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Tourism &
Community Discovery

Help people discover what makes your community worth exploring & turn inspiration into a plan.

Why it Matters

People do not always know exactly what they are looking for when they begin exploring a community. Organizing local experiences around themes, locations, and suggested itineraries can make discovery easier, encourage longer visits, and help people uncover places they might otherwise miss.

Can a visitor plan time in your area using your website?

When it's working well

Visitors can browse things to see and do, and places to eat or stay, by theme and on a map. Practical information such as parking, washrooms and seasonal hours is easy to find. Each listing links to its hours, location and website.

Where to start

Write two or three suggested day plans, such as a family day or a rainy day. Group attractions by theme instead of in one long list. Link each place to a map and to its own website.

If you don't have this yet

An interactive map and themed collections can usually be added to your current website. If a regional tourism organization already lists your attractions, show its listings on your site instead of copying them.

Ideas that help

Curated Experiences & Collections

APPROACH

Help people discover the community through themes, interests, and local experiences.

Not every visitor begins with a specific destination in mind. Curated collections can bring related places, activities, events, and businesses together around a common theme, making it easier to explore the community in a more engaging and intuitive way.

Curated experiences should:

  • Group places and activities around themes or interests.
  • Highlight seasonal and timely experiences.
  • Connect related attractions, businesses, and events.
  • Introduce people to places they may not have discovered on their own.
Three themed collections for visitors, On the waterfront, Rainy day ideas and Fun with kids, each with a picture and the number of places, plus topic filters.

Interactive Discovery Map

TOOL

Help people explore the community visually and understand what is nearby.

An interactive discovery map can bring attractions, trails, businesses, accommodations, and other points of interest together in one place. Instead of searching for individual destinations, people can browse an area spatially and discover nearby experiences that fit naturally into their visit.

A discovery map should:

  • Show places and experiences in a clear geographic context.
  • Make it easy to explore different types of destinations.
  • Help people identify what is nearby.
  • Connect map locations to useful listing or experience information.
A map with colour-coded pins and filters for eat, stay, explore and shop, with a pop-up for Point Lighthouse showing its distance, rating and a directions link.

Itineraries & Trip Planning

TOOL

Help people turn discovery into a practical plan for their visit.

Once people find places and experiences that interest them, simple trip-planning tools can help bring those ideas together. Suggested itineraries, saved places, and connected stops can make it easier to plan a day, weekend, or themed visit without starting from scratch.

Trip-planning tools should:

  • Offer suggested half-day, full-day, or multi-day itineraries.
  • Let people save favourite places and experiences.
  • Connect nearby stops into a logical route or sequence.
  • Combine attractions, food, shopping, events, and accommodations into one plan.
A one-day itinerary with four numbered stops, from breakfast at the market to sunset at the point, beside a small map of the route and a Save this trip button.

Also consider

How well does your website work for residents?

Take the free check-up. In about 20 minutes you'll walk through everyday situations, like reporting a pothole or finding a council agenda, and get a plain-language check-up report of what's working and what to tackle first.

Start the check-up

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