[ Parks Canada launches new campaign, price freeze ]
May 13, 2009 | By Kristin Laird | Comments
Parks Canada has launched a national advertising campaign to promote the country’s parks and historic sites, and to announce a two-year admission freeze.
The plan is to attract visitors during the recession, and to entice cash-strapped residents to spend their tourism dollars here at home, said Andrew Campbell, director general of external relations and visitor experience, Parks Canada.
“As a piece of economic stimulus we’re a big player in the tourism market and we felt that—with the number of Canadians essentially doing ‘staycations’ for the summer—that every little bit helps and every dollar counts,” he said.
For individuals, the 2008 rates will stay in place until April 1, 2011. For the travel trade, the 2009 rates now in effect will be frozen until April 1, 2012.
The fee freeze was unveiled ahead of the new ad campaign, which encourages Canadians to plan vacations around visiting parks and sites.
The campaign, which was developed by HBS Marketing, also focuses on educating the public about recent additions to the parks network and expansions of existing parks.
The 30-second spot features picturesque shots of national parks including Jasper, Pacific Rim National Park Reserve and Prince Edward Island National Park.
A voiceover asks: “Who owns this view? Who does this moment belong to? Whose discovery is this?” And answers: “It’s for everyone of us. For every Canadian.”
“This campaign will invite Canadians to discover—and rediscover—their national parks and national historic sites, and encourage them to plan their vacations around the great facilities, services and exciting activities awaiting them throughout the country,” said Jim Prentice, Canada’s environment minister and minister responsible for Parks Canada, in a release.
The TV spot will air on stations such as OMNI, The Weather Channel and national networks for the next five weeks. Banner and click-through ads can be found at Canoe.ca, WeatherChannel.ca and Sympatico.ca for the next eight weeks. Cossette handled the buy.
The Internet buy and media buy cost approximately $500,000 and $2 million respectively, with another $1.5 million going to production costs, said Campbell.
