Canadian Tourism Commission begins new campaign
By Adnews Staff
The Canadian Tourism Commission has begun a new marketing campaign intended to encourage Canadians to explore the country. The initiative began on July 1 with spoken-word performances in Ottawa by Ivan Bielinski and Shane Koyczan, who recited poems about Canada in English and French. The poets will perform at various festivals during the summer. The poems can also be downloaded as MP3s at <http://www.canada.travel/keepexploring>. Visitors to the site can also enter a contest by posting a description of what inspires them about Canada. The winner will receive a trip across the country by train. The campaign is being supported with online materials on MySpace, Facebook, Yahoo and Flickr. In addition, promotional workers will operate portable slide viewers containing photographs of little-known Canadian attractions for passers-by. “The CTC is always looking for innovative and ground-breaking ways to promote our new brand identity for Canada,” said Greg Klassen, the commission’s vice-president of marketing. “This month we’re taking Canada, the brand, to places it’s never been. We felt that it was time to present the true visage of Canada to visitors and Canadians, who love to travel at home and learn more about what makes this country distinctive and wonderful.”