NEWS RELEASE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Monday, June 28, 2010

THOMPSON OKANAGAN TOURISM AND FJORD WEST
TO PROMOTE TOURISM USING INNOVATIVE NEW PARTNERSHIP

Thompson Okanagan Tourism and Fjord West have forged a unique partnership aimed at developing new cutting-edge marketing platforms that will take advantage of today's digital tools to market this exciting tourism region as a destination for consumers.

The Thompson Okanagan Tourism Association (TOTA) and Fjord West, A Division of Cossette, announced today they have signed an agreement to establish a joint venture to promote tourism in the Thompson Okanagan region of British Columbia. The partnership is groundbreaking in that it moves beyond the commission, fee for service, and performance based compensation models, and ushers in a new way to market products and services in the digital age.

The agreement means that TOTA and Fjord West will immediately begin working together on Thompson Okanagan marketing and communications initiatives, while working to create a jointly owned entity purpose-built to provide breakthrough digitally-led marketing opportunities for the Thompson Okanagan travel and tourism industry.

Glenn Mandziuk, CEO, TOTA says, "Going into our agency search, we understood that the best way to create value for our industry partners and grow tourism in the region would be to forge a deep partnership with the right agency. A partnership that would allow us to engage a top tier agency while maximizing our marketing budget through the creation of cutting edge digital marketing platforms." He continued, "Thankfully, in Fjord West, we found an entrepreneurially minded world-class agency partner with deep travel and tourism knowledge who could help us execute on this vision."

Sandy Fleischer, VP, General Manager of Fjord West added that "Digital forces such as social media and mobile have revolutionized the way that destination marketing organizations can market to consumers, and this venture has been forged in order to capitalize on these new opportunities. This business partnership will enable us to engage on a much deeper level, enabling Fjord West and TOTA to work beyond campaigns and to create, package, and promote tourism product for the digital age. The disruptive nature of the digital revolution has upended both the travel and tourism industries as well as the agency world, and working together, we've created a new model set up to take advantage of the new playing field."

Thompson Okanagan Tourism is the destination management organization for the Southern Interior region of British Columbia which works on behalf of more than 3,200 tourism stakeholders in the area, and as an agent of Ministry of Tourism, Culture, and the Arts, to support the growth and sustainability of the tourism industry. It strives to be a champion of excellence and innovation in destination marketing, management and industry development.

Fjord West is a Vancouver BC based, digitally-led full service agency offering marketing and communications services. Fjord West provides innovative, creative, digital-marketing solutions based on solid strategic planning, Fjord's clients include a broad mix of local, national and international brands.

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FOR FURTHER INFORMATION, CONTACT:
Glenn Mandziuk, CEO, Thompson Okanagan Tourism
(250-860-5999) ceo@totabc.com

Sandy Fleischer, VP & General Manager, Fjord West
(604-669-2727) sandy.fleischer@cossette.com