ITA’s summer marketing campaign aims to raise awareness of Indigenous tourism

Indigenous Tourism Alberta’s summer marketing campaign is in full swing, with a goal of raising awareness of Indigenous tourism, and directing travelers to the websites of members where bookings can be made. 

The summer campaign will be the biggest of the year, with a focus on attracting travellers identified as Curious Adventurers who love to travel to learn about new cultures, meet new people and make deep connections beyond the typical tourism hotspots. These travellers, our research suggests, are the best type of consumer for Indigenous tourism. 

Like previous years, this year’s campaign will be multi-pronged, utilizing a number of platforms, tactics and strategies. Among the tactics being employed:

  • Facebook and Instagram ads, including videos, carousels and link posts. 
  • Pinterest video and photo ads. 
  • Website banner ads, and interactive multimedia mobile ads.
  • Cable television ads.
  • Local and regional broadcast television spots.
  • Google search ads.

This is in addition to our other year-round tactics, such as organic social media and public relations.

An example of some of the hundreds of ads that are being run as part of ITA’s summer campaign.

As part of our ongoing commitment to exploring new ways of reaching travellers, we’re also trying a few new things, including expanding the type of ads that are available in Spotify, after an experiment during our winter campaign proved successful. 

Partnerships are also a very important part of the marketing team’s strategy and we have robust partnerships helping promote ITA’s message of Come Walk With Us this summer. Working collaboratively with Travel Alberta, for example, we are taking part in a U.S. digital campaign that focuses on inspiring travellers in parts of the U.S. that research indicates is the best bet for the province, considering travel patterns, direct flights and tourism interests. ITA also remains part of a province-wide collaboration with a number of other Alberta partners around Google search marketing, to ensure Alberta partners work collaboratively rather than in competition. 

You may see these ads on your television, computer or mobile device over the summer months, but if you don’t, that doesn’t mean they aren’t out there. Modern digital campaigns are built to use data collected from around the Internet to target specific, rather than mass, audiences.

ITA’s campaigns are built to market as many ITA members as possible who are ranked as market-ready or export-ready. If you want to be part of future campaigns, please reach out to your ITA rep to talk about how you can continue to grow your business. 

Have questions? Send them to marketing@indigenoustourismalberta.ca and we’ll get back to you as soon as we can.