Destination Canada faced the challenge of making Canada stand out as a “radically open” tourist destination for all travelers, including those from diverse and LGBTQ+ backgrounds. Facing perceptions that the country is merely the frosty northern neighbor of the United States and often overshadowed by other international locales, Destination Canada wanted to put a stake in the ground by championing diverse travelers, voices, and experiences – across race, sexual orientation, and ability – to distinguish the country as a uniquely transformative, open destination.
We joined together on a mission to make Canada’s unexpected openness more widely known – and expand audiences’ understanding of the country by exploring its thriving queer, Indigenous, and multicultural communities.
As an exercise in “radical openness”, our series was designed to expand ideas about who a traveler is, what travel can be, and what radical openness means for all of us – featuring key characters from a range of multicultural backgrounds, including drag queen influencer BenDeLaCreme, Hispanic outdoor athlete Dani Reyes-Acosta, Black bakers and chefs Bryan Ford and Kia Damon, and Black adaptive athlete Wesley Hamilton.
In collaboration with Courageous Studios, the brand studio of Warner Bros. Discovery and CNN, six diverse travelers from underrepresented backgrounds embarked on their own Canadian adventures, offering audiences a kaleidoscopic exploration of people, places, and experiences from across racial, Indigenous, and LGBTQ+ perspectives.
Each traveler’s unique perspective was reflected in a custom itinerary – as exemplified by our Yukon episode, where drag queen personality Ben DeLaCreme explored the queer and Indigenous history of the province’s underrecognized communities. Through extensive research and development, Courageous discovered a thriving queer community, art scene, and Indigenous experiences in Dawson City. These findings were an impetus to explore themes of belonging, identity, community and performance in a more substantive, subversive way than typically seen in travel content.
The films, articles, and more lived on a custom hub, which was distributed through the domestic and international CNN ecosystem.
The impact was profound: travelers and audiences alike reveled in Canada’s vast open spaces, open minds, and open hearts with storytelling that elevated underrepresented communities and centered diverse characters. Brand research revealed a significant lift in motivation to visit, with 95% of viewers expressing a desire to travel to Canada. Expanded international distribution to Germany, Australia, and the UK saw our Yukon film perform particularly well for international audiences, with over 30% long-form video completion rates on Youtube.
The campaign has garnered so far:
And after exposure to our campaign content, 95% of audiences wanted to learn more about Canada and want to visit Canada.
The message is clear: Canada is radically open for all.
