Who is Comox Valley Tourism

Comox Valley Tourism (CVT) is the "Destination Marketing Organization" (DMO) for the Comox Valley region. Their purpose is to coordinate external marketing to promote the Comox Valley and the local tourism industry. This industry includes a variety of businesses and organizations including resorts, cultural associations, specialty retailers, festivals and events, restaurants and pubs, media providers, adventure guides, bed and breakfasts and more.

CVT paints a picture of the Comox Valley as an incredible destination to potential tourists and visitors. They entice them to visit, encourage them to engage with the exciting activities our community offers, and strive to get them to stay longer and return again. Their goal is to support the development of the Comox Valley's tourism product and to stimulate and grow our local economy. This is achieved through collaborative and dynamic marketing efforts that produce results!

Public funding for CVT comes through the municipalities and regional areas of the Comox Valley. These dollars enable CVT to provide a baseline of service to the community, including coordination of editorial content and consumer information for BC Ferries, airports, Visitor Info Centres, travel magazines and guidebooks, Tourism Vancouver Island and Tourism BC websites and publications, major media and freelance travel writers and photographers. As well, CVT produces media packages, image banks, coordinates distribution of film footage of the Comox Valley and meets directly with travel and tour operators, writers and industry representatives.

CVT Partners are individual businesses and organizations that join to engage more closely in specific marketing projects and initiatives. CVT currently has more than 300 partners representing all sectors of the regional tourism industry. Fees paid by partners are directly applied to the production of a 45-page CVT Partners' Rack Brochure with detailed business listings. Each year, 80,000 of these brochures will be distributed through BC Ferries, local businesses and Visitor Info Centres throughout BC and the Pacific Northwest.

CVT also produces the critically acclaimed Comox Valley Visitors' Guide and the Comox Valley Tourism website through combined core funding and partnership based advertising.

Both the Comox Valley Visitors' Guide and the Partners' Rack Brochure are distributed at regional, national and international travel and consumer shows by CVT staff and partners including local destination resorts, chambers of commerce and the Economic Development Society.

The combined public dollars and partner fees allow CVT to achieve a baseline of quality marketing coordination. However, those resources do not give us the ability to actually purchase print or broadcast advertising in key industry publications. This is where the term "partner' really comes to life. CVT coordinates partnered advertising opportunities through brokering costly ad space with powerful industry publications and then bringing Comox Valley partners together to pay for this space.

This coordinated effort with partners allows them to publish amazing Comox Valley information in publications including the Vancouver Island Vacation Guide, Island Parent, Van Dop Guide to the Arts, Waggoner Cruising Guide, Adventures West and more. As well, CVT has promoted the Comox Valley in Vancouver Island diving guides, various in-flight magazines, major print media in Calgary and Edmonton, TV and radio campaigns, Back Roads Map Book and major travel industry websites.

CVT partnership with the local tourism industry and local government enables them to achieve incredible success in efforts to market the Comox Valley. Without sustainable public funding and partner fees combined, Comox Valley Tourism would be unable to achieve its objectives.

As British Columbia moves toward the 2010 Olympic Games, increased funding and focus on destination tourism marketing will become more and more critical to the economic prosperity of our region and our communities, as well as our ability to leverage our other marketing dollars to capture this historic opportunity. This is an amazing time to tell the world about the Comox Valley and to come together with a vision of what makes us special--urban sophistication combined with rural charm, a phenomenal natural environment that sets the stage for incredible outdoor activities, a vibrant cultural scene and cooperative and welcoming communities.

For information on funding, services and vision related to destination tourism marketing provided by Comox Valley Tourism please contact info@discovercomoxvalley.com.