HIGHWAY 3 Tourism Alliance
The Highway 3 Tourism Alliance is an initiative of three tourism regions Thompson Okanagan, Kootenay Rockies and Vancouver Coast & Mountains.
Highway 3 – The Winding Route to Adventure collaborative regional initiative activates the vision of the Destination BC (DBC) led Destination Development Strategy and action-planning for Highway 3, co-created with tourism partners from the entire length of the route. The key themes of this strategy focus on building and managing growth with sustainability in mind and creating a memorable road trip experience.
- Highway 3 Destination Development Strategy – Destination BC – FULL Report
- Highway 3 Destination Development Strategy – Destination BC – SUMMARY Report
The Highway 3 Tourism Alliance initiative is led by Kootenay Rockies Tourism and is funded via Federal and Provincial grants. Key KPIs for the grant funds include 1. Women/Youth 2. Indigenous 3. Francophone 4. Jobs.
WHAT’S AHEAD – 2025
The Highway 3 Tourism Alliance, led by the tourism regions, will be active in tourism development and marketing projects with grant funds. Rhiannon Paterson of Kootenay Rockies Tourism is leading the 2025 activities. Destination BC has established a tourism investment attraction sub-committee with community leaders along the corridor. Contact Spencer Toth, Senior Program Advisor, Destination Development (604) 805-5249
COMMUNITIES financially SUPPORT HWY 3 FOR 2024
In 2024, the Highway 3 communities supported the project financially through their partnership with the Destination BC Co-op marketing program utilizing the existing Highway 3 marketing agency THE NUMBER. The Similkameen Valley Planning Society was the lead applicant for the group. Activities supplemented the grant-funded projects the regions started in 2024 and our funding commitment concluded March 31, 2025 with the final report submitted to Destination BC April 15.
Key activities included the introduction of Email marketing with four seasonal newsletters leading to new seasonal blogs with 4,800+ subscribers while the main focus of effort was a digital Fall Campaign, supported by Social Media posts on Facebook and Instagram. New assets and content supported the campaign and website with a new community profile summary page, updated community pages, new blogs, videos, and ad creative.
ABOUT THE DBC CO-OP MARKETING GROUP FOR FY 2024/25
The Destination BC Open Pool financial partners for Highway 3 is a collaboration of 13 community tourism areas which is represented by the following organizations: Boundary Country Tourism, Cranbrook Tourism, Creston Valley Tourism, Destination Castlegar, Destination Osoyoos, District of Elkford, Hope, Cascades and Canyons; Manning Park Resort, Nelson Kootenay Lake Tourism, Similkameen Valley Planning Society, Tourism Fernie, Tourism Kimberley and Tourism Rossland. Project timeline April 1, 2024 to March 31, 2025.
The final year-end report for participants in the program summarizes key activities and performance indicators. The final report is provided for reference only as the links are only accessible to the marketing partners.
The key objectives of the fall campaign were to create awareness, consideration and conversions through the delivery of display ads, new content, organic social, paid social, paid search, and the launch of seasonal newsletters.
FALL DIGITAL CAMPAIGN HIGHLIGHTS 2024 & HWY 3 WEBSITE
2023 Research & Marketing Activities
In 2023 the alliance launched and marketed the BC Highway 3 brand and website from Hope to Elkford to support the Fall 2023 and Spring 2024 research-based digital campaigns. Additional projects included branding and consumer research. The website and and digital campaigns were created and managed by their agency THE NUMBER.
Destination BC provided a significant contribution to visitor research at the Regional District level and provided a custom geo-fence for Hope. Analysis of this data led to the identification of custom target groups for BC/AB markets and legacy files for Highway 3 communities to use, which the Similkameen Valley utilized for their analysis of the Regional District Okanagan Similkameen (RDOS) for relevant visitors to our area.
DESTINATION CANADA – HIGHWAY 3 TOURISM CORRIDOR STRATEGY
The Tourism Corridor Strategy leverages Highway 3 as a key interprovincial corridor linking the large urban hubs of Southern Alberta and British Columbia’s Lower Mainland.
Destination Canada (DC), Destination BC (DBC) and Travel Alberta (TA) are engaging in conversations around the implementation of this Strategy. For BC, this Strategy also helps to deliver on Destination BC’s corporate goals and will act as a companion piece to the Invest in Iconics Strategy, with a key focus on tourism investment readiness and attraction.
DBC with the BC Economic Development Association delivered a workshop on tourism investment readiness at the 2024 BC Economic Summit.
Review the Program Information
Review the Destination Canada Announcement
