by Susan Simosko –
In any given year, Distinctly Sidney, the brand name for the Sidney Business Improvement Area Society (SBIA), invites thousands of people to visit Sidney. How? By initiating more than 100 creative marketing and promotion initiatives to inform, excite and motivate people not only to visit the town but to shop, eat, stay, play and enjoy all the town has to offer.
Established in 2012, the Sidney BIA was formed by a group of property and business owners to establish a Sidney-based organization dedicated to marketing and promoting the downtown district. As Donna Petrie, Executive Director of the BIA, puts it: “Our goal is to attract people from Victoria, up Island, across B.C., Canada and the States and, through social media, from well beyond. We want them to experience all that makes Sidney a unique and wonderful place to live, work and visit.”
The BIA is all about increasing footsteps, potential customers, clients and event attendees. As Mark Dickinson, a commercial property owner, recently said: “The SBIA has proved time and again capable of creating inspired initiatives for making Sidney an attractive shopping and business centre. It is reassuring to know that the SBIA is continually striving to bring more people to Sidney’s downtown core.”
As evidence of success, Donna points to the statistics provided by Sidney hotels and others. “Hotels have seen substantial increases in occupancy over the past two years,” says Donna. “And most not-for-profits have experienced an increase in event attendees too.”
The SBIA is funded through an annual levy paid by property owners to the Town of Sidney, which then passes the funds on to the SBIA. All but a small portion of the budget goes directly to the marketing and promotion of Sidney.
Donna is always searching for ways to leverage media opportunities for Sidney businesses too. Last year she estimates that the value of those opportunities equaled close to $100,000 of free publicity. In addition, the SBIA has continued to build partnerships with destination marketing organizations such as Destination BC, Tourism Victoria and Tourism Vancouver Island to ensure Sidney’s exposure in markets far and wide. The SBIA also maintains strong working relationships with Washington State and BC Ferries, Butchart Gardens and others, and ensures that Sidney is regularly featured in publications such as Northwest Travel & Leisure Magazine, WestJet In-flight Magazine and dozens of others.
Without doubt, the SBIA plays a key role in contributing to Sidney’s economic vitality! Check out www.distinctlysidney.ca or pick up a copy of the Sidney Guide & Foldout Map or the Sidney Services Directory & Map to learn more about the SBIA or Sidney businesses. Both are located around town, including at the Sidney Visitor Information Centre.
