St. Catharines gets flashy
A fast-paced, new tourism video touting all that’s great about the Garden City is getting a lot of exposure .
A new fast-paced St. Catharines tourism video screened for councillors Monday night showcases the city’s fine dining, wine route and fun, recreational activities in rapid-fire succession.
“I think you’ll all agree it highlights St. Catharines in a different view,” Brian York, director of economic development and government relations, told councillors.
“We’ve got some great feedback to date.”
The 60-second video by Mitchell Reilly Pictures shows quick shots from across the city, including aerial views of the Welland Canal and Rockway Vineyards Golf Course and closeups of wine in glasses and an ice-cream cone.
It takes viewers out on trails; inside Meridian Centre for IceDogs, River Lions and Brock games; onto the Lakeside Park carousel and in the crowd for fireworks.
There’s rooftop patios, golf courses, weddings, shopping and wakeboarding.
Tourism marketing officer Karen Doyle said the destination awareness video has had 73,000 views on Facebook and 1,200 shares since it was posted on Feb. 1.
York said that’s an incredible reach for just two weeks.
“We’ve got a great campaign lined up to continue to push that out there,” York said. “It’s aimed at attracting visitors to the community, but also reminding all of us here in St. Catharines what a great place this is to live, hanging out and doing some fun things.”
While the video features some specific local businesses such as Hernder Estate Wines, Henry of Pelham, 13th Street Winery and Beechwood Doughnuts, York said no business was chosen for monetary reasons.
“It was just a wide shot of all things that are great here in St. Catharines,” he said.
Doyle said Tuesday the video was funded by the city in partnership with the Greater St. Catharines Niagara Accommodation Partners, which split the $10,000 cost 50-50.
It was screened at the mayor’s state of the city address Jan. 30 and can be seen on the city’s YouTube channel, its tourism website and its various social media channels.
Doyle said 60- and 30-second versions of the video will also be shown in city facilities, such as in FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre’s Partridge Hall before performances and in the lobby.
Shorter 10-second vignettes will be incorporated into ads that will be placed on social media sites for audiences within three- to fivehour drives of the city. That includes the GTA, Kitchener-Waterloo and through New York state.
Doyle said work on the video had been done since the summer to get a taste of seasons, along with events such as the Grape and Wine Festival.
She said the response so far has been exciting.
“We’ve been ecstatic about the exposure it’s gotten on Facebook and the shares and views.”
kwalter@postmedia.com twitter.com/karena_standard