Frequently Asked Questions

• The Invest in Iconics Strategy is a visitor dispersion strategy aimed at encouraging travelers to visit extraordinary places around BC beyond the more mature tourism destinations, and encourage travelers to visit the mature destinations in Spring, Fall, and Winter.
• In doing so, the strategy aims to sustainably increase tourism revenue throughout British Columbia for the benefit of all British Columbians.

Beginning in Fall 2019, Destination BC undertook the following discovery work to develop the strategy.

• Reviewed global best practices and case studies of other jurisdictions who faced similar challenges.
• Reviewed BC’s 19 Destination Development Plans.
• Reviewed existing consumer travel patterns (revenue and visitation)
• Undertook consumer research to understand traveler interests and current perceptions of British Columbia.
• Undertook various competitive destination reviews to understand the opportunity to differentiate BC from its competition.

At the core of destination development work, are BC’s Destination Development plans. These 19 Destination Development planning area strategies form the foundation of on-the-ground destination enhancement work, and guide activities to support existing and future revenue potential for all parts of the province. These plans were developed between 2016-19 through a process of engagement with 1,776 of tourism industry stakeholders.

The final Iconic route and place brands have been finalized and will be launching in Waves. Please refer to the Timeline to see when each brand will launch.

These are working titles only and boundaries are provisional.

The Invest in Iconics Strategy is focused on creating globally compelling brands for routes and places to elevate them to compete on the world stage. The development of these place brands will go hand-in-hand with Destination Development activities, to ensure that the emotional promise of our branding is delivered by on-the-ground experiences when visitors arrive and travel in BC. Place branding is about taking BC’s extraordinary routes and places and making them more famous and more globally compelling than they are now.

We have identified a small number of potential routes and places that, in total, cover the entire province. With consistent, collective investment in Place Branding and Destination Development over the next several years, each has the potential to compete on a global stage.

The Invest in Iconics team is working in partnership with Indigenous Tourism BC (ITBC), the Ministry of Tourism, Arts, Culture and Sport, and Regional Destination Marketing Organizations to support existing Destination Development strategies that pull together planning, policy, and capacity building efforts. Our partnership with ITBC is of particular significance to this Strategy, as Indigenous culture, language, and stories are fundamental to its success. We are working closely with ITBC on the planning and implementation of this Strategy, to ensure all of our activities include, respect, and are more compelling because they are guided by Indigenous perspectives.

We are working with the Ministry of Tourism, Arts, Culture and Sport and other ministries to discuss other funding sources that may be used to help implement the Invest in Iconics Strategy and related destination development efforts.

For example, there may be resources in the future for supporting projects that elevate the Iconic routes and places in a similar way that Destination Development was identified as priority criteria for over $100 million in economic development funding from the federal and provincial government over the last few years.

This means that there is currently no funding reserved specifically to support this Strategy, other than from Destination BC’s annual budgets.