Ontario By Bike Network:

Industry Update - November 2021

2022 Marketing Partnerships

-NOW AVAILABLE-

We recently made available our 2022 marketing partnership options. 

As the interest and participation in cycling and travelling within Ontario has reached new heights in the past year, our digital and print resources continue to be the go-to options for cyclists planning a day or multi-day trip. With changes in travel, reach cycling enthusiasts from Ontario, across Canada and USA, as more travel resumes, to help them find and visit your location and destination by partnering with Ontario By Bike in 2022.

Print

Ontario's only cycle tourism publication remains popular in both its print and digital formats.

Connect with cyclists from Ontario and farther with your ad, inspiring stories and info on cycling routes and experiences, helping cyclists explore more of Ontario by bike!

The 10th annual Cycling in Ontario Guide is a bilingual publication, printed in both French and English.

Digital

Digital resources are the most frequently used source of info cyclists use in pre-planning trips and outings.

More cyclists than ever are visiting OntarioByBike.ca, engaged through our e-newsletters and following us on social media. 

Get in front of cyclists with a variety of content partnerships or display advertisement options.  

Events

Each year Ontario By Bike 

is an exhibitor at a 

number of Ontario and 

Quebec shows and events. Benefit from this added exposure and reach a new audience, with reduced expenses and resources, through our events partnership. 

Events are expected to be back for 2022 and we are making plans to attend. Should cancellations happen, we offer a guaranteed reimbursement.  

- Booking deadline November 15 for print. Digital deadlines extended till sold - 

Don't miss this opportunity - All options sell out

For all marketing partnership information & media kit visit OntarioByBike.ca/2022marketing

2021 Year in Review - Ontario By Bike

While 2021 was certainly a challenging year for the tourism industry, businesses and for us all personally, there were a few points to celebrate: increased travel by Ontario residents rediscovering their province, and a huge surge of interest and participation in cycling activities for transportation, healthy living and recreation, including cycle tourism.

Working with the new realities of 2021, our tourism partners and businesses, and reaching our ever growing community of consumers, cyclists of all types, we are pleased to share with you some of our accomplishments for the year.

REACHING & ENGAGING CYCLISTS

Cycling in Ontario/Le vélo en Ontario

• In 2021 we printed and distributed 35,000 copies (25k in English, 10k in French) of our 9th annual popular publication, increasing size to 48 pages
• We experienced unprecedented demand for the publication in 2021, 73% were distributed by end of March 2021
• New distribution channel with insert to subscribers of Canadian Cycling magazine, we also continued with distribution to Vélo Mag subscribers, both helping to offset closures of tourism info centres and businesses, plus event cancelations
• Over 18,000 digital views and 2,300 copies mailed directly upon request to individuals in Ontario, Canada and USA

Marketing Partnership with Destination Ontario

• Social media campaign - In June we ran a successful social media campaign that generated over a million impressions and 16,663 clicks
• Influencer campaign – Reaching new audiences through their platforms we worked with the following influencers: Travelling Mitch; JustinplusLauren; Wandering Wagars; JourneyWoman. Samples of their articles can be found at HERE.
• Additionally Destination Ontario assisted with outreach and promotion of cycle tourism through their own channels, distribution of guide and e-newsletter, photo and video crews to capture 2 of our rides to updating their image bank and website upgrades

Ontario By Bike Rides 2021

• Huge demand and interest for weekend long rides, with 3 out of initial 4 offered selling out within a month of announcement, a 5th added but cancelled due to COVID-19
• Ride destinations included: Sarnia Lambton; Niagara Circle Route South; 1000 Islands & St. Lawrence River; Cataraqui Trail, Napanee & Kingston
• Legacy itineraries available online HERE
• Ontario By Bike certified bicycle friendly businesses exclusively used for accommodations and catering, where possible
• 150 guest riders, plus 26 staff/volunteers for season
• 9.4 average out of 10, rating how enjoyable was ride overall
• 9.6 out of 10, likelihood to join another ride

Webstats & Social Media & Other Media

• Average monthly page views this past summer surpassed 63,000, with an average 27,000 visitors to site per month
• 25 news and media articles featuring Ontario By Bike, including CBC Radio interview
• Now with 16,200 subscribers our popular monthly consumer/cyclists e-newsletter was issued 9 times in 2021 with a 44% average open rate

FOR OUR INDUSTRY PARTNERS & ONTARIO BY BIKE CERTIFIED BUSINESSES

• 18 webinars hosted for 550 registered attendees in 2021, (plus an upcoming November webinar for Niagara)
• 137 new businesses certified as bicycle friendly by Ontario By Bike to date in 2021, making total across Ontario – 1,569
• Expanded to 2 new regions (Huron County and Perth County, Stratford, St Marys) for a total of 42 participating regions across Ontario
• Destination renewal partners and regions in 2021 included: Explorers' Edge (RTO12), Northern Ontario (RTO13bc), York Region, Simcoe County, Renfrew County/OVTA, Northumberland County, Lanark County, Halton Region, Niagara Region
• 2 Ontario By Bike Industry Partnership Advisory Committee web conferences hosted

Photo Credit: Martin Lortz/Destination Ontario

2022 - Looking Ahead - Ontario By Bike

• 2022 Ontario By Bike Ride destinations will be announced and sales commence in late February 2022
• The 2022 10th annual Cycling in Ontario/Le vélo en Ontario guide will be available for distribution early March 2022
• We anticipate being able to activate another robust and far reaching marketing campaign promoting cycle tourism in destinations across Ontario in 2022
• Destination partners and regions due for renewal in 2022 include: Ottawa; Sarnia Lambton; City of London; Waterloo Region; Brant/Brantford; Windsor/Essex/Pelee Island; Hastings/North Frontenac. We will be in touch with businesses in these region to verify certification and to ensure listing information is up to date. We will also be hosting webinars for each region in Spring 2022.
• We are already planning to attend 2022 shows and events including the Outdoor Adventure Show in Toronto and Montreal Bike Show, plus more
• With our new website relaunch, we will be making improvements and updates to our cycling events page and will notify all event organizers before launching to update event listings for 2022
• We are working on plans to host the Cycle Tourism Conference Canada in March/April 2022, and have a collection of interesting speakers and program ideas to share

Stay tuned for an exciting year ahead!

2021 Award Winners

Best Bicycle Friendly Businesses in Ontario

We would like to once again extend our congratulations to the 2021 Best Bicycle Friendly Business Award Winners from each region. Winning businesses received significant recognition as each one was featured in our e-newsletter in 2021, included on media releases, received an award decal and are further recognized on our web page: OntarioByBike.ca/2021AwardWinners

Nominations for our 2022 Best Bicycle Friendly Business Awards will be open in February 2022 and all participating locations will be sent a notification. Should our plans for a 2022 Cycle Tourism Conference move ahead, winners will be invited to conference and featured in a showcase presentation.

Check Your Listings / New Listings

Are you making the most of your listing with Ontario By Bike?

Make sure your information is up to date, your business description complete and that your website url and email contact address are correct. Upload pictures and a logo and check the location of your icon on the Ontario By Bike map. 

To find your listing, using the search form, search by category icon, your regional 'Great Places to Cycle' webpage or zoom into your location using the online map. To make any edits, login to your account and follow the instructions HERE. If you are having any difficulties with your listing, let us know and we will help you make any changes required.

New Listings

If you haven't already made the most of this free marketing opportunity and become a certified bicycle friendly business, register now! It is an easy 2-step online registration process to get certified, and we are always available to provide assistance. Find further info on how to register a your business HERE.

Let us help cyclists find your location!

Photo Credit: Martin Lortz/Destination Ontario

New Website Launched

It's been a long time coming, and we are pleased to announce that very recently we switched over to a new content management system that will allow our large website to continue to grow while becoming more functional for visitors and users.

It may not look a lot different as we retained much of the past design whilst adding some upgrades. However, the layout and experience viewing business listings is more streamlined and so too is the registration process for new businesses and for businesses editing their existing listings.

Have a look and let us know if you need assistance accessing your business listing or spot something else amiss, as we are continually making improvements and updating content.

What's New With You?

We are always looking for stories and updates about what is new for cyclists to discover and enjoy at your location or destination. Please do drop us a line to share. 

We are busy now working on content for our annual Cycling in Ontario / Le vélo en Ontario guide for 2022, and have active social media channels throughout the winter. Also keep us in mind when it gets closer to spring and we restart our monthly consumer/cyclists e-newsletter.

Get in Touch

Ontario By Bike Staff Changes

Joining our small full time staff team in August and working alongside Louisa Mursell, Executive Director, is our new Project Coordinator, Peter McMurtry.

Feel free to reach out to Peter as he will be helping coordinate and administer our bicycle friendly business certification program, marketing and communications campaigns, rides and events.

Bringing a wide array of experience to Ontario By Bike, Peter is also an avid cyclist, has biked about Ontario, his previous hometowns of Peterborough, Guelph, Sutton and now Toronto, plus toured down the west coast of North America. Welcome Peter!

Louisa Mursell & Peter McMurtry

Ontario By Bike Network

Project of Transportation Options

850 Coxwell Ave ~ Toronto, ON ~ M4C 5R1

Office: 416-827-2774

Toll-Free: 1-866-701-2774

Email: info@ontariobybike.ca

Want to read more: Link to our past industry e-newsletter archive HERE

Link to our past consumer/cyclists e-newsletter archive and subscribe HERE

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