Frequently Asked Questions

• The Invest in Iconics Strategy is a long-term strategy, developed in partnership with Indigenous Tourism BC, to responsibly grow the benefits of tourism across British Columbia through the integration of Place Branding and Destination Development to competitively differentiate BC on the world stage.
• The strategy focuses on increasing the benefits of tourism throughout the province. It provides the opportunity to re-imagine our province—creating iconic, inspirational routes and places that will strengthen travel appeal in all regions of BC, in all seasons. In the short term, we recognize the need to rebuild the high season in all areas of our province.
• Long term, this strategy balances the capacity needs and market-readiness of our communities— focusing on shoulder-season growth in our cities and mature destinations, while fostering all-season growth in high-potential communities and rural destinations where capacity exists.

Beginning in Fall 2019, Destination BC undertook the following research 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 traveller 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 launch 2023 and 2025. Please refer to the Timeline to see when each brand will launch.

These are working titles only and boundaries are provisional.

Iconic Routes and Places – Provisional Boundaries 

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 Super, Natural British Columbia® provincial brand will continue to inspire international travellers to consider travelling to BC, with the Iconic routes and places providing tangible reasons for visiting different places across the province in different seasons.

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 Management 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 could be accessed 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 the Invest in Iconics Strategy, other than from Destination BC’s annual budgets.