Goals: Clearly state your marketing goals. What did you strive to achieve using this piece or program?
As Canada’s national marketing organization, Destination Canada strives to “influence supply and build demand for the benefit of locals, communities and visitors through leading research, building alignment with public and private sectors, and marketing Canada nationally and abroad.” With the Canadian Tourism Data Collective project specifically, Destination Canada has centralized and democratized access to tourism data and research across Canada. By providing comprehensive, real-time data and predictive insights, Destination Canada empowers Canadian stakeholders to make more informed decisions, and significantly increase the efficiency and effectiveness of tourism operations across the country.
Launched in partnership with Destination Canada, Statistics Canada, and Innovation, Science, and Economic Development Canada, the Data Collective aggregates over 8.9 billion lines of data from over 175 diverse sources. Its core concept is to provide a secure, accessible, and easy-to-navigate platform for tourism stakeholders to access real-time insights, performance indicators, and analytics. Key objectives include enhancing data-driven decision making, fostering collaboration among tourism partners, and driving innovation within the sector. The Data Collective offers comprehensive data including visitor arrivals, traveler spending, occupancy rates, and geospatial data, all of which are crucial for strategic planning and growth. This initiative is poised to transform the Canadian tourism landscape by providing the tools necessary for stakeholders to navigate challenges, capitalize on opportunities, and ensure long-term success.
By providing access to high-quality data and insights, the Data Collective is expected to boost Canada's competitiveness in the international tourism market. This enhanced understanding and responsiveness could play a crucial role in achieving Destination Canada’s goal of propelling Canada back into the top seven global destinations by 2030.
Results: Which of your original goals did you achieve and how? How did you measure the effectiveness of the piece or campaign? Entrants should provide quantifiable results of their tactics or campaigns. (for example, click through rates or ad equivalency)
The Canadian Tourism Data Collective platform was launched to the public in May, 2024 and, as indicated by the metrics below, continues to successfully reach its target audience and provide the Canadian tourism industry with real-time insights, performance indicators, and analytics that users return back to again and again. We anticipate even greater returns as we continue into future phases of the project in late-2024 and 2025, which will include even more AI functionality and technical enhancements.
From the public launch of the platform to mid-August, 2024, the platform has seen:
Double the active users (since the previous period) with a total of ~6k Active Users contributing to over 13k Sessions, ~25% Sessions from returning Active Users
An average of 1,250 weekly sessions
>70% of visitors scrolling up to 50% across the full site
Extremely high engagement rates for three Data Collective data products, Tourism Outlook (90%), TourismScapes (85%), Wealth & Wellbeing (80%) and the Homepage (67%), compared to the Technology & Software industry average of 62%
A total average session duration, as well as the weekly average session length of ~60 seconds indicating the content is relevant for visitors and they are actively consuming the content
Destination Canada’s launch-related social media post and eblast were met with similar success.
The LinkedIn post promoting the Data Collective launch received an impressive 10,311 organic impressions (five times the Destination Canada average for LinkedIn) and 775 clicks (nine times the Destination Canada average on LinkedIn)
The Destination Canada launch promotion eblast, received an open rate of 51.9% and a 5.9% click-through rate
Return on Investment: How much revenue has the piece or campaign generated and how does this compare to your goal? What was the return on investment?
Our return on investment is focused on the impact the initiative can have on tourism partners throughout the country and the Canadian tourism sector overall.
Though it is a new initiative, launched in May, 2024, as the platform continues to grow, the data-driven insights provided by the Data Collective are expected to contribute to increased tourism revenue and job creation across Canada. More effective marketing, product development, and strategic planning, informed by data predictions, can lead to higher visitor numbers and spending, boosting the overall economic impact of tourism. The Data Collective's focus on sustainability, particularly through the Wealth & Wellbeing Index, is expected to have far-reaching effects. By providing metrics on the social and environmental impacts of tourism alongside economic indicators, it encourages a more balanced approach to tourism development. This could lead to more sustainable growth in the sector, ensuring long-term benefits for communities and the environment.
By providing a common platform with collaborative tools and shared data, the Data Collective fosters greater coordination in areas such as destination management, marketing, and product development. The platform’s predictive capabilities are expected to enhance risk management and strategic planning in the industry. By allowing stakeholders to anticipate potential challenges and opportunities, it enables better preparedness and more proactive strategies.
The introduction of such an advanced platform is also likely to drive demand for data science and analytics skills in the tourism sector. This could lead to upskilling opportunities and the development of new roles within the industry, contributing to Canada’s knowledge economy. By pioneering such a comprehensive and innovative approach to tourism data, Canada has the potential to become a global leader in tourism analytics.
Entry Title
Canadian Tourism Data Collective: Empowering the Future of Tourism Through Data-Driven Insights