Media Releases

Thursday, September 24, 2015

Whistler joins first ever Instagram relay, hosts famed Australian Instagrammer

Tourism Whistler media release
For immediate release - September 24, 2015

Whistler joins first ever Instagram relay, hosts famed Australian Instagrammer

Whistler, B.C. – Whistler is one of only two Canadian destinations to participate in the world’s first-ever Instagram Relay.

Sunday, September 27 marks the United Nations’ World Tourism Day, an annual event to raise awareness about the benefits of tourism. This year, to celebrate the occasion, Australian travel operator helloworld is hosting a revolutionary social experiment with the world’s first Instagram Relay.

Beginning at sunrise on September 27, Instagrammers from around the world will begin sharing images --one per hour for 12 hours in their particular locations. The relay begins in Samoa and will travel across the world until it finishes at sunset in the Cook Islands.

Seventy-five locations throughout 60 countries will be represented. Whistler is very excited to be one of only two Canadian destinations taking part – the city of Montreal being the other – through support from Destination Canada and Destination BC. In Whistler, the initiative is also supported by Tourism Whistler and Whistler Blackcomb.

As part of the initiative, Destination Canada has invited renowned Australian digital influencer Matt Glastonbury (@mattglastonbury/ 181,000 followers) to participate as one of the lead Instagrammers. Glastonbury will be on location in Whistler on September 27 and sharing his images of the resort. Following the relay, Glastonbury will temporarily “take over” Tourism Whistler’s Instagram account (@gowhistler).

Glastonbury will also join an Instameet which will be held to coincide with a local influencer, Caley Vanular (@caleyvanular / 60,500 followers) atop Whistler Mountain at the Roundhouse Lodge/P2P gondola from 11:25 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. Instagram users can be involved by attending, sharing images and geo-tagging Whistler and hashtagging #helloworldRELAY. Additional hashtags in use will be #OnlyInWhistler and #360ofWB. Read more on The Whistler Insider.

“Engaging with digital influencers is an important piece of our overall marketing strategies,” said Louise Walker, Tourism Whistler’s Vice President of Marketing. “This is an exciting initiative and as we move forward, we will continue to explore and leverage these types of opportunities,” Walker said. “Being able to work with an influencer like Matt Glastonbury allows us to extend our marketing reach in ways that we just wouldn’t be able to do with more traditional measures.”

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Whistler is Canada's premier year-round leisure and meeting destination located in the Coast Mountains 120 kilometres (75 miles) north of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Consistently rated the top ski resort in North America, Whistler was the Host Mountain Resort of the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games. The resort offers an extensive range of accommodations totaling 10,000 bedrooms among 24 hotels as well as townhomes, condos, B&Bs and chalets. Whistler also boasts more than 100 restaurants and bars, 200 retail shops, 25 spas and countless activity options from world-renowned skiing and snowboarding, mountain biking and golf, to hiking, rock climbing, and watersports. The Resort Municipality of Whistler is home to a diverse community of more than 10,000 permanent residents.

Tourism Whistler is the member-based marketing and sales organization representing Whistler, operating the Whistler Conference Centre, Whistler Golf Club, Whistler Visitor Centre, as well as 1.800.944.7853 and whistler.com - Whistler's official source for visitor bookings and information. As the convention and visitors bureau for the Resort Municipality of Whistler, Tourism Whistler represents more than 7,000 members who own, manage and operate properties or businesses on resort lands including hotels, restaurants, activity operators and retail shops.

Media can visit whistler.com/media for Whistler facts, media releases, story starters, local personality profiles and access to images and B-roll.

Broadcasters: Whistler now has the capability to take you live with our enhanced fibre network. The significantly expanded network of more than 200 kilometres of fibre optic cabling throughout the resort allows instant transmission of HD signals to any location at any time. Details on how to access, and book the fibre are available on our media site.

Media Contacts

Patricia Westerholm
Manager, Communications
T: 604.938.2748
E: pwesterholm@tourismwhistler.com

Mary Zinck
Manager, Travel Media
T: 604.938.2702
E: mzinck@tourismwhistler.com

W: www.whistler.com/media
T: www.twitter.com/mediaTWhistler
F: www.facebook.com/GoWhistler