Brandon embarks on tourism strategy

The City of Brandon is reshaping its brand identity through a new tourism strategy that aims to resonate with locals and attract visitors from across Manitoba and beyond.

Brandon Tourism announced Tuesday that it had selected UpHouse, a creative marketing agency based in Winnipeg, to partner on building a strategic plan — the city’s first-ever comprehensive tourism strategy, said Lanny Stewart, the organization’s marketing and communications director.

“We hope that it’s going to develop a strategy to not only sell this city to visitors regionally, but hopefully start to develop a plan where we can kind of think outside the box a little bit,” he said.

The rebrand will include changing the city’s outdated slogan, “Brandon brings you back,” which was revealed in 2019, Stewart said.

“It’s served the city well, but in saying that, we feel like we can do better,” he said.

“We want to do better for the community. We want to do better for, you know, the city, the region, and in an effort to really sell our city.”

Brandon Tourism put out a request for proposals last month and received a total of 17 bids from firms across the country. Work on the new strategy will start in the coming weeks and include consultations with community stakeholders such as the Keystone Centre, the aviation museum and the Riverbank Discovery Centre, Stewart said.

“The key is getting alignment and making sure everyone’s on the same page (on) what we see as a vision for the city,” he said.

“It’s an exciting time for the city, and you know, I’m really looking forward to this process and seeing what comes out of it.”

Brandon Tourism has been urging the municipal government to allocate funds for the development of a long-term road map tailored to strengthening the connection residents and tourists form with the city, Stewart said.

The city is spending $60,000 from the accommodation tax reserve on the initiative, which includes $40,000 outlined in this year’s budget, said Gerald Cathcart, the city’s economic development director.

“The city recognizes tourism as a key economic driver,” he said.

“From an economic development lens, tourism dollars are absolutely crucial to the well-being in your community.”

Cathcart said he wants the strategy to help residents across Westman become more informed about what Brandon has to offer.

Folks come to Brandon for sports tournaments, shopping, festivals, events, conferences, recreation and agriculture shows.

“It’s always kind of been that hub from a Westman perspective,” Stewart said.

He said he’s cognizant that Brandon will always be event-centric, but he wants to promote other hidden gems in the city.

“When people come here for events, they can also, you know, go to the Brandon Riverbank, and spend a day or two experiencing the grounds and the green space there,” he said, noting hiking in the Brandon hills or experiencing the authentic atmosphere at Crow’s General Store as other options.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Brandon Tourism pivoted its focus to guiding residents to get more involved with their community and book hotel staycations as travel restrictions were in place.

The organization wants to combine this approach while targeting travellers across Manitoba, Canada and the U.S., he said.

Kiirsten May, president and co-founder of UpHouse, said the new strategy will focus on defining what makes Brandon a distinct tourist destination.

“In our proposal, we really focused on our ability to build on that momentum that we’re seeing across the province and bring our insight into something that can really support Brandon as they look to sort of expand beyond the conference and event audience,” she said.

Starting at a strategic level will help UpHouse identify what messaging is working to attract people to the city and what gaps need to be filled, such as having more wayfinding signage, for example, she said.

UpHouse plans to begin with a “locals first” approach to ensure that what’s being advertised is consistent with the experiences people are having before rolling out any future campaigns to a wider audience, May said.

She said the strategic plan will target four key audiences: people travelling to check items off their bucket list and who want to add more destinations to their itinerary; people coming from the U.S. with plans to hunt, fish, visit family or go to events; Manitobans taking a short drive to Brandon; and people from Ontario who want to explore Manitoba.

Stewart said the tourism strategy and brand identity will be unveiled sometime in the fall.

» tadamski@brandonsun.com