Photo: Contributed

Travel Penticton has been selected as a top three finalist for the BC Tourism Industry awards in the "Innovation" category. 

The organization's "Real Time" social media campaign, which ran throughout July and August showing conditions in Penticton through brief videos, received a lot of attention. 

"2018 was a challenging year for tourism throughout B.C., dealing with the physical and negative economic impact of forest fires in the province," said Thom Tischik, executive director of Travel Penticton. "There were many days when the weather was great and our tourism businesses were 'open for business.' The Travel Penticton team realized that we needed a way to convey this message to potential travellers."

A total of 41 videos were produced and posted across Facebook and Instagram between July 20th and August 31st, 2018. The campaign was overwhelmingly successful, receiving over 430,000 impressions on Facebook and over 19,600 impressions on Instagram. 

Travel Penticton is now a finalist for an innovation award with the BC Tourism Industry. Award winners will be announced Thursday, Feb. 28 in Vancouver. 

'We are very proud and honoured to be recognized as an award finalist and are looking forward to representing Penticton and highlighting the important role our City plays within BC's tourism sector," said Tischik.