Route 148 - Your Best Van-life in The Outaouais

Entering organisation: Visages RégionauxIn Quebec, Canada, very few people can point the region of Pontiac, in the Outaouais, on a map. Located in Quebec’s “wild west,” this devitalised region, where 14,000 residents share a vast territory of 14,000 square kms, is little known by the rest of the province. And yet, it’s one of Quebec’s best kept secrets, with huge forests and numerous lakes ringed with beaches.It’s a pristine gem to discover and remains an affordable place to live. Much of Pontiac is located some 100 km from Ottawa and Gatineau and 300 km from Montreal. Tourist accommodations are very limited, and the region has a difficult time attracting visitors to discover its natural and cultural attractions and local businesses, even for a weekend. While tourist traffic is limited, tourism remains an important economic mainstay of the region, especially following the crash of the forestry industry, which caused the closures of several major companies in recent years.To introduce Pontiac to a new tourism clientele, the team proposed that Pontiac launch a communication campaign around a new tourist route made for ‘van-life’ enthusiasts: Route148.Route148 is a provincial east-west highway that crosses the Pontiac region, connecting it to other more touristy areas like the Laurentians. Running along the Ottawa River, the Pontiac section of Route 148 is more than 80 km long and passes through numerous municipalities. To attract new tourists, the team developed a Route148 communication campaign to target van-lifers: people who love to drive long distances, are not necessarily looking for lodging, enjoy discovering local businesses, and are attracted by adventure.They focused on this nomadic, autonomous clientele because their way of traveling means they can sidestep the main obstacles facing Pontiac tourism (geographic location and few lodging options). Plus, they make excellent ambassadors for the places they enjoy. To entice them to visit the area, the team set up a new route featuring 17 RV-accessible rest stops, where van-lifers could spend the night.The campaign consisted of two components: developing the tourist route for van-lifers in 2022, then launching the new tourism product, Route148, in 2023. To create content for the campaign, the team collaborated with Vanlife Sagas, a van-life video maker and influencer with close to 60,000 subscribers on YouTube.The main communications channels were social networks, including those of Vanlife Sagas (YouTube, Facebook, and Instagram), the influencers who joined the shoots, the team’s own (Visages Régionaux), and Destination Pontiac (Facebook and Instagram).Signs with a QR code were installed permanently at each RV stop. The team also created merchandise (such as shirts and hats), a promotional video and a tourist brochure. As the campaign is intrinsically linked to Route 148, the key performance indicators (KPIs) focused on the videos’ engagement rate, feedback from local stakeholders, and website traffic.In the style of Route 66 in the U.S., the team opted to highlight the location and route by calling it Route148. The complementary “Live Your Best Van-life in the Outaouais” campaign addressed van-lifers and showed that Pontiac is a welcoming place when you travel with an RV.The brand image, prominently featured on the Destination Pontiac website and social media accounts, was also used in the campaign, in posts, promotional videos, merchandise, and the tourism brochure. In 2022, the team filmed behind-the scenes videos for social media, with Vanlife Sagas and other influencers, documenting the creation of this tourism route allowing viewers to discover to be part of the adventure.The four episodes enabled them to promote the project and the main tourist attractions in Pontiac before Route148 was even ready. In spring 2023, when the RV rest stops were completed, the team returned to Pontiac to test the route and officially launch it with a van-fest, allowing them to create two new episodes and further content for the campaign.They also took advantage of the reach of influencers who came to discover the route. Initially, the team had set out to develop a campaign that simply spoke to van-lifers, but as the idea to create RV rest stops developed, they had to convince the region to add this tourist component to complement the campaign.By officially creating it, they weren’t just inviting van-lifers to the area, they were hosting them. Convincing influencers to join the project as it was coming together, before the route even existed, was no small feat. Their participation was essential to reach the target audience. Their colourful contribution provided the team with vital content and made all the difference.The campaign achieved its main objective: raise awareness of Pontiac with van-lifers. The six videos were seen by 78K people (835K impressions), mostly from the U.S. and Canada, for a total of 482K minutes of viewing time. On social media, the campaign successfully promoted Route148.Thanks to the influencers featured in the first four episodes, the videos were shared widely. Together, they have nearly 400K Instagram followers and 650K Facebook followers. Also, more than 4,000 new users have visited the Route148 page on the Destination Pontiac website. According to statistics, 68% of the website's users land on it. In one year, sixteen VR stops have been pinned on the map. The feedback from local stakeholders is very encouraging. They see a lot of RV traffic stopping by. Residents of Pontiac are proud to hear their region talked about favourably. Destination Pontiac's brand is now much larger that this touristic territorial attractiveness strategy. All the actions combined have generated awareness and interest in Pontiac, a positive and innovative brand image, and significant economic benefits. The team would like to pass on their thanks to Tourism Outaouais who have made this project possible.

Route 148 - Your Best Van-life in The Outaouais

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