Bay of Quinte Regional Marketing Board - Year End Report 2021-22

FISCAL YEAR REPORT APRIL 2021—MARCH 2022

The Bay of Quinte Regional Marketing Board is committed to acknowledging, appreciating and understanding Indigenous peoples’ historic connection to this land and to raising awareness by building relationships in collaboration with Indigenous partners and communities.

We recognize and acknowledge that we are living and working on the traditional territory of the Wendat, Mississauga, Anishinaabeg and Haudenosaunee, which includes the Kenhtè:ke Kanyen'kehá:ka (Mohawks of the Bay of Quinte), with whom we work in partnership.

This partnership focuses on the common goal of celebrating the region with the Kenhtè:ke Kanyen'kehá:ka, who are equal partners within the organization and at the Board of Directors table contributing to the mandate and operations.

This mandate includes listening to, learning from and collaborating with the Kenhtè:ke Kanyen'kehá:ka and actively incorporating their culture and heritage into the practice of responsible destination marketing and management of the region.

We understand that this land acknowledgement is only a small step towards the larger process of reparations and reconciliation.

THIS IS OUR YEAR SITTIN’ ON THE DOCK OF THE BAY

Our organization continues to develop and grow and 2021-22 was no exception, even as we straddled a world that bounced in and out of continued pandemic restrictions. We are strengthened by Greater Napanee’s decision to become a member of our partnership this year under a multi-year agreement. Napanee’s strong downtown, rural, culinary, Like aofferings brisk wintertime skate, the 8thside edition of marketing our Bay of region Quinteon Discovery Guide takes and activity act to anchor the east of our the north you increase on a funour adventure aroundas the region. We hope its pages are a source of learning with shore and attractiveness a destination. a little bit of laughter sprinkled in—we’re a bunch of pun-lovin’ folks. Take some time to flip itsto pages from your own favourite sitting spot. If anything piques interest along We continue see tourism growth in overnight occupancy, up 3.5% from theyour previous the8% way, free to reach the BoQ (that’s us below).

We are happy year, and andfeel 10% higher thanout the to Ontario andTeam Canadian averages respectively.

This to help you inactivity the right direction and $300 get you frontin row seatsspending just like these! kind ofpoint overnight is worth almost million visitor to the region. We also saw great growth on the residential side, with the 2021 Census showing the collective Bay of Quinte communities as having grown 5.95% since 2016 – also Photograph by Garrett Harvey higher than provincial and national averages. It’s no wonder big names like MacLean’s Magazine, UHaul and MoneySense have Bay of Quinte municipalities at the top of their lists of the best places to live in all of Canada.

Digital Marketing

ANNA FRAIBERG Manages day-to-day communications, including Digital social media, Marketing blogs, digital

ANNA FRAIBERG

advertising, newsletters and press releases.

Leads content strategy, consistency and the voice of BoQ

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Executive Director

DUG STEVENSON Executive Director

Directs and maintains the business plan and strategy, overall operations and budget, Board of Directors and partner relationships

DUG STEVENSON

END REPORT We’re humbled by award nominations and victories related to our marketing from provincial tourism and economic development associations. But we’re even more proud of the destination marketing and development role our Team and partnership have been able to play at a regional level. This year, we’ve reinvested over $200,000 into the regional economy supporting dozens of small businesses and our partners through multiple programs and achieved Return on Investment growth for the partnership in the millions of dollars.

We’re thankful to all those who are involved in our partnerships with Belleville, Brighton, Mohawks of the Bay of Quinte, Napanee, Quinte Home Builders Association and Quinte West for their continued investment in this regional partnership. Working in collaboration with Councillors, staff, and small businesses from these communities and organizations, we’re able to thrive as a region and we look forward to continued growth and success working together.

Media & Design

Destination Development

TREVOR NORRIS JEN ACHILLES Manages travel trade, sport tourism and meeting planning, experiential tourism, as well Manages all BoQ design and brand touch Media & Design as product support and sales for BoQ products, points online and offline, including websites, Development including screens, kiosks, map and Discovery guide, map, handbook and other Destination JENexperience ACHILLES visuals, along with the earned media portfolio

Guide TREVOR NORRIS

& Patrick & Patrick too! too!

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PARTNERSHIP & THE BOARD CITY OF BELLEVILLE

CITY OF QUINTE WEST

MOHAWKS OF THE BAY OF QUINTE

SEAN KELLY - VICE CHAIR

AL DEWITT - CHAIR

JOSH HILL

MUNICIPALITY OF BRIGHTON

QUINTE HOME BUILDERS’ ASSOCIATION

TOWN OF GREATER NAPANEE

LAURA KNEGT

TONY ENGELSDORFER

ELLEN JOHNSON

AT-LARGE ACCOMMODATIONS

AT-LARGE

BLAIR GAMBLE

JP LEMIEUX

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THE YEAR’S HIGHLIGHTS

FUNDING BREAKDOWN

REINVESTMENT & RETURN ON INVESTMENT

PROJECTS AND TACTICS

MARKETING CAMPAIGNS

MARKETING GRANTS

BIA MARKETING PROGRAM

WEBSITES AND NEWSLETTERS

20 22 24 25 26 27 28 29 BLOGS

SOCIAL MEDIA

PAID & EARNED MEDIA

ADDITIONAL MARKETING OUTLETS

DISCOVERY GUIDE

PHOTOGRAPHY & VIDEO

DIGITAL DISCOVERY MAP

INDUSTRY

TABLE OF CONTENTS

06 08 10 12 14 16 17 18

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HIGHLIGHTS 2021 CBRE National Hotel Data shows BoQ region’s 52.6% occupancy higher than SE Ontario, provincial and national averages (3.5% increase) Over $295 Million in estimated overnight tourism spending (13% increase) 2021 Quinte District Association of Realtors shows 25% total residential sales increase 2021 Census data shows BoQ region’s 5.95% growth is higher than provincial and national average $200,368 reinvested into our partner communities to support increased marketing (22% of total budget) MacLean’s Magazine names all BoQ municipalities within the top 280 of their top 415, with Belleville ranking #4 Moneysense names Quinte the #7 place to buy real estate in Canada Belleville ranks 2nd on U-Haul’s top growth cities in Canada $107,000 booked in golf and accommodations through Golf in Ontario program Full implementation of our Brand 2.0 strategy, including Discovery Guide, 401 signage, newsletter, and other marketing visuals across the region TIAO Tourism Award nomination in their Innovation category for our BoQ Marketing Grants program EDCO Award in Community Sustainability for our BoQ Marketing Grants program BoQ Marketing Grants awarded over $100,000 to more than 50 projects BIA marketing fund for Brighton, Quinte West, Belleville and Napanee provided over $50,000 to strengthen downtown marketing and education Phase 1 Experiential Tourism project with Celes Davar developing one experience per partner community Inaugural Best of the Bay campaign celebrated local businesses with over 2,000 votes across more than 70 tourism categories 6

Videos produced for Brighton, Quinte West and Napanee BIAs, Rowing Worlds, Quinte West Pop-Ups, and aerial video collection Video and photography of over 50 locations across the region on behalf of the partnership and stakeholders LGBT+ Strategy phase 1 completion 16 paid media stories with over 1.9 million impressions 10 travel media collaborations Over 5 million marketing campaign impressions Over $2.13 million in estimated spending linked to BoQ digital marketing Over 457,000 website visits Over 60,000 digital followers & subscribers across platforms Summer 2021 hotel occupancy saw over 2% growth vs 2019 pre-pandemic results Addition of Greater Napanee as a partner community

RECOGNITION •EDCO Award of Excellence in the Innovation in Community Resiliency category for our BoQ Marketing Grants Program (Urban over 100K population)

• Finalist in the Tourism Industry Association of Ontario Tourism Resiliency Awards in the Innovation category for our BoQ Marketing Grants Program

• Quinte Arts Council Arts Recognition Award for our contribution to the arts across the region 7

FUNDING

APRIL 2021 MARCH 2022

$918,553 TOTAL CITY OF BELLEVILLE MAT $464,395 FEDERAL FUNDING $127,785 CITY OF QUINTE WEST MAT $104,918 CITY OF BELLEVILLE PER CAPITA $78,609 CITY OF QUINTE WEST PER CAPITA $67,544 TOWN OF GREATER NAPANEE PER CAPITA $24,632 IN-HOUSE SALES $23,400 MUNICIPALITY OF BRIGHTON PER CAPITA $18,358 QUINTE HOME BUILDERS’ ASSOCIATION $5,000 MOHAWKS OF THE BAY OF QUINTE PER CAPITA $3,912

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• MAT = Municipal Accommodation Tax - Provincial legislation states that MAT funds must be used for tourism purposes only - BoQ RMB receives 50% of MAT funds from the communities of Belleville and Quinte West • Per Capita = $1.55 per resident in each partner community - Per capita funds allow us to continue to fulfill our resident attraction mandate

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MEASURABLE

RETURN ON INVESTMENT Over $295 million in total estimated overnight spending Over 5 million campaign impressions Over 5,300 referrals to partner/ small business websites (+83%) Over 21,900 physical entries to conversion zones (+166%) Over $2.13 million in estimated spending from BoQ RMB digital marketing campaigns (+152%) $107,000 in golf package bookings $200,368 direct investment in BoQ partner communities

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direct

BoQ investment Marketing and event funding to City initiatives $57,550 22 Marketing Grants awarded to Belleville businesses $40,100 BIA marketing program $38,309 Marketing support to Discover Belleville Guide $10,000 TOTAL DIRECT BoQ RMB reinvestments (32%)

$145,959

Funding for 2024 Soccer Canada Nationals 13 Marketing Grants awarded to QW businesses BIA marketing program Print ad support

$5,000 $20,675 $8,800 $500

TOTAL DIRECT BoQ RMB reinvestments (19%)

$34,975

5 Marketing Grants awarded to Brighton businesses BIA marketing program Municipal marketing support

$7,000 $1,000 $2,900

TOTAL DIRECT BoQ RMB reinvestments (59%)

$10,900

4 Marketing Grants awarded to Napanee organizations $5,000 BIA marketing program $1,000 TOTAL DIRECT BoQ RMB reinvestments (24%)

$6,000

1 Marketing Grant awarded to a MBQ business Video for MBQ stakeholders

$500 $2,034

TOTAL DIRECT BoQ RMB investments (65%)

$2,534

TOTAL REINVESTMENT TO PARTNERS $200,368 (22% of total budget) 11

(ESTIMATED MONTHLY AUDIENCE OVER 2 MILLION)

PROGRAMMATIC ADVERTISING DISCOVERY GUIDE BAYOFQUINTE.CA BAYOFQUINTE.CA/TOURISM BAYOFQUINTE.CA/LIVING BAYOFQUINTE.CA/JOBS IMMIGRATION.BAYOFQUINTE.CA INDUSTRY NEWSLETTER CONSUMER NEWSLETTER FACEBOOK INSTAGRAM TWITTER YOUTUBE PINTEREST LINKEDIN TRIPADVISOR BoQ MERCHANDISE 12

TOURISM & LIVING BLOGS PAID MEDIA EARNED MEDIA GOOGLE ADWORDS BoQ TV DIGITAL DISCOVERY MAP RADIO OVERNIGHT PACKAGES 401 SIGNAGE WORKSHOPS EXPERIENCE FACILITATION SPORTS/EVENTS TOURISM GOLF IN ONTARIO TRAVEL TRADE PHOTOGRAPHY & VIDEO BoQ MARKETING GRANTS DIGITAL KIOSKS BIA MARKETING & SUPPORT PROGRAM BILLBOARDS & OUT OF HOME 13

MARKETING

(OVER 5 MILLION TOTAL IMPRESSIONS ACROSS CAMPAIGNS)

Take A Drive campaign was our “always on” campaign • Over 3.99 million impressions (29% growth) • Over $2.13 million in estimated spending from BoQ digital marketing campaigns (152% growth) • Over 5,300 referrals to other business sites in (83% growth) • 21,900 entries into conversion zones as a result of ad impressions (166% growth)

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CAMPAIGNS FALL CAMPAIGN

Incentivized travel campaign with $1,000 vacation giveaway was targeted to Kingston and Ottawa markets to help drive fall overnight travel to the region.

• Overnight occupancy up over 8% during the campaign period •Tactics: digital, radio and podcast • 4 radio stations • Digital targeted Rogers’ Family Channel Networks • Over 1.1 million digital impressions • Over 182,000 podcast listens

BEST OF THE BAY Created to drive awareness and recognition of the hard-working businesses that were suffering during COVID-19 lockdowns, Best of the Bay celebrates our Bay of Quinte businesses.

Residents voted for their favourite local businesses in the tourism industry across more than 75 categories under the headings of Food + Drink, Accommodations, Shop or Service, Regionscape, and Art + Culture.

• Over 2,000 entries • Over 75 winners Voting incentive contest gave away $1,000 in local gift cards to winning locations

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The Bay of Quinte marketing grants provide 100% funding to organizations within the partner communities for the purposes of marketing. Organizations must apply and are evaluated by a team consisting of partnership staff. Successful organizations work in collaboration with staff from BoQ RMB and their partner community to develop and implement their project so there is full support and collaboration to foster success.

TWO INTAKES: Spring 2021 •$54,275 awarded •35 grants projects

Winter 2022 •$52,730 awarded •30 grant projects

Belleville = $40,100 awarded across 22 projects Brighton = $9,500 awarded for 6 projects Mohawks of the BoQ = $7,000 awarded across 4 projects Napanee = $11,100 awarded across 8 projects Quinte West = $39,305 awarded across 25 projects 16

BIA Marketing and Support Program provides up to 10% of Municipal Accommodation Tax funds received from partner communities to create new and enhanced marketing initiatives for their respective downtown BIAs, as well as support for education in marketing Belleville: Over $38,000 provided to the Downtown District • projects included, omni channel marketing, including programmatic, paid search and paid social media, campaign development, creative development, event activations and blog content Quinte West: Over $8,000 in financial support provided to the Downtown Trenton BIA • projects included seasonal photography, video, marketing campaign development and implementation, creative development, editorial calendar creation and multi-part marketing workshop for staff Non-MAT communities: Over $2,000 provided to Brighton and Napanee BIAs • funds supported photography, content development, marketing workshops and social media 17

THE WEBSITES (OVER 457,000 TOTAL TRAFFIC = 2.2% GROWTH FROM LAST YEAR)

bayofquinte.ca A parent landing site used to help raise brand awareness and acts as a conduit to our partnerships, current campaigns, experiences, stories and marketing assets.

bayofquinte.ca/tourism Provides a TOURISM resource for all of those interested in visiting the region.

It also serves as a support and storytelling mechanism for our partners and stakeholders.

bayofquinte.ca/living Provides a LIVING resource for all of those interested in living in the region.

It also serves as a support mechanism for our partners and stakeholders, telling stories of faces, places and spaces in BoQ.

bayofquinte.ca/jobs A marketing tool that shows attractive, high paying jobs in our region, in an attempt to attract new residents to move here and fill those positions.

immigration.bayofquinte.ca

WELCOME PORTAL

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Content and resources for new Canadians who might be considering a life in the Bay of Quinte.

NEWSLETTERS (OVER 7000 NEW SUBSCRIBERS = +200% GROWTH FROM LAST YEAR)

Consumer

Industry

Communicates new content, promotions, events and other noteworthy updates for visitors.

Communicates funding, education opportunities and other business related content.

• Over 11,000 subscribers • 42 newsletters sent • over 32,000 opens • averaged 24% open rate* • averaged 5% click rate* *above industry average

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THE BLOGS (WEEKLY CONTENT TELLING STORIES ABOUT THE BoQ)

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TOURISM

QUINTE WEST

LIVING

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SOCIAL MEDIA (WEEKLY COMMUNICATION TO OUR NETWORK UP 5% WITH OVER 53,000 FOLLOWERS)

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29,400+ FOLLOWERS 11,300+ FOLLOWERS 9,400+ FOLLOWERS 300+ FOLLOWERS 300+ FOLLOWERS 19 FOLLOWERS 10,600+ TOURISM 1,800+ INDUSTRY 23

• 4 seasonal stories on Post Media: total ad impressions = over 729,000 with CTR at 2% • Monthly content on InQuinte: ad impressions = over 1.25 million

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• 5 part influencer video series featuring BoQ communities • Earned media partnership with RTO9 yielded over 10 million impressions across 30 media outlets • 5 travel media collaborations yielded over 100,000 audience impressions

ADDITIONAL OUTLETS

(MULTI-SENSORY MARKETING AND MESSAGING THROUGHOUT THE REGION)

BoQTV

(4 HIGH TRAFFIC LOCATIONS IN PRINCE EDWARD COUNTY ALONG HIGHWAY 62)

RADIO •Weekly local radio call-ins from May to September

CALENDAR OF EVENTS LISTINGS

•Campaign specific out of market radio during the shoulderseasons

(9 STRATEGICALLY LOCATED TV’S PLAYING SEASONAL LOOPED MESSAGING)

BUS SHELTERS

(2 BELLEVILLE LOCATIONS AT SIDNEY & BRIDGE ST)

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DISCOVERY GUIDE BAY OF QUINTE DISCOVERY GUIDE / 8TH EDITION

• 30,000 printed and distributed across the province in collaboration with Ontario Visitor Services Centres and Post Media • Focus on Southeastern Ontario and locally in the Bay of Quinte region • 250 hardcovers for media and influencers

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(OVER 50 LOCATIONS CAPTURED ACROSS THE REGION FOR PARTNER USE)

VIDEO

PHOTOGRAPHY &

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DIGITAL DISCOVERY MAP

EXPLORE OVER 700 TOURISM BUSINESSES TO HELP PLAN YOUR BoQ TRIP!

Available on desktop and mobile at bayofquinte.ca/explore • 12 tourism-related categories • TripAdvisor ratings built in to help drive exploration • Filter by category and/or location

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Listing information automatically pulls from Google My Business • Discover business information, location, hours of operation and read user reviews • Create and email yourself custom travel itineraries and maps in three easy steps

INDUSTRY •Stay & Play Golf Packages with the Golf in Ontario program resulted in over $100,000 (+96% increase over last year) in combined golf and accommodations revenue and generated over $167,000 in estimated economic activity •Spring virtual travel trade mission with Quebec (Destination Ontario partnership) resulted in: – 3x3-day package for approx 40 people through Groupe Voyages – Over 350 room nights and over $100,000 in economic activity – Expected as a recurring package in 2023 and beyond •Experience development project in collaboration with Canada’s leading experiential tourism consultant, Celes Davar, resulted in the development of 5 new experiences — one in each partner community.

– Brighton - LegenDairy (Tin Roof Dairy Bar) – Quinte West - Out of the Orchard and Into the Fire (Grills Orchards – Belleville - Toymaker Time Machine (Glanmore NHS) – Mohawks of the BoQ - Reconnecting — One Seed at a Time (Kenhte:ke Seed Sanctuary) – Napanee - Field to Vase (Wynn Farms) 29