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A re-imagined Nanaimo Tourism agency focuses on destination marketing

NEWS RELEASE - Distributed April 26, 2022 3:30 PM

Summary

The City of Nanaimo has established a new tourism body to attract visitors. Officially incorporated and ready to launch with a first board meeting in mid-May, the Tourism Nanaimo Society (Tourism Nanaimo) is a non-profit marketing and management organization that works with industry stakeholders, governments and others to develop and market Nanaimo as a destination for visitors.

At the April 25, 2022 Nanaimo City Council meeting, Tourism Nanaimo’s Interim Executive Director Jenn Houtby-Ferguson presented the findings of preliminary market research and an overview of Nanaimo’s strengths as a tourist destination.

Later in the same meeting, the Nanaimo Hospitality Association (NHA) presented their findings to Council on hotel bookings and the campaigns they used to attract visitors. A final presentation from consultant Jacquelyn Novak outlined a sports tourism strategy for Council endorsement.

Together, the three presentations showed the collaboration that underpins the future of tourism marketing and promotion in Nanaimo.
With Council’s endorsement of the Sports Tourism Strategy, the City, NHA and Tourism Nanaimo will work closely together to implement the plan to attract visitors to Nanaimo for tournaments and related events.

Link to Strategic Plan: Tourism is a strong economic driver for The City of Nanaimo, and support's Council's commitment to prioritizing Economic Health.

Key Points

  • The new Tourism Nanaimo Society is led by a Board of Directors comprised of fifteen voting directors representing various key government and public sector stakeholders and industry representatives.
  • Tourism Nanaimo is now officially incorporated with an inaugural meeting set for mid-May.
  • The City of Nanaimo provided Tourism Nanaimo with $711,000 in funding this year. Funding is ongoing and will be supplemented with grants from other government agencies.
  • Working closely with the Nanaimo Hospitality Association, Tourism Nanaimo will help market the City as a destination for meetings, conventions and sports tourism.

Quotes

"The launch of Tourism Nanaimo is right in line with the vision people put forward through REIMAGINE NANAIMO. This new agency is built through collaboration among community partners to show that Nanaimo is a premier tourist destination with numerous and unique attractions.

Tourism Nanaimo has the right leadership, funding and mandate to really put us on the map in a way that celebrates our unique story and the wonderful, natural and social amenities we have to offer."

Leonard Krog
Mayor
City of Nanaimo

Quick Facts

  • When the Nanaimo Economic Development Corporation dissolved in 2017, Tourism Vancouver Island (TVI) took up its promotional work. In December 2020, TVI announced they would no longer provide destination marketing service to Nanaimo.
  • The City of Nanaimo reviewed options for creating a resilient, effective approach to tourism and invited community partners to participate, resulting in the new Tourism Nanaimo Society.
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Contact:

For media enquiries, please contact
Communications
City of Nanaimo
250-754-4251

Print News Release

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