City of Kenora Holiday Trail

The City of Kenora is located on the shores of Lake of the Woods and its 14,522 islands in the Northwest corner of Ontario, 50 kilometres from the Manitoba border and 2 hours east of Winnipeg. It is iconic Canada – granite, pines
and water. Situated on Treaty 3 territory, the City of Kenora was originally the land base of one collective First Nation community, which was separated into three communities now known as Wauzhushk Onigum, Niisaachewan, and
Washagamis Bay First Nations. Kenora now sustains many others, all of whom have been welcomed to peacefully share and care for these ancestral Lands and Waters. The City’s location on Lake of the Woods attracts many seasonal residents, doubling the population of 15,000 during the summer months.

The City of Kenora delivered the 2021 Five Year Tourism and Economic Development Strategy, which identifies the objective to support the growth and retention of local businesses and emerging sectors. Specifically, the strategy
includes the tactic to “provide supports and information to new and existing businesses through community partner and City led initiatives.”

In 2024, the City of Kenora worked with Wake Marketing and partnered with the Harbourtown BIZ (the business improvement area for the downtown core) to develop and launch the Holiday Trail. The Kenora Holiday Trail is a
shopping initiative designed to encourage local residents and visitors to stop in at local retailers during the holiday season by using Trail Vouchers. Participating stores are featured in the Trail brochure and promoted through
advertising across the City from November 22 to December 24, 2024. The goal is not only to have customers redeem their vouchers but also to explore what the store has to offer. Participating retailers feature a gift item valued between
$10 and $20 that customers can redeem vouchers for in-store. For each voucher redeemed, retailers are reimbursed $5. This is a great opportunity to showcase a special item and attract new customers who might not have visited stores before. Customers buy Holiday Trail booklets from any participating business and each booklet costs $30.

To promote the Kenora Holiday Trail, the City delivered print media, social media advertisements and partnered with local Instagram influencers to highlight the program.

While the Holiday Trail had previously been delivered, 2024 was the most successful year to date. Previous campaigns had been primarily focused on the downtown business improvement area and in 2023, the City expanded the
program to the broader community. In 2024, 120 booklets were sold – significantly surpassing the previous average of 70 booklets. A total of 642 vouchers were redeemed – creating 642 customer interactions with participating businesses. This resulted in $3,210 being remitted to the 17 participating businesses, each receiving $5 for every voucher redeemed. Notably, 2024 welcomed four new participants to the program.

In a follow-up survey, businesses stated that the program increased foot traffic, increased brand awareness, sales and customer engagement. All the participating businesses stated they would participate in the 2025 Holiday Trail and all rated the experience a 5/5.

Testimonial from Jackie from Lake of Sunrise Soap Co. “As a small locally owned business, the Holiday Trail is an event I look forward to annually. Each year it draws new faces into our store, many of whom turn into repeat customers. It’s a fun and festive way to showcase what Kenora has to offer while promoting shopping local during the holidays and all year round.”