Vancouver’s reputation for successfully hosting large, global events is helping the city attract extravaganzas such as this weekend’s Juno Awards.
Tourism advocates say their goal is to use the events to stimulate the economy by having the city capitalize on the attention.
So-called activations, or interesting temporary small attractions, can help engage visitors to ensure they leave with fun memories.
Taylor Swift activations saw tourism organizations collaborate
Good news is that the city is coming off a high, as global pop superstar Taylor Swift visited in December for the final three concerts on her Eras tour.
The city pulled out all the stops as tourism associations worked together.
The Vancouver Hotel Destination Association (VHDA) partnered with marketing firm Inventa to construct giant lighted signs around the city, saying things such as “Swiftcouver” and “Shake It Off,” after one of the singer’s hits. Swift’s fans endured long line-ups for the chance to take selfies with the signs.
VHDA executive director Stephen Regan told BIV his organization had planned to activate the city with big-lettered, lighted signs even if Taylor Swift did not come.
“We were trying to do something in the fall and winter, when it’s not so warm and scenic and can be less to write home about, and see if the downtown can become more attractive,” said Regan, whose organization is funded by members that are hotel chains.
After Swift left the city, the VHDA contributed to having festive big-lettered holiday-season signs that said things such as “Merry,” “Joy” and “Heart.”
The VHDA also funded a temporary ferris wheel in the north plaza of the Vancouver Art Gallery.
This was also a collaboration, given that the Downtown Vancouver Business Improvement Association (Downtown Van) contributed $15,000 to provide free rides on the ferris wheel on Tuesdays, CEO Jane Talbot told BIV.
Downtown Van also helped fund what Talbot described as being “LeMonde activations,” which were art installations of sunglasses and a giant pink shoe where visitors could turn an attached crank to hear some Taylor Swift music.
“They were activated over 4.4 million times,” she said. “Cost to us was $70,000 but it was free to the public.”
(Image: Downtown Van CEO Jane Talbot said her organization contributed money to different initiatives to activate downtown Vancouver during the week of the Taylor Swift concerts | Chung Chow)
The Gastown Business Improvement Society combined with Destination Vancouver to spend about $10,000 to convert the iconic Gastown steam clock’s whistle to be in the tune of Shake It Off when it sounded every 15 minutes, its executive director Walley Wargotlet told BIV.
Even the Vancouver Police Department got on board with the excitement. Its officers patrolled streets on horses that wore giant friendship bracelets around their necks, as a nod to how Swift’s fans love to trade the beaded mementos.
Countless retailers and restaurateurs offered special deals to attract so-called Swifties to spend money at their businesses. Destination Vancouver estimated that Swift’s fans provided a $157 million overall spending bump to the local economy.
Payment processor Moneris calculated rises in spending by category that appeared almost too good to be true.
Moneris found that spending for clothing in Vancouver on the weekend of Swift’s concerts was up an incredible 923 per cent, compared with Black Friday weekend, which was one week earlier.
Spending on hotels was up 109 per cent compared with Black Friday weekend, while spending on cosmetics was up 529 per cent and spending at restaurants was up 135 per cent, according to Moneris.
The Junos are not expected to have anywhere near the impact of Swift’s concerts but tourism boosters say the city will be lively.
Juno Awards set to revitalize city
Downtown Van provided $50,000 this year to a Juno Awards host committee to help finance event planning and activations, Talbot said.
That host committee is a partnership that includes, but not limited to, Music BC, Creative BC, Destination Vancouver, PavCo and Downtown Van, she said.
It is producing Juno Fest, which includes multiple concerts at venues across the city, and a three-day block party and night market with live music from Juno-nominated musicians on a stage on the north plaza of the Vancouver Art Gallery.
Wargolet said Gastown normally features street performers and music but during the Junos is likely to collaborate with Juno-nominated artists and have them come to the neighbourhood.
Destination Vancouver CEO Royce Chwin told BIV that business owners are really the ones responsible for much of the work in creating a vibrant city that capitalizes on the Junos.
“What we need to do is a better job at Team Vancouver, to say, ‘How do you play off the Junos? How do you get that payment to your restaurant, your retailer, or your shop?’” he said.
“That’s where we have to get better.”
The Junos are essentially Canada’s Grammy Awards. The Canadian Academy of Recording Arts hosts the event, which recognizes outstanding achievements in Canada’s music industry and draws significant interest nationwide.
Last year’s event in Halifax drew more than 10,000 people to the city’s Scotiabank Centre, but perhaps more importantly saw more than 170,000 streams on the Canadian Broadcasting Corp.’s (CBC) digital platforms and an additional 471,000 listeners on CBC Radio One and CBC Music platforms, according to the public broadcaster.
Much work remains for 2026 FIFA World Cup
The 2026 FIFA World Cup is set to put Vancouver in front of a global audience more than at any time since at least the 2010 Winter Olympics.
Tourism organizers told BIV, however, that exactly how the city will come alive during the event is yet to be defined.
Seven matches at next year’s FIFA World Cup are set to be played at Vancouver’s BC Place: Five group stage games, one round-of-32 playoff match-up, and one game in the highly watched round-of-16 playoff.
One problem for tourism advocates is that it is not yet clear which countries will qualify for the tournament, which is co-hosted by Canada, the U.S. and Mexico.
That means they do not yet know which teams will play at BC Place, other than Canada, which is scheduled to play in two of those fixtures.
Destination Canada CEO Marsha Walden told BIV that her organization is getting ready for December, when World Cup qualification is complete and she will know which countries are set to play at BC Place.
Marketing campaigns can then follow in some of those countries to encourage their citizens to visit Vancouver and see their team in action.
Walden said that the global spotlight on the city will likely inspire convention organizers around the world to consider Vancouver for future events.
Key to helping that inspiration will be slick video footage of the city.
“Host broadcasters, or the official broadcasters, are always looking for what’s called B roll, or footage of the destination,” she said.
“They want to give a sense of place and a sense of character for where this game is being played and what the city is like. That is really important, just as a marketing tool.”
Destination Canada plans to work in tandem with destination marketing organizations in Toronto and Vancouver as well as Destination BC and Destination Ontario, Walden said.
“We will all be contributing B-roll for broadcast,” she said.
