Kingstonlicious

The COVID-19 pandemic impacted travel and tourism and left Kingston’s culinary community reeling. To mitigate the disruption, Tourism Kingston launched Kingstonlicious, a culinary festival featuring prix fixe menus and signature events. What started as a pandemic survival initiative in 2021, developed into an anchor low-season event. In 2023, Kingstonlicious ran from mid-January to March 31 and marked the first time the festival ran fully in-person.

Objectives

Support Kingston’s food and drink industry in recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic.
Provide a low-season anchor attraction.
Build profile and reputation to Kingston’s culinary scene.

Prix fixe program

Kingstonlicious takes place at cafes, restaurants, and breweries across Kingston. The prix fixe program has rotating themes that see menus crafted specially for Kingstonlicious. Price points are $25, $50, and $65. In 2023, 28 businesses participated. Participating restaurants were supported with a professional photo shoot to capture their offerings, which we then used for promotion.

Signature events

Signature events pair a Kingston chef with a special guest chef(s) to create an exclusive, multi-course dining experience:

Apres Sauna + Fondue at The Secret Garden Inn, Jan 28 & 29

A sauna experience followed by an indulgent seafood fondue, paired with natural wines.

For the love of cheese at AquaTerra, Feb 22

Chef Brent McAllister welcomed Maïtre Fromager Afrim Pristine from Toronto’s Cheese Boutique, to create a multicourse menu showcasing cheeses from around the globe.

Dim sum meets Trinidadian delights at Northside, Mar 4

Northside’s Chef Art Hill welcomed Chef Nick Liu of Toronto’s DaiLo to create a multicultural brunch featuring dim sum platter followed by a Trinidadian breakfast plate.

Call to Action 83: What does reconciliation taste like? Mar 18

This celebration brought together Indigenous and non-Indigenous chefs. Complimentary registration for Indigenous community members.

Michelin star-studded pasta soirée at The Everly, Mar 21

Chef Joel Watanabe of Vancouver’s Kissa Tanto joined The Everly’s Jamie Hodge and Miss Bao’s Bellen Tong for an evening of hand-crafted pasta. Guest sommeliers from Toronto’s Grape Witches paired local, B.C., and international wines.

A Montreal-style brunch with Hey Darlin’ Diner Mar 26

Host chefs Amanda Finkle and Rory Seifried joined Chef Hakim Rahal from Montreal’s Provisions Bar à Vin for a brunch with classics like Provisions’ house-made brisket, a breakfast version of croque-madame.

Dine on Us promotional offer

Accommodation packages offering a $100 Visa gift card for a one-night stay on weekdays or two-night stay on weekends encouraged visitors to “dine on us” with Kingstonlicous. This promotional offer was available for the duration of the program, supporting low-season tourism.

Marketing

A multi-media campaign featured digital, broadcast, and print advertising in key target markets. Distributing the media spend across all elements of the program maximized reach and capitalized on the engagement of shares from Visit Kingston followers as well as the audiences of each participating restaurant and influencer.

Results

28 restaurant partners
15 hotel “dine on us” partners
6 signature events; 5 sold out
350 “dine on us” hotel packages sold
Advertising impressions: 14,000,000
Earned media impressions: 4,500,000
Partner referrals: 37,000
Kingstonlicious landing page: 150,000+ website sessions

Estimated economic impact: $694,693