News & Resources

The latest Thompson Okanagan tourism industry news from TOTA, tourism businesses, and communities.

 
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Sustainable Tourism Course by eLearningU

Learn from experts from around the world who will go beyond the need for sustainable practices to define the business opportunity and the ways that we can all take steps to develop, attract, and grow sustainable travel for your business/destination. Early bird pricing is available. Use discount code BC300 to receive a $300 discount.

 

This series of live, interactive Zoom lessons will demonstrate the demand for sustainable travel, highlight the opportunities, then empower you to take advantage.

Learn from experts from around the world who will go beyond the need for sustainable practices to define the business opportunity and the ways that we can all take steps to develop, attract, and grow sustainable travel for businesses and destinations.

Program goals include:

  • Empower businesses to embrace the sustainability need and identify the opportunity for sustainable travel

  • Build the skills necessary to connect sustainable businesses with travellers

  • Create engaged and informed stakeholders

  • Develop thriving local tourism economies

Early bird pricing is available. Use discount code BC300 to receive a $300 discount.

Learn more and register


 
 
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New Tourism Digital Marketing Expert Certification Program through the BCRTS and eLearningU

All tourism businesses in our region can gain complimentary access to the Digital Marketing Expert Certification Program by eLearningU, as well as FREE access to 50 live webinars over the course of the year, and a full webinar library of 350+ recordings.

As a member of the British Columbia Regional Tourism Secretariat (BCRTS), Thompson Okanagan Tourism Association is pleased to announce that all tourism businesses in our region can gain access to the Digital Marketing Expert Certification Program by eLearningU. Tourism businesses can sign up for a FREE subscription to eLearningU, where, upon registration, they will be provided a username and password for their account. Multiple people within the same organization are welcome to join the program.

In addition to the Tourism Digital Marketing Certification Program, registered members will have FREE access to 50 live webinars over the course of the year, and a full webinar library of 350+ recordings. 

Become a Tourism Digital Marketing Expert

After registering for your free eLearningU subscription, follow the link below to access your Tourism Digital Marketing Certificate dashboard. There are 5 Certifications in this program, broken down into individual certificates, they are as follows:

  • Tourism Social Media Marketing Certificate (14 courses, 14 hours)

  • Tourism Content Marketing Certificate (6 courses, 6 hours)

  • Tourism SEO/SEM Marketing Certificate (8 courses, 8 hours)

  • Tourism General Marketing Certificate (7 courses, 7 hours)

  • After each of these are complete, the Tourism Digital Marketing Expert (TDME) Certification is awarded.

Check out the Program Here

Each course is compiled of a 1-hour video training and a 5-question quiz. The quizzes come directly from the content in the video training and must be passed in order to complete the lesson. You may retake the quiz in order to pass. The goal is to verify that you have reviewed and learned the information presented.

Sections and lessons do not have to be done in order, so if something seems more interesting or useful, complete that one first and finish the rest at your leisure. As we are apart of the launch of this exciting program, the sooner you sign up, the more live webinars you will be able to attend. All required webinars will be added to the library after their live premiere.


Background

The TOTA Tourism Resiliency Program, part of the BC Tourism Resiliency Network, provides long-term support to tourism businesses to navigate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, adapt services, and work towards eventual recovery. As part of TOTA's Tourism Resiliency Program, tourism businesses can access the following FREE supports:

For more information on TOTA's Tourism Resiliency Program, go to TOTABC.org/resiliency.


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eLearningU Partnership Provides Access to 350+ Tourism Online Marketing Webinars

TOTA has partnered with eLearning University to provide stakeholders with free marketing learning assistance and professional development.

This exciting partnership between TOTA and eLearning University will provide our stakeholder's marketing learning assistance and professional development. Watch for this bi-weekly newsletter that will highlight a specific marketing-based theme among eLearning University's library of over 350 hours of recorded webinars.

Gaining Access

Submit your completed Subscription Form to have access to the webinar library and the recordings listed below. Once you have your account, you can watch the selected recordings in this email or browse the recording library at your leisure.

Register for eLearningU


Recorded Webinar Theme of the Week: Content Marketing

Amplify Your Social Media Influence with Content Marketing

According to a recent study, when making buying decisions, consumers favor online informational content above both word-of-mouth and social media recommendations. This is why every business needs a content marketing strategy. Learn how to use content marketing to create and share content that provides relevant solutions that help your community, amplifies your expertise, and builds your business authority for ranking well with online search.

A Content Marketing World: 8 Things You Need to Be Doing with Your Content Right Now

Everyone is a publisher today. The challenge for brand marketers in both B2B and B2C is that the brand story is "owned" by multiple players in the organization and that brands need great content for effectively almost all online communications. Can you drive social media without content? No. Can you drive SEO without greatcontent? No.

Content marketing strategist Joe Pulizzi will share the latest research from the Content Marketing Institute on how brand marketers are using and allocating resources to content marketing, as well as share case studies from small and large brands about how they are developing content marketing strategies that generate passionate fans and subscribers to grow their businesses. Attendees will be able to take away a number of tactics that can be executed immediately to integrate into their content plans.

Content & SEO - Top 10 Tips for Travel and Tourism

Content continues to be King, but without proper focus, planning and attention to detail running a content marketing campaign can quickly become a wasted effort. Join Jeff to learn about how to plan, create, distribute and measure relevant, high-quality content, which will maximize your online visibility to drive traffic, generate targeted leads and improve your bottom line. Leave this webinar with content and SEO tips you can implement today!

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