2024-2025 Marketing Initiatives

Objectives: To coordinate a series of integrated seasonal marketing and communications campaigns with our AOR, Alphabet Creative.

The majority of total impressions (92%) were generated through our partnership with Pattison, which featured each of South Eastern Ontario's 11 destinations on OnRoute's superboards located along the Highway 401 corridor, spanning from Morrisburg to Oshawa. The campaign's deliverables were higher than original contractual bookings by >113% (we booked 46-48M impressions and we received >98M impressions). 98,760,766 Impressions

This US Drive campaign was designed to generate awareness of the variety of St. Lawrence, 1000 Islands, Napanee River and Rideau Canal cruise experiences. Our secondary objective was to generate bookings through calls and website visits to operators. This campaign was also designed to generate awareness of South Eastern Ontario and its proximity to the US Border by pushing consumers to a Landing Page on our website. This co-marketing system leveraged aligned partner planning content/storytelling to inspire travel and direct-to-operator tactics to connect the consumer with bookable/buyable experiences in our region.

CTA visited, interviewed, and documented businesses from across the food tourism value chain in South Eastern Ontario over 5 days – Prescott-Russell & 1000 Islands Rideau Canal Waterways. The Culinary Tourism Alliance visited in June of 2024 and captured delicious moments and spots in the region. During this time, they travelled from Rideau Lakes to Prescott-Russell. A social and digital media campaign designed to compel and attract visitors to the region was created. The campaign highlighted the region’s culinary experiences on Ontario Culinary channels, amplified by South Eastern Ontario. All assets were provided to South Eastern Ontario and any identified partners to use in future promotions with full rights. The focus included diverse and unexpected restaurants; beer and spirits experiences; as well as accommodation.

Attraction Ontario inclusions:
1 page in Passport Magazine and Coupon Book supporting South Eastern Ontario businesses that already advertise in the publication
Regional Cover
An Influencer visit
Social Media sharing of RTO 9 events and news year round
Web Banners on site during busiest traffic months

Attractions Ontario printed 400,000 copies, distributed mainly through their info box network (350,000) through Ottawa, Toronto, and Southwestern Ontario. They were also in the OTICs, plus a custom distribution list to attractions and tourism bureaus.On the digital side, 2.5 million emails received a copy, including partnerships with VIA, Metrolinx, GTAA, and Metro grocery stores.

RTO 9 also partnered with AO and included with the partnership an influencer visit to the region. The FAM tour took place in Kingston and Prince Edward County in Q4. A workshop was also delivered in late fall 2024.

RTO 9 partnered with Ontario By Bike to promote our region as a top cycling destination in Ontario.

OBB partnership included:
Supported Destination media purchases with:
4 x 2024 OntarioByBike.ca Digital Advertising: Leaderboard Banner Website Placement (August 2024)
2 x 2024 OntarioByBike.ca Digital Advertising: Skyscraper Banner Website Placement (May & July 2024)
1 x 2024 OntarioByBike.ca Digital Advertising: E-Newsletter Leaderboard Banner Placement (April 2024)
2024 OntarioByBike.ca Content Partnership: Custom Blog Content Development, Posting & Promotion
Ontario By Bike also represents South Eastern Ontario at Travel Trade Shows and hands out material on RTO 9’s behalf.