The Cochrane Tourism Association (CTA) held its annual open house Jan. 21 at the Cochrane Days Inn & Suites to show members, curious newcomers and community leaders everything the non-profit group does to promote the town as a tourist destination.
“This provided us an opportunity to thank our members and give them the chance to talk one-on-one with our board members and special guests,” explained Hillary Richardson, executive director of Cochrane Tourism.
There was a 17 per cent increase in membership from 2013 to 2014. There have also been six new members added in the first weeks of 2015.
Richardson said the open house also highlighted their 2015 goals — namely the current and future marketing plans through the promotion of their website, cochrane-tourism.ca, exposure in print advertising such as Alternate Routes and through radio campaigns and increasing membership.
“Samples of our print advertising were available for viewing, for example — the full pages in both Travel Alberta summer and winter editions, each with a print run of 500,000 copies, as well as a full page ad in Visit Calgary, which has a print run of 150,000.”
Richardson also encouraged people to visit the website to view the nine YouTube videos either CTA-produced or that the CTA has the rights to share.
“Like last year, the open house had a great mix of old friends and new faces, as long-time members wished to be updated and new people wanted to learn more about what we have to offer.”
Mayor Ivan Brooker, Coun. Jeff Toews and MLA Ron Casey’s constituency manager Lesley Bannister were all in attendance, as were the Cochrane Lions Rodeo Queen and Princess.
To learn more, visit the website or email Richardson at [email protected].
