Destination BC Media Visit Helps Big White Turn a Feature Story into Australian Bookings
A single feature story can do a lot of work. In early August, Traveller, one of the largest travel titles in Australia, published a glowing feature on Big White Ski Resort by ski writer Jim Darby. Within days, the resort was fielding a wave of interest from Australian travellers, and bookings started to climb.
The story came out of a media visit hosted by Destination BC, one example of the ongoing travel media work Destination BC does with partners across the province to put British Columbia in front of the right travellers, in the right markets, at the right time of year.
How the Big White media visit came together
Earlier this year, Destination BC hosted Jim Darby, a ski writer for Traveller (part of the Nine network), on a media FAM (familiarization) visit through three of the best-known ski destinations in British Columbia: Whistler, Revelstoke and Big White. A media FAM is a hosted visit that gives a journalist first-hand experience of a destination so they can write about it from real experience.
Destination BC’s Australia in-market team coordinated the visit, arranging flights, ground transportation and itinerary logistics across all three resorts, with support from the Market Development team. At each stop, the resorts hosted the on-mountain experience, so the writer could see first-hand what makes each destination distinct. At Big White, that meant guided time on the mountain and a close look at the family-run resort.
The visit is a good example of how Destination BC and industry partners work together in this space: Destination BC opens the door and coordinates the visit, and partners like Big White bring the destination to life on the ground, all working toward a shared goal of raising awareness of skiing in British Columbia among Australian travellers.
The result: a feature in one of Australia’s top travel titles
Jim Darby’s feature, “If you wanted to create the ultimate ski resort, this place would be the template,” ran in the Saturday travel sections in Sydney and Melbourne and online at traveller.com.au. The feature paints Big White as a template for the ideal snow holiday, highlighting its reliable natural snowfall, ski-in and ski-out village, family-run businesses and easy access from Kelowna.
Feature stories like this are exactly the kind of coverage the visit set out to earn, and they carry the trusted, third-party voice that advertising cannot buy.
Bookings from Australia are climbing
For Big White, the impact was almost immediate. Within days of publication, an onslaught of new bookings rolled in:
“I’m happy to share that we’re seeing a spike in bookings. Over the weekend, our direct booking team received 16 requests for quotes and confirmed 7 online bookings from Australia. I’m sure the other accommodators and Airbnb hosts are also seeing a boost. I’m amazed at how many people have reached out over the last few days.”
-Michael J. Ballingall, Senior Vice President, Big White Ski Resort
Why travel media matters for BC tourism
Travel media coverage is earned media, generated through genuine editorial interest rather than paid advertising. Research consistently shows that travellers place a high level of trust in editorial stories and first-hand accounts, which makes earned media one of the most cost-effective ways to influence travel decisions. Strong coverage in a respected outlet often reaches audiences that would be far more expensive to reach through advertising alone.
Earned coverage also has a longer life than a single campaign. A well-placed feature keeps working long after it is published, shaping how a destination shows up in search results, in AI-generated answers, and in the minds of travellers planning their next trip.
How this connects to the Destination BC Corporate Strategy
This kind of work maps directly to Destination BC’ strategic approach, and its two central goals: to grow tourism in all parts of British Columbia during peak and off-peak seasons, and to increase the benefits people living in the province receive from tourism.
The Big White media visit supports both goals:
- Growing travel in off-peak seasons. Australia is the second-largest overseas market by visitation and spending, with a strong winter ski peak that helps fill the shoulder and off-peak months for communities across the province.
- Spreading benefits to communities. The bookings flowing to Big White support locally owned, family-run businesses and accommodators on the mountain, a direct example of tourism benefiting the people who live and work there.
- Uniting the tourism sector. The visit brought together Destination BC teams and resort partners around a shared marketing goal, reflecting the strategy’s focus on working together for shared success.
How Destination BC supports industry partners
Hosting travel media is one of the many ways Destination BC helps tourism businesses and communities reach travellers they could not easily reach on their own. Working with regional and in-market teams, Destination BC:
- Cultivates relationships with journalists, editors, broadcasters, and content creators in priority markets
- Hosts media on individual and group visits that showcase experiences across the province
- Supports industry-led visits through the North America Visiting Journalist Program
- Develops story ideas and provides images, contacts, and on-the-ground support
If you are a tourism business or destination interested in working with travel media, connect with your regional media relations representative or explore the Destination BC Travel Media program to learn how to get involved.
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