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Whistler part of B.C. mountain bike strategy

New brand, website and Whistler Ride Guide episode part of initiative

Look around Whistler these days and it might seem as though everybody is on the mountain bike bandwagon.

But local officials at the municipality and Tourism Whistler (TW) are working to further promote Whistler’s mountain bike offerings around the world. Progress is now underway at a local level on the strategies outlined in the recent B.C. Mountain Bike Tourism Plan.

Released in April, the collaborative marketing strategy was developed with input from both local bodies. Frank Savage, municipal planner, is part of the 2010 board for the Western Canada Mountain Bike Tourism Association (MBTA), the group that’s overseeing the implementation of the plan.

Savage said the idea to put together a provincial strategy to promote mountain biking came out of a 2008 conference. Trail development and marketing efforts were underway in different regions in B.C., but “everyone was kind of working separately,” he said.

The decision was made to put together a provincial plan, working with the Ministry of Tourism’s Experiences B.C. program and Tourism B.C.

“It’s a pretty ambitious plan,” Savage said. “A lot of it is communicating what we have.”

Now that the plan is finished, the first priorities are to create a province-wide brand for mountain biking and develop a website outlining mountain biking experiences in B.C., Savage said.

Member communities, such as Whistler, will have their own page as part of the website. The municipality and TW are providing input on content, and the hope is to launch the new site early next year, he said.

The local priorities are to showcase the diversity of mountain biking offerings in Whistler, as well as promote the overall experience of a mountain biking vacation here, said Lynn Chappell, TW’s manager of partnership marketing.

Some Whistler trails offer challenges for even hardcore riders, but other options such as the Valley Trail make mountain biking accessible for the whole family, she said.

“There really is something for everyone in terms of biking (in Whistler),” Savage said.

Plus, Whistler offers great après, hotels that welcome mountain bikers and other amenities.

“The ride itself is important, but it’s also everything that comes with it,” Chappell said.

The municipality and TW have partnered to become Tier 1 level stakeholders in the B.C. Mountain Bike Tourism Plan, she said. A municipal investment of $1,500 and TW’s contribution of $3,500 are going toward website and brand development, as well as an upcoming Whistler-sponsored episode of Ride Guide.

Ride Guide is a popular bike and ski TV series now in its 14th season, reaching up to 60 million homes in 60 countries.

Chappell said the Whistler episode will be filmed in town next month and begin airing in January. The show will have “quite a long shelf life” with repeated airings, and TW will also be able to use the footage, she said.

“The reach that we’re going to get is tremendous,” she said.

Savage said, “We’ve been able to leverage our $1,500 quite significantly.”

The provincial plan is further tied to Whistler with local design firm Origin having been selected by MBTA through a request for proposals process to develop the provincial brand and website, Chappell said.

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