Supporting domestic travel

Restaurant closures are commonplace in Canada following the pandemic, with Canada’s most renowned establishments shuttering their doors due to the financial burdens brought on by past lockdowns. Destination Canada needed to promote domestic tourism and support the struggling industry, but Canadians had shifted their interest back to international travel so we had to inspire them to stay within our borders.

Fierce culinary competition

Canadians make travel decisions with their stomachs, and although Canada has a world class collection of culinary experiences, Canadians tend to seek out international destinations with more famous culinary offerings.

Canada’s Best New Cookbook

The book that doubles as a blueprint for Canada’s culinary identity. Created with enRoute magazine, on the 20th anniversary of their Best New Restaurant series. It’s a collection of recipes from Canada’s most esteemed restaurants, paired with travel stories about the people and places that define the country’s flavors.

A country-wide effort

We crafted a 144-page hardcover book by assembling nearly 100 contributors: some of Canada’s best chefs, food producers, travel writers, and culinary experts in the country. Edited by James Beard nominated cookbook author Amy Rosen. It includes recipes and stories from every province and territory in Canada, with a glossary of the ingredients unique to each region.

Canada’s Best New Cookbook

The book that doubles as a blueprint for Canada’s culinary identity. Created with enRoute magazine, on the 20th anniversary of their Best New Restaurant series. It’s a collection of recipes from Canada’s most esteemed restaurants, paired with travel stories about the people and places that define the country’s flavors.

A country-wide effort

We crafted the 144-page hardcover book by assembling nearly 100 contributors: some of Canada’s best chefs, food producers, travel writers, and culinary experts in the country. It includes recipes and stories from every province and territory in Canada, with a glossary of the ingredients unique to each region.

Partnering with Indigo

We made a first-of-its-kind deal with Indigo, the country’s largest book retailer, to print and distribute thousands of books, selling our brand content in-stores and online nationwide, with revenue donated to the Canadian Hospitality Foundation to further support the industry.

Empowering our contributors

To unite our band of influential contributors to promote sales of the book, we armed them with a toolkit of custom marketing assets they could use to engage their huge followings across social, including behind-the-scenes photography and instagram reels.

Promoting the launch

We drove excitement around the book launch with QR-code enabled print ads in local travel magazines, sample recipes with top publishers, and by staging book drops in Air Canada Signature Suite airport lounges across the country.

Maximizing retail presence

Working with Indigo, we ensured the cookbook was the very first thing customers saw as they entered stores across the country, featuring it in the “Bestseller Bay” and “Holiday Gifting” areas in their over 200 brick & mortar locations.

CONTENT PERFORMANCE

National bestseller in the Globe & Mail, Toronto Star and 5 other major dailies

One of Indigo’s top 5 best selling cookbooks in Q4 2022

6,013 units sold & donations made to date

31,000 product page visits

2:47 average time spent on CanadasBestNewCookbook.com

PROMOTION PERFORMANCE

293.9M impressions across paid and earned channels

181 earned media placements including Globe & Mail, Eater and House & Home

"a remarkable showcase of our nation’s best dishes" - Daily Hive

BUSINESS DRIVING

7% average lift in dining-related searches on Google across each province in Q4 2022

8.4% increase in domestic hotel bookings year over year in Q4 2022

45.7% increase in domestic air travel year over year in Q4 2022

10.3% increase in domestic traveller bookings year over year in Q4 2022