THE OPPORTUNITY

Destination Ontario recognized the opportunity created by international interest in the Canadian iconic Group of Seven artists as demonstrated by recent tourism development projects completed by regional partners. To support these developments, the province planned to create six itinerary based touring routes throughout Ontario that linked the paintings created by members of The Group of Seven, with the actual locations, influential sites and key stops that inspired the artists’ works.

THE PROCESS

Working with Destination Ontario, national and provincial art gallery partners, travel providers, operators and key tourism stakeholders, the BC Hughes development team undertook site specific art history research and coupled this with an analysis of rotating and permanent exhibitions and supporting tourism experiences. Paintings and sketches created by the Group of Seven which would be on display during the campaign were matched with the landscapes and locations on the ground, inspiring the touring routes.

Once the touring routes were developed, the BC Hughes marketing team assisted with the implementation of the marketing campaign which drove traffic to the touring route content.

THE OUTCOME

Destination Ontario used the Group of Seven Discovery Routes created by BC Hughes as the main content in a large Group of Seven “Where am I?” multimedia marketing campaign.  The campaign showcased the extensive tourism and travel connections throughout the province of Ontario related to The Group of Seven.