When business development specialist Viktoria Csanicz joined Attractions Victoria last year she found herself with a challenge she was excited to take on: reinvigorate a beloved but tired brand. Barely six months in, she’s already striking new partnerships and creating fresh engagement strategies for the non-profit tourism organization.
Attractions Victoria is best known for its popular Be A Tourist in Your Own Home Town program, one of the city’s oldest and most loved local events, as well as producing the Official Destination Map of Victoria.
Be A Tourist, or BAT as it’s nicknamed by locals, takes place during the last week of February each year. Registering participants for the event has been a welcome opportunity for Csanicz to meet the wide variety of businesses in town, some of which cater to tourists but aren’t necessarily thought of as a tourist organization – like Lululemon, with whom Csanicz is working to create a Sweat Map as part of BAT this year. “The Sweat Map connects all those fitness facilities in the downtown core that offer different opportunities to get hot while working out. It’s a fun way for people to try them. We’re looking for creative collaborations that aren’t necessarily obvious, but once we come up with an idea, are actually perfectly suited to BAT.”
Csanicz is also on a membership drive for the organization. She says the benefit of joining Attractions Victoria is the access member businesses receive to visitor data and behavior as well as to the marketing expertise and exposure the organization and event has to offer.
“We’ve launched a new visual identity and a new website, which features our brand-new itinerary builder. It guides BAT wristband holders in creating their custom itinerary, which can be emailed to them, or saved to their devices. This makes the experience that much more organized, and easy to navigate, compared to previous years where it was sometimes hard to find accurate information about the participating venues.”
Csanicz is not only looking to attract new businesses to both the organization and the event, she’s also working with current members on innovating their own offerings or experiences for BAT. She welcomes ideas and suggestions for improvement.
Be A Tourist takes place February 27 – March 2 this year. Wristbands are $16 each, with a dollar from each donated to the Victoria Hospitals Foundation. Attractions Victoria celebrates the event with a Launch Party for participating businesses at Vancouver Island Brewery on February 20.
Csanicz says there’s still time to be part of Be A Tourist. “We invite all businesses, from attractions to restaurants to transportation providers and retail outlets to join. More information is available on the Attractions Victoria website under ‘business benefits’ and you can also send an email to bat@attractionsvictoria.com and we will take it from there. We will help you come up with a viable offer that makes sense to your business goals, making sure it fits your business profile.”
View the new BAT website at www.beatourist.ca.
This sponsored content is from January, 2020.
