism icon and increase visitation for Cape Breton Island.In its key role of marketing the celebration, Destination Cape Breton Association (DCBA) hascontracted Terry Smith of ICON as project manager to oversee media purchasing, promotionalactivities and relationships with stakeholders as pertaining to the promotional initiatives. Thestakeholders include Parks Canada - Cape Breton Field Unit, Fortress of Louisbourg Association,Destination Cape Breton, and the Nova Scotia Tourism Agency.The advertising and promotional plan for Louisbourg 300 has been developed followingconsultations with the key stakeholders. The discussions revealed what has been planned froman advertising and promotional perspective, what has been committed, and how variouscomponents of the campaign may be complementary. Subsequent contacts and meetings wereheld with key media outlets, including television, newspaper, radio, outdoor and specialtypublications. In addition to these consultations and discussions, a review of backgroundinformation was undertaken, including marketing strategies, market research, etc.The information gleaned in this consultation and research review has led to the creation of thisadvertising and promotional plan. The plan includes:Goals and objectivesThe target audienceStrategic directionRecommended channels and tacticsAction planA proposed budgetThe plan is designed to be a living document that has some flexibility. For example, if resultsshow that a particular media channel is not producing results, the plan may be adjusted to placegreater emphasis on the channels that are working. As well, the plan allows for specific mediaoutlets to provide proposals that, after close examination, may be deemed to be highly effectivefor achieving the goals of the campaign and warrant adjustments to the specific channels beingemployed. However, despite allowances for changes within specific media outlets, the overallstrategic direction of the plan will be maintained.58

II. GOALS AND OBJECTIVESFor the Louisbourg 300 campaign to be deemed a success, two main goals have been defined:1. Increase visitation at the Fortress of Louisbourg National Historic Site by 15%from 76,000 in 2012 to 87,400 in 20132. Contribute to a 2.2% increase in the overall number of room nights sold on CapeBreton Island over the average of the past three years to 383,333 in 2013To achieve these goals, the following specific objectives have been defined:To capture 15% of visitors to the Louisbourg 300 landing page in an email database forfollow-up marketingTo increase the social media footprint for the Fortress of Louisbourg (Parks Canada andFortress of Louisbourg Association) by 50% from a combined 3500 Facebook Likes andTwitter followers to 5250To compel 600 of visitors to the Louisbourg 300 landing page to complete a specificLouisbourg 300 visitor intention surveyTo promote specific events, experiences and packages as conversion points for thecampaignThe strategy will be designed to achieve these goals and objectives.59

III. TARGET AUDIENCEThe target audience can be defined in psychographic and demographic terms. In both cases,the audience has been defined to match the targets that are being pursued by both DestinationCape Breton Association and the Nova Scotia Tourism Agency to complement and leveragetheir larger campaigns for greater impact.PsychographicTo best define the target audience from a psychographic standpoint, the Canadian TourismCommission’s Explorer Quotient, or EQ, may be utilized. This award-winning, marketsegmentation tool has the power to change the way that travel experiences are developed,marketed, and sold. As stated by the CTC:EQ can narrow your campaign focus down to the target audience that’s most interestedin your message or product. It creates a profile of your customer and gives your internalteams and the partners they work with a common language when it comes to talkingabout their best prospects, planning campaigns, building marketing communications,buying media and delivering the products consumers are most likely to buy.EQ is one of the most innovative market segmentation tools to come from the science ofpsychographics — an evolution of the traditional field of demographics. Instead ofdefining people based on age, income, gender, family status, or education level — all ofwhich is valuable information — psychographics looks deeper at people’s personalbeliefs, social values, and view of the world. It’s a major leap forward, because thesefactors are what drive real people to seek out certain types of experiences.Although the Nova Scotia Tourism Agency uses slightly different definitions for its market,Destination Cape Breton has defined their target visitor as being similar to the Cultural Explorerand the Authentic Experiencer segments in the EQ segmentation. Each is explored in greaterdetail below.Cultural ExplorersCultural Explorers seek constant opportunities to embrace, discover and immerse themselves inthe entire experience of the culture, people and settings of the places they visit. Not content tojust visit historic sites and watch from the sidelines, they want to participate in the modern-day60

culture as well. They often attempt to converse with locals, attend cultural festivals or go off thebeaten track to discover how locals truly live.For Cultural Explorers, travel is seen as the only way to truly experience life and the world.Experiencing the world first-hand can never be replaced by secondary methods such as TV orthe Internet. Travel tends to have an element of escapism for Cultural Explorers, as they getaway from their everyday lives. Cultural Explorers prefer spontaneous events and uniquediscoveries; they avoid mainstream, touristy locations. They are not intimidated at all byunfamiliar locations or situations and are willing to endure uncomfortable transportation andamenities to “live” a different culture. Cultural Explorers avoid skimming the surface of theirdestinations and are more interested in deep, meaningful experiences than seeing all of the“must-see” attractions.Cultural Explorers feel some time pressure, trying to meet all of their goals and responsibilities.They are willing to take risks to reach their goals and are confident in their ability to adapt tochange. Cultural Explorers are egalitarian and progressive in their societal views, and feel littleneed to adhere to societal norms. They seek fun and excitement, and are attracted to crowdsand social events. When shopping, Cultural Explorers place little importance on brand namesand status purchases, and are skeptical of advertising. They are ecologically and ethicallyaware, which their carefully thought-out and researched purchases reflect.Travel values:Companion experiences – they prefer travelling with like-minded peopleLiving history/culture – they enjoy ancient history and modern cultureLearning travel – they like to learn everything about a place, time or cultureConstant exploration – they’re always planning for the next outingAuthentic ExperiencersAuthentic Experiencers appreciate the understated beauty of both natural and culturalenvironments, and try to keep a foot in both worlds. They enjoy using all of their senses whenthey explore their chosen destination and really get to know the places they visit. They quicklyadapt to personal challenges and risks, easily figuring out how to make the most of every61

situation. Authentic Experiencers want to be fully immersed in their travel experience and tendto stay away from group tours and rigid plans.While Authentic Experiencers are not constant travelers, they are also not reluctant travelers.Travel is seen as enriching life, not escaping from it. Authentic Experiencers travel to betterunderstand the world around them and value the nature and culture found everywhere, includingtheir own backyard. Authentic Experiencers tend to visit a wider range of destinations and preferlonger trips to weekend getaways. They are more likely than others to add time before or afterbusiness trips.Authentic Experiencers have a strong ecological and societal ethic, being very conscious of theenvironment and those around them. Generally, they are more socially reserved and are notinterested in crowds or status seeking. Authentic Experiencers are skeptical of advertising andtend not to impulse shop. When they decide to purchase, they are guided by ethical concernsand social equality.Travel values:Learning travel – they like to learn everything about a place, time or cultureNature – they enjoy vast natural settings and wondersCultural immersion – they prefer integration into the local culturePersonal development – they seek self-improvement through understanding othersThese two EQ segments are an excellent fit with the program offering of Louisbourg 300, notonly for the National Historic Site, but also the larger destination.DemographicThe Cultural Explorer and Authentic Experiencer segments are comprised mainly of empty nest adultsaged 35-64, with a secondary segment that includes adults in that age range with families. They are welleducated and are established in their careers, with a higher than average household income. Typically,62

the female plays a key role in travel planning. Research compiled by Nova Scotia Tourism suggests thatwomen account for 65% to 85% of travel decisions.From a geographic standpoint, the Louisbourg 300 campaign will concentrate on the Maritime Provincesmarket, with an emphasis on the population centres of Halifax, Moncton, Fredericton, Saint John andCharlottetown, along with some smaller centres (New Glasgow, Truro, Summerside, Amherst). Thecampaign will also target the local Cape Breton Island market.Given the significance of Louisbourg to the French speaking Canadians, the campaign should target thisaudience as a particular segment.In addition to this focus, both the Nova Scotia Tourism Agency and Parks Canada nationally are targetingother markets in central Canada, primarily Montreal, Toronto and Ottawa.IV. STRATEGY AND TACTICSTo effectively drive demand, the marketing strategy is structured around a marketing funnel,which brings the target audience through the process of Lure – Sample – Buy. First, awarenessmust be generated that will pique the market’s interest and lure them to want to know more.Then, the awareness must be translated into interest by Sampling the experience they could beoffered. Finally, the interest must convert them to Buy the experience. Following this process,steps should be implemented to track and measure the effectiveness of the campaign.The Marketing Plan provides recommended tactics for each step of the funnel in an effort tooptimize the overall return on investment for the Louisbourg 300 campaign.LureThe objective of the lure component is to lure members of the target market to a point wherethey may sample the experience. For Louisbourg 300, the following tactics are recommended.Traditional AdvertisingPaid advertising will be, by far, the largest investment of the campaign, as it has tremendouspotential to reach a large population of the target audience. This will include the followingchannels:Television63

Television advertising will include advertising regionally on two networks:CTV (English)Radio-Canada (French)CTV is the media channel that can reach the most members of the target audience in theregion. It includes the main CTV station and CTV Two. A concentration of the CTVpackage will be on its regional news programs, Live at 5 and the Evening News, as theyare the most watched programs in the region. As well, the package includes an on-airbroadcast of Live at 5 and the Evening News in Louisbourg.Radio-Canada is selected based on its ability to reach the Francophone portion of thetarget audience. Although it has a number of stations, we are recommending a focus ontheir main network. A concentration shall also be placed on their regional news program,Téléjournal Acadie.Television will be utilized to generate awareness immediately following the initialLouisbourg 300 launch and will run in heavy rotation until the end of June. It will follow alesser, maintenance schedule during July and August. The content of the televisioncommercials will be more general in nature, promoting the overall celebration.NewspaperNewspaper advertising will include the following papers:Cape Breton PostChronicle-HeraldBrunswick News – Telegraph Journal (NB provincial paper), Times & Transcript(Moncton), Daily Gleaner (Fredericton), and L’Etoile (NB provincial Frenchpublication)Transcontinental papers – New Glasgow Evening News, Truro Daily News,Charlottetown Guardian, Summerside Journal Pioneer, Amherst Daily NewsCape Breton weeklies – Inverness Oran, Port Hawkesbury Report, VictoriaStandardFrancophone papers – Le Courrier de la Nouvelle Écosse (New Brunswick) andAcadie Nouvelle (New Brunswick)Newspaper will follow behind the television campaign, beginning in May and runninguntil September. It will begin with larger ads in May and June to capture attention andgenerate interest that focus on the overall celebrations. The rest of the ad run will include64

a regular, consistent presence throughout the season. These subsequent ads willcontain a mix of general content and specific event promotion.A sponsorship package is being negotiated with the Cape Breton Post and itsTranscontinental sister papers, which should leverage the buy in those papers to closeto double the actual buy.Speciality PublicationsAdvertising in specialty publications will include the following:Travel Guide to CanadaNova Scotia Motorcycle GuideHalifax Visitor GuideTravel Cape BretonSaltscapes’ Summerscapes publicationMost of these publications have already been booked. They reach the target audiencethat has a specific interest in Cape Breton and/or Nova Scotia as a travel destination.Newspaper will follow behind the television campaign, beginning in May and runninguntil September. The content of these ads will be general to promote the overallcelebrations.RadioRadio advertising will be focused on the local Cape Breton market, as well as visitorswho are already on the Island. It will include the following stations:Newcap (The Giant, The Eagle)Cape Breton Radio (Max 98, The Cape, CJCB)101.5 The Hawk (Strait region)Nish 102.7 (CJFX – Inverness County)CKJM (Cheticamp region)Radio will begin in mid-June with and will run until September. It will include on-air “jocktalk” and ticket giveaways. The radio ads will contain a mix of general content andspecific event promotion.Sponsorship packages are being negotiated with both Newcap and Cape Breton Radio,which should leverage the buy on those stations to double the actual buy. The packageswill also include 3-4 live remotes on site.65

Out of HomeTo complement the other advertising and to ensure that Louisbourg 300 is top-of-mind,out of home promotion will take place through billboards in Halifax and Cape Breton. Thecontent of billboards must be simple to have impact with people passing them invehicles, so a simple general message and call to action will suffice.In addition to the billboards, a poster campaign is recommended. Posters may bedeveloped and posted in visitor information centres, cafes, drugstores, supermarketsand other high traffic areas.E-marketingThe CTC research on Cultural Explorers and Authentic Experiencers shows that they use theInternet to research, plan and book travel. As a result, an effective e-marketing campaign is vitalto lure traffic to the website. This will include the following channels and tactics:Google and Facebook Advertising CampaignOnline advertising through Pay-Per-Click campaigns like Google AdWords andFacebook Advertising provides a great opportunity for Louisbourg 300 to have targetedexposure and increased online visibility for an optimal budget. The campaign for GoogleAdWords will target specific relevant keywords like “Nova Scotia festivals” or “AtlanticCanada calendar of events”. The Facebook ads can target the demographic profile andspecific interests to reach the target audience.Online AdvertisingDCBA is planning an online media buy with online channels such as TripAdvisor,Vacay.ca, National Geographic, etc. A portion of this buy will be dedicated to Louisbourg300 as an in-kind contribution from DCBA.Search Engine OptimizationMany consumers will perform online searches using top search engines like Google. If apotential visitor planning to visit Cape Breton searched Google for a highly relevant termlike “Louisbourg”, the website landing page for Louisbourg 300 should be optimized torank highly on the search results page.66

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is based on two elements – on-page and off-pageSEO. On-page begins with researching relevant key words and then incorporating theminto page URL’s, page titles, page headers, body content, etc. on the website. Off-pageSEO deals with creating links to the site from other sites. Over time, these tactics willensure the ranking is high for the site through Google’s algorithm.The Louisbourg 300 site should be optimized to rank high for relevant terms with onpageSEO tactics, while off-page tactics may be employed such as encouraging tourismoperators to add a link to the page to their websites, ensuring there are links to thewebsite in relevant places like NovaScotia.com.Partner PromotionsDestination Cape Breton, the Nova Scotia Tourism Agency and Parks Canada all havesignificant campaigns that will be providing opportunities to promote Louisbourg 300. Forexample, NSTA is placing a media buy in the Montreal market that will include television,newspaper, out of home and digital promotion. Parks Canada nationally is attending consumershows and organizing various promotions including Canada Day in Ottawa and a promotionduring a Toronto Blue Jays game. DCBA is promoting Louisbourg 300 as a featured event inmuch of its campaign for 2013. In addition, partner promotions will include:NovaScotia.com and CBIsland.comBoth websites of these partners draw a substantial amount of visitation and they eachprovide opportunities to promote Louisbourg 300. Both DCBA and NSTA have plans tohighlight Louisbourg 300 within their websites, social media channels, e-marketingcampaigns, etc. In discussions with NSTA, they just need content in the form of images,blogs and packages/experiences to fully promote Louisbourg 300.Consumer ShowsSaltscapes Expo is Atlantic Canada’s fastest growing and immensely popular consumershow is custom designed for the prosperous Atlantic Canadian consumer. Over 85% ofSaltscapes visitors plan on taking a vacation in Atlantic Canada in the year they attendthe Expo. Destination Cape Breton is organizing a Cape Breton presence that willinclude animators from the Fortress of Louisbourg. For this show, a contest may beemployed to capture contact information, particularly email addresses, for follow-upmarketing purposes.Contesting67

A contest provides a way to not only create buzz and excitement, but to encouragepeople to provide their contact information for future marketing purposes. By entering acontest, a person begins to envision what it would be like to win. Parks Canada isdeveloping a program where they will install a Governor of Louisbourg during theSuperFête de Saint-Louis. This could be developed into a premier and fun contestpackage that may be used as a lure in the promotional campaign.SampleOnce awareness has been created, the next step is to generate interest that will lead thepotential visitor to a deeper level of engagement. The greater the interest, the closer the visitorwill be to making the decision to come to Louisbourg 300. Bringing the target market to this levelof engagement is best accomplished by allowing them to Sample the experience – to get a tasteof what they can expect by visiting. The following Sample tactics are recommended:Experience Focused MicrositeAs previously mentioned, DCBA is developing a microsite within their existingCBIsland.com site to focus on Louisbourg 300. The site should include: The promotional teaser video Louisbourg 300 The schedule of events Louisbourg 300 experiences and packages An e-newsletter sign-up form (preferably with a modest incentive) Integration of social media channels to show latest Facebook and Twitterconversations A travel intention surveyThe Fortress of Louisbourg Association already has the domain name louisbourg300.caand has agreed to direct that domain to the new microsite, when ready, so that it mayserve as the call to action in ads.NOTE: It is important that the microsite be developed to be bilingual, as advertising willbe directing English and French audiences to the site.Social MediaParks Canada – Cape Breton Field Unit has a robust plan for social media activationduring Louisbourg 300 that includes Twitter, Facebook and YouTube. To avoid creatingconfusion with the public over multiple social media accounts, Parks Canada’s account68

should be used as the main social media channel. However, the Fortress of LouisbourgAssociation also has Twitter and Facebook accounts and those accounts may be utilizedto provide even greater emphasis to Louisbourg 300. The Project Manager should workclosely with both stakeholder organizations to assist in social media campaigns, asneeded.Email MarketingEmail marketing can be very cost-effective in engaging potential visitors on an ongoingbasis. Once visitors to a website are captured in an email database, this channel canensure that Louisbourg 300 is top-of-mind as a potential destination choice and canactively work to convert interest into a visit. The content of the emails should bedesigned to allow subscribers to sample the experience.Through contesting at consumer shows and providing a sign-up form on the website, adatabase of email contacts may be developed. An email blast template may bedeveloped to be used for this tactic along with an email marketing program likeMailChimp, MadMimi or Campaign Monitor. It is recommended that emails be sent on abi-weekly basis.BuyOnce a potential visitor becomes engaged and interested, the next step is to make it as easy aspossible to be converted to visit or, in other words, to buy the experience. The following tacticsare recommended to make it easy for a person to buy the experience.Promotion of Experiences and PackagesThe Fortress of Louisbourg has created a number of new visitor experiences for the2013 season that may be purchased. The Louisbourg 300 microsite should highlightthese experiences and any packages that may be developed with operators to takepeople from the Sample stage to the Buy stage. This can be done by adding a call toaction to book an experience on the site.These experiences and packages may also be offered within the content of print ads.“Buy Now” Call to Action69

The microsite should also have a “Buy Now” button for specific events, such as theconcert series, that will direct the visitor to the ticket booking engine that has beenarranged by the Fortress of Louisbourg Association.Measuring ResultsTo measure the ongoing results of the plan, a system should be put in place to track indicatorsand evaluate the effectiveness of the various channels and tactics. This information can providevaluable data to illustrate which marketing tactics are working and which ones are not, how thecelebrations are being received by visitors, etc. The information captured can provide evidencefor the need to make adjustments in the marketing effort. It is vital to ensure the success of thecampaign in meetings its goals and objectives. The following measurement tactics arerecommended:Indicator TrackingIndicators of success should be identified and tracked to measure the effectiveness ofthe program. Indicators should include top-line (e.g. marketing results) and bottom-lineindicators (e.g. tourism revenues), including: Visits to the microsite Social media Likes and Followers to the Parks Canada – Cape Breton Field Unitand Fortress of Louisbourg Association accounts Email subscribers Travel intention surveys completed Monthly visits to the Fortress of Louisbourg Attendance at specific events within Louisbourg 300 Monthly room nights sold in Cape Breton Number of experiences, packages and event tickets soldFor the specific goals and objectives, these indicators should be compared to thebenchmarks of the previous year to track progress in achieving the targets.Travel Intention SurveyDestination Cape Breton currently employs a Travel Intention Survey on its website;however, it is recommended that a specific version be developed for the Louisbourg 300microsite. This would allow a visitor to indicate specifically which channel(s) directedthem to the site, so that the specific advertising channels may be evaluated.Conversion SurveyA conversion survey is an excellent way to determine the effectiveness of the campaignto convert interest to visits. The survey asked questions to engaged members of theprogram (email database, Facebook fans, Twitter followers, etc.) to determine their travelplans, characteristics, demographic information, etc.70

V. ACTION PLANThis Action Plan outlines the specific steps to be taken to implement the advertising andpromotional plan, the timeline, and the budget for each item.LureTacticTelevision Negotiate media buy Book spots Ensure ad content is delivered Run campaigns Review results and adjust as necessaryTimelineApr 5Apr 8Apr 10Apr 22-Aug 16Budget185,000CTV Live at 5 / Evening News Set date for broadcast Arrange logistics with Parks Outline story ideas Ensure social media promotion of broadcasts Assist in broadcast, as neededNewspaper Negotiate media buy Book placements Develop creative schedule Ensure ad content is delivered Run campaigns Review results and adjust as necessaryApr 22-Aug 16Apr 26May 24May 24Early-Mid JunMid JunApr 12Apr 15Apr 20May-SepMay-Sep15,000130,000Specialty Publications Negotiate media buy (for items not yet placed) Book placements Ensure ad content is delivered Run campaigns Review results and adjust as necessaryMay-SepApr 5Apr 5Apr 20Apr-Sep25,00071

Apr-SepRadio20,000 Negotiate media buy Book spots Develop creative Arrange dates for live remotes Run campaigns Review results and adjust as necessaryApr 12Apr 15May 3May 31Apr 22-Aug 16Apr 22-Aug 16Out of Home30,000 Negotiate media buy Book locations Develop billboard and poster creative Run billboard campaign Review results and adjust as necessary Distribute postersApr 12Apr 15May 10Mid May-Mid AugMid May-Mid AugEarly JunGoogle and Facebook Advertising Campaign20,000 Research key words Set up campaigns Implement campaigns Review results and adjust as necessaryApr 12Apr 15Apr 15-Aug 15Search Engine Optimization Recommend keywords for microsite Implement linking program Review results and adjust as necessaryOnline Advertising Allocate a portion of DCBA buy Review results and adjust as necessaryNovaScotia.com and CBIsland.com Review sites and provide suggestions Content to NSTA for blogs, eblasts, social media Review results and adjust as necessaryApr 15-Aug 15Apr 15Apr 30May-SepAprApr-SepApr 30May-SepMay-SepIncl within ProjectMgr roleDCBADCBA/NSTA72

Consumer Shows20,000 Confirm Saltscapes show needs and assist where necessaryAprContesting10,000 Confirm contest details and package items Outline rules and regulations Incorporate contest into promotions (ads, microsite, socialmedia, etc,) Conduct draw Promotion around winner(s)Apr 20Apr 30May 1-Jul 15July 15AugSampleTacticExperience Focused Microsite Develop new microsite Redirect louisbourg300.ca to microsite Translate content to French Review results and adjust as necessarySocial Media Build social media feeds into website design Define social media role for FLA Implement social media program Review results and adjust as necessaryEmail Marketing Develop template design Add form to microsite Implement email marketing program Review results and adjust as necessaryTimelineApril 30April 30May 15May 1-Oct 31Apr 30Apr 30May 1-Oct 31May 1-Oct 31Apr 30Apr 30May 1-Sep 15May 1-Sep 15BudgetDCBA2,0002,000BuyTacticTimelineBudget73

Promotion of Experiences and Packages Obtain list of experiences and packages Promote experiences and packages on microsite and increative Review results and adjust as necessaryApr 30May-SepIncl in otherbudget lines“Buy Now” Call to Action Add “Buy Now” button to microsite Review results and adjust as necessaryMay-SepApr 30May-SepIncl in otherbudget linesMeasuring ResultsTacticIndicator Tracking Establish indicators and measurement procedures Begin measurement Report resultsTravel Intention Survey Design and set-up survey Analyze responses Review results and adjust plan as necessaryConversion Survey Design and set-up survey Identify incentive for participants Implement survey Analyze responses Report results in a final reportTimelineApr 30May 1May-OctMay 10May 15-Aug 31May 15-Aug 31OctOctOct-NovNovBudgetIncl within ProjectMgr role1,0001,000Dec74

VI. BUDGETItemTotalTelevision $185,000CTV Live at 5 / Evening News 15,000Newspaper 130,000Specialty Publications 25,000Radio 20,000Out of Home 30,000Google and Facebook Advertising 20,000Search Engine Optimization -Online Advertising -Nova Scotia.com and CBIsland.com -Consumer Shows 20,000Contesting 10,000Microsite -Social Media 2,000Email Marketing 2,000Promotion of Experiences and Packages -“Buy Now” Call to Action -Indicator Tracking -Travel Intention Survey 1,000Conversion Survey 1,000Expenses 2,000Contingency and Provision for HST 38,000TOTAL $500,00075

APPENDIX ECommunications and Sales StrategyCommunication & Sales Strategy for 2013BackgroundDCBA created the Sales and Industry Relations (SIR) position to engage operators on a new integratedlevel, become a liaison between industry and the organization responsible for tourism, to increaseawareness of and participation in partnership opportunities, and to increase both partnership andtourism revenues.The Sales and Industry Relations Representative will be focused on creating a community relationshipbetween the organization, operators, industry partners and the VIC’s. SIR will also provide support,guidance, training and resources to attract new travelers, expertly service those travelers, while gettingthem to stay longer and spend more.Strategic ObjectivesIndustryTo Increase awareness of DCBA activities and opportunitiesTo increase touch points and encourage two way communication via online, social media,information sessions and one on oneBusiness Community Member EngagementTo access the business associations/community groups/ membership bodies to help promote/create atourism mindset with in their communities. Chambers, Development Ass, Kiwanis clubs, Rotary clubs,JCI ectVIC’s76

To increase VIC staff product knowledge and sales skills to encourage longer travel visitation andincreased spendSalesTo increase participation from operators in DCBA initiativesTradeshow Participation with qualified resultsTacticsOperatorsTo create a “toolbox” type resource for user friendly access to all that is DCBA and its opportunities. Thiswould be a mixed media resource tool that would encompass all the opportunities available tooperators and assist them in not only reaching their goals but the marketing goals of DCBA.Included in the “Toolbox” would be the following items (option of printed info as well as electronic)DCBA contact numbers and infoDCBA – website info Dcba-info.com Cbisland.comDCBA – social media info as well as dedicated social media group just for their interactionhttps://www.facebook.com/TourismCB?fref=tshttps://www.facebook.com/pages/Our-Cape-Breton/449318975092463?fref=ts“Cape Breton Tourism Toolbox” Monthly newsletter - (1 newsletter to engage operators and VICstaff)Login info for website profile/package updates/website linksTips for using/updating profile and packagesGuidelines for how to create a winning packagePartnership/Buying opportunities within DCBA (Travel Cape Breton, cbiland.com-bannerads/Halifax kiosk LCD Advertising-Brochure placement (replace with QR Code directory)/LocalVIC – LCD advertising/Trade show partnership opsIndustry Season Targets – how to make them work for you – Louisbourg 300, New Waterford100, 40 th Action WeekHow to engage your VIC to work for youDCBA, SIR will work with the municipality contacts around the island to deliver this toolboxinformation through information sessions as well as to “hand it out to all operators”.SIR will also meet with 50 operators (10 from each region) to build better relationships, gatherfeedback as well as best practices/stories to be shared back to the whole throughnewsletter/social media.To complete one on one visits over a two week period while documenting the experiencethrough video/pictures and blogging, for social media content and more industry interaction“Ross’ Road Trip!” (In conjunction with the Business Community VIC events- see below)77

Business Community Member EngagementJune open air forum/mixers/BBQ’s @VIC’s in the five regions to engage the membership bodies ofcommunity business/community organization – to engage them as to how they can help to support,encourage, interact and benefit from promoting tourism activities in CB. (Chambers, Development Ass,Kiwanis clubs, Rotary clubs, JCI)VIC’sUse a similar “Toolbox” resource tool for the VIC’s to give them ease of access to experiences, packages,specials, and operators, giving them tools and opportunities that they can share/sell easily and quickly.The following items would be included in the VIC “Toolbox”Point form mission/focus of DCBA for the new seasonDCBA contact numbers and infoDCBA – website info Dcba-info.com Cbisland.comDCBA – social media info as well as dedicated social media group just for their interactionhttps://www.facebook.com/TourismCB?fref=tshttps://www.facebook.com/pages/Our-Cape-Breton/449318975092463?fref=ts “Cape BretonTourism Toolbox” Monthly newsletter - (1 newsletter to engage operators and VIC staff)Technology will allow staff to interact and sell to visitors by being connected to packages/operators.Technology could also allow interconnectivity between travelers on the mobile site and the VIC’s bybeing able to:Locate the closest VIC through mobile siteOne touch calling to the VIC I want to get to (can I pre-arrange to have information waiting forme?)SalesBy including the access for partnership opportunities in the “Cape Breton Tourism Toolbox” operatorswill be able to review all of the opportunities provided to them. This will enable buying fast and smarterwhich is important for smaller operators and they can pick and choose which fits them. It will alsoenable them to plan their budgets for these opportunities in for the next calendar year.Collaborating closely with the VIC staff and monitoring visitation results as closely as possible, the SIRrepresentative will continually monitor results from the VIC consultative sales approach outlined in thestrategy document.78

APPENDIX FGolf Cape Breton StrategyDraft Strategy April 2012-March 2013VisionCape Breton is the best golf destination in Canada.MissionGolf Cape Breton will serve its members by assisting with the enhancement of their experiencesand brands, increase members’ revenue and by bringing light to the economic impact and valueof golf to Cape Breton Island.Strategic Objectives:1. To make business decisions based on sound research.2. To heighten the experiential and brand value of Golf Cape Breton3. To increase market awareness resulting in the generation of increased consumerinquiries, sales and revenue.4. To assist members in fulfilling customer demands.5. To continuously demonstrate the value and impact of Golf Cape Breton to Cape Breton,Nova Scotia, Atlantic Canada and Canadian economies.Tactics

Product DevelopmentTo heighten the experiential and brand value of Golf Cape Breton.To assist members in fulfilling customer demands.Destination Cape Breton now offers a full product development plan and will be engaging GolfCB in the services they will provide, including: Filter each golf experience through the 12 Essentials of Cape Breton Travel Experiencesassessment tool. This will serve to enhance the experiences and brands of the individualconsortium members. Work with a Tourism Development Officer with the Department of Economic and RuralDevelopment and Tourism to facilitate workshops in each course community, inviting allexisting and potential accommodations partners. Engage product development staff from Destination Cape Breton to conduct theassessment with each member of Golf CB. Create a uniform level of knowledge and skill sets amongst the members and theiraccommodations partners in relation to packaging and inventory and skillsmanagement. Create pre and post packages for the Telus Skins Game being hosted at Glen Arbour GolfCourse from July 29-31, 2012.Engage Golf Cape Breton course staff in a one day product development/motivationalworkshop to strengthen strategy and share other course ‘stories’.Tentatively set for Thursday April 26 th or Friday April 27 th . Baddeck location.Develop a set of workshops reflecting branding, media relations, product andexperiences to assist in messaging continuity for consumers and media.Ensure Golf Cape Breton call to action is 100% responsive at a level that is integrated,manageable, and consistent and is tested (mystery-shopped) on a regular basis.Staff the Golf CB phone line to facilitate purchase of golf packages, tee times andaccommodations in conjunction with established and new industry partners.MarketingTo increase market awareness resulting in the generation of increased consumer inquiries, salesand revenue.To continuously demonstrate the value and impact of Golf Cape Breton to Cape Breton, NovaScotia, Atlantic Canada and Canadian economies.

Media and Pro Fam ToursDuring the 2011 golf season, 46 media visited Cape Breton Island, 15 of which were organizedfam tours with some of the most influential golf media from Canada and the US. The impact ofmedia generated was shown directly in website visitation and golf line/email inquiries.This year, media will remain a focus but we will extend our reach with golf pro fam tours. GolfPros are key influencers in our target market and will help to spread information to golfers whodo not actively consume golf media. The pros targeted will be from affluent golf clubs wheretours are organized to other clubs on a regular, annual basis.Advertising & AdvertorialsResulting from media relationships forged in the past year, Golf CB will be participatingin advertorials. All six courses will be featured in Fairways & Greens ‘EssentialDestinations’ offer in which their team stays in Cape Breton for a week and features a 10page spread on all of our courses. SCOREGolf TV will also do feature on all six courses,including TV, print and online ads.Advertising will continue to be a mix of traditional (print and online print components)and non-traditional (online, GoogleAds, Facebook).Development of promotional items for distribution at tradeshows and events.Implement a monitoring and evaluation tool to track circulation and measure impact.WebsiteGolf Cape Breton has contracted VERB Interactive to develop our new website, complete withtools to directly assist consumers in planning their Golf CB vacation.The goals of the improved website are to:Increased capability to book online.Enhance content (highlight media accolades, surrounding communities, etc.)Accessible photo gallery.Social MediaGolf CB Social Media has improved significantly in the past year. Media generated providessolid content and many followers are engaged. Social media initiatives will continue to growthis year with more contesting (using the Wildfire App), more content directly from courses andmore two way conversation.Increase our ‘likes’ on Facebook by 50% and followers on Twitter by 20% over thewinter/ spring months through contesting and advertising.Continue to monitor media and create content for posting.

NewslettersCreate and distribute regular newsletters to our 5500+ database through MailChimp.Distribute monthly newsletters to subscribers year round.Increase subscribers by 20% via new website.Content MarketingContent marketing is the creation and sharing of content to engage current and potential consumerbases. Content marketing subscribes to the notion that delivering high-quality, relevant and valuableinformation to prospects and customers drives profitable consumer action.Engage a firm to assist in the creation and distribution of content via their relationshipswith established publications and outlets.Festival of GolfChange the competitive landscape by creating a dynamic, new, annual, three day golf festivalaimed at filling hotel rooms and golf courses across Cape Breton.Work with ECBC Major Events Coordinator to begin the planning process for the Festivalof Golf.Strike a committee with members from each course to assist in the planning andimplementation of events within the Festival.Develop specific events (i.e. kilted tournament, clinics, tournaments, etc.)Partnerships & OpportunitiesCabot Links Grand OpeningCabot Links will premiere all 18 holes and reveal its new lodging on June 29 th , 2012. Golf CapeBreton will provide support to Cabot Links and capitalize on opportunities to promote the otherconsortium courses.Ceilidh CupStudio 11, a marketing company out of Halifax, approached Golf Cape Breton and DestinationCape Breton to initiate an annual, corporate tournament called the Ceilidh Cup. This event willincorporate two days of golf, promotional opportunities for each course, entertainment and anunforgettable experience for attendees. Provide options for pre and post client outings with sponsors. Take advantage of media opportunities coordinated by Studio 11.

Provide in-kind support of the event and provide financial assistance to individualcourses for promotional activities/items.Telus Skins 2012Glen Arbour Golf Club in Halifax was selected to host the 2012 Telus Skins Game. Thismajor golf event, sponsored by Telus & Nike Golf and owned by IMG will presentopportunities to showcase Golf Cape Breton, as well as develop pre and post packagesto the Island.Golf NSGolf Cape Breton has a long, storied partnership with Golf NS. This entity represents CapeBreton at tradeshows, provides co-op advertising opportunities and engages in media initiativesin addition to Golf CB efforts.Golf CB will continue its annual contribution of approximately $7500 for Golf NS dues.Destination Cape BretonThe role of the Director of Golf Marketing is to promote Cape Breton Island as a golfdestination. Partnering with DCBA on key marketing and promotional initiatives will provideadditional support to achieving this goal.Have a strong presence at the Halifax Kiosk highlighting golf packages.Participate in advertising co-ops for publications such as Doers and Dreamers.Co-host media receptions in the Atlantic Region, particularly Halifax.

APPENDIX GMarketing Committee ChangesMarketing Advisory CommitteeThe marketing advisory committee will undergo changes to the membership profile in 2013 to alignmore closely with the skills based committee guidelines adhered to by the Canadian TourismCommission. The new structure is outlined below, with goal of committee members being defined bymid-May, 2013:Mandate of Committee:The Marketing Advisory Committee of Destination Cape Breton is an advisory committee established tofeed into the Industry Advisory Committee on the Island Wide Marketing of Cape Breton.Membership Profile:The committee will be comprised of the Director of Marketing and 10 Industry Advisors possessingexperience and competencies representing the following categories: Creative and branding, websiteknowledge, accommodations sector, social media, niche markets, culinary, culture, arts, financepartnership (ECBC) and Parks partnership.In addition to relevant knowledge, skills and specific competencies, members must be strategic thinkers,have good analytical acumen and possess appropriate personal attributes. These include integrity andhigh ethical standards, sound judgment, an ability and willingness to collaborate as a high level ofcommitment to the organization and its success. Each member should have something important tocontribute and should be able to function well in a group of equals.Duties:Reporting to the Industry Advisory Committee, the Marketing Advisory Committee will act as advisors inthe destination marketing of Cape Breton Island. Without restricting the generality of the foregoing, thecommittee will deal with the following:Review and provide feedback on the annual Island wide marketing strategy and plan.

Act as ambassadors and positive force in fostering industry understanding of DCBA objectives,priorities and activities.Meet quarterly for updates of Marketing Activities and review of progress and upcoming plans.Meet as required to provide feedback and advise on specific marketing items. ( may be donethrough e-mail or online meetings as required)Review output from ROI model and other decision making tools used by management, andadvise on market changes and investment.Annually review the committee’s mandate, membership, and terms of reference.Knowledge SegmentDirector of MarketingCreative/BrandingSocial MediaWebsiteNiche MarketsRepresentativeNoelle MacLeanCulinaryCultureArtisansFinancial partnershipsParks partnerships