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Projects
Haida Gwaii Destination Marketing
Haida Gwaii Destination Marketing Project Feb 2010
The overall Haida Gwaii Destination Marketing Project was undertaken by MIEDS following its participation in the Community Tourism Foundation – Community Tourism Planning process and MIEDS’ agreement to act as the central tourism coordination group for Haida Gwaii. The Destination Marketing Project promotes Haida Gwaii as a premium travel destination to the world through multiple avenues, as identified by the Haida Gwaii Community Tourism Plan.
The Destination Marketing Project included the destination marketing venue 'Haida Gwaii House' at 783 Beatty Street, Vancouver throughout the Olympics in February 2010, the official launch of GoHaidaGwaii.ca, development and distribution of promotional material for Haida Gwaii as well as intensive media exposure in 2009 and throughout the Olympics. See the photos of this event (http://www.mieds.ca/photo-gallery/haida-arts-and-culture/)
Haida Gwaii House
In partnership with Skidegate Band Council, Old Massett Economic Development, Gwaii Haanas Park Reserve, Haida Heritage Centre , and the Queen Charlotte Visitor Centre, MIEDS hosted a destination marketing venue from February 11th – 28th in downtown Vancouver across from BC Place Stadium on Beatty Street. The project featured a contemporary longhouse-style venue, the website launch of GoHaidaGwaii.ca, local ambassadors from Haida Gwaii promoting the Islands to visitors in Vancouver during the Olympics and an intensive media advertising campaign throughout 2009 leading up to and including the Olympics.
Haida Gwaii House featured an 11’ pole by Tim Boyko, a transformation mask by Reg Davidson, a 5’ white raven statue by Jim Hart, a Frog Box (Forton and red cedar) by Don Yeomans, a silk shawl with killer whale design by Dorothy Grant, killer whale and totem prints by April White, photos by various photographers, paddles by Jaalen Edenshaw, a 60” HD TV with looped footage of Haida Gwaii, 2 - 40” HD TVs flipping photography of the Islands, a traditional longhouse façade by Arthur Pearson, and massive cedar pedestals by Mark Yaroshuck.
The opening of Haida Gwaii House consisted of almost an hour of powerful Haida drumming and singing to a crowd of over 60 people. The venue was open for over 18 days, staffed by approximately 20 Haida Gwaii ambassadors.
We enjoyed sharing the experience with over 15,000 people who stopped to smell the cedar, gazed in awe of the cultural and natural beauty, and listened intently while our ambassadors described Haida Gwaii from their own personal perspective.
Website 
A primary focus of the Destination Marketing Project was the launch of the GoHaidaGwaii.ca website on February 11th. This followed an intensive period of web development by Spark Design and content creation by MIEDS staff.
We had the advantage of being able to utilize the previous research conducted by the Haida Gwaii Tourism Association and the excellent Destination Haida Gwaii branding work from the Skidegate Band Council. These enabled us to establish the creation of a world-class travel destination website.
GoHaidaGwaii.ca welcomes visitors with inspiring imagery on our flash animation banner featuring the Southeast Wind design of Robert Davidson, enticing descriptions of the Islands, and a wealth of detailed information on services and adventures to be experienced.
A popular component of the website launch, was the draw for 3 very different and exciting experiences on Haida Gwaii. These included a 6 day Haida Gwaii tour for 2 - with airfare from Vancouver. This package included accommodations at local B&Bs and several trips with local tour operators; an all-expense paid fishing trip for two with Langara Fishing Adventures and a 10 day Gwaii Haanas tour with Bluewater Adventures for one person.
Media and Promotion
To maximize the exposure of Haida Gwaii House, GoHaidaGwaii.ca, and Haida Gwaii as a destination vacation, MIEDS developed promotional material for distribution. Our flagship promotional item is the full color die-cut bookmark featuring the Haida canoe, Loo Taas, carved by Bill Reid . The bookmark was intended to act as our “lure brochure” for both Haida Gwaii House and the GoHaidaGwaii website. These bookmarks were distributed by the ambassadors on the street as well as through 6 cross promotional arrangements with other venues and associated businesses in Vancouver and Whistler. Over 40,000 bookmarks were distributed in this manner.
Other promotional items provided to the public, included Haida Gwaii logo pens; Haida Gwaii logo (2GB) USB flash drives (featuring imagery of Haida Gwaii) provided to the more serious visitors and Haida Gwaii logos imprinted on umbrellas and 'Stormtech' jackets for the ambassadors' use in achieving broad exposure of the Haida Gwaii brand on the street. MIEDS offered brochure racking (including the 2009 Guide to Haida Gwaii) to local Haida Gwaii tourism businesses to provide as much direct local benefit as possible.
We were able to capitalize on the vast array of media attention throughout the Olympics. These included Haida Gwaii releases to the various media /images/uploads/20100209 Haida Gwaii House Grand Opening Media Release.pdf; an article in the February 6th Vancouver Sun on the Haida Gwaii House /images/uploads/Vancouver Sun Article on Haida Gwaii House Feb 6 10.pdf, a half page advertisement in the three special Sunday Olympic editions of the Globe and Mail /images/uploads/20100214 Globe and Mail BC Regional Misty Isles pg14.pdf , an interview on CBC Radio - Day Break North, an interview with a local Vancouver TV station, and Olympic “things to do” on citycaucus.com, Vancouver Sun, and Tourism BC.
2008/2009 Media Promotions
Following are a compilation of MIEDS' promotional advertisments for Haida Gwaii in the 2008/2009 fiscal period:
/images/uploads/NBCTA_VanSunHaidaGwaiiApril21.pdf
/images/uploads/VancouverProvinceApril19CherylMacKinnon.pdf
/images/uploads/VancouverSunApril 28PrinceRupert.PDF
/images/uploads/VancouverSunApril18CherylMacKinnon.pdf
/images/uploads/VancouverSunApril21HaidaGwaii.PDF
/images/uploads/VancouverSunMay5Smithers.pdf
/images/uploads/VancouverSunMay12PrinceGeorge.PDF
Looking Forward and Measuring Success
Future initiatives for the Haida Gwaii Destination Marketing Project include additional media promotion of Haida Gwaii, further website development including a web-based trip-planning and reservation tool, racking of the Haida Gwaii bookmarks on BC Ferries major routes and at Visitor Centres across the province. MIEDS is developing a follow up procedure to work with local visitor centers and tourism providers in tracking how visitors decided upon Haida Gwaii as a destination vacation. This data will assist us in determining the most successful approaches in our Destination Marketing Project initiatives.
The Haida Gwaii Tourism Advisory Committee is committed to developing tourism opportunities in Haida Gwaii. Funding will need to be secured for its future operations.
Our research has shown that in 55 communities in BC, the Destination Marketing Organizations' (DMOs) base operations are partially funded through the 2% Additional Hotel Room Tax (AHRT) program. Other funding options include Tourism BC’s 'Community Matching Grant' and Gwaii Trust Society’s 'Culture as it Relates to Tourism' program. These funding sources will assist with projects undertaken by the DMO but not the base operations. Currently the tourism operations of the Haida Gwaii TAC do not have core funding.
In addiiton, we are exploring funding from The Resort Municipality Tax Transfer Program, however the Additional Hotel Room Tax is a prerequisite to accessing this funding source.
In partnership with the Haida Gwaii Tourism Advisory Committee, MIEDS is exploring the potential for ongoing Tourism funding through the Resort Region Tax Transfer program and the Additional Hotel Room Tax program. Please read our summary of the Additional Hotel Room Tax and the Draft Business Plan
MIEDS continues to work with the Haida Gwaii Tourism Advisory Committee and Northern BC Tourism in determining priority areas of focus.
