Smart art: Whistler,British Columbia's brand transition to include arts and culture

The importance of city and destination branding is well studied. Cities and regions choose to pursue branding efforts for a variety of reasons. Some regions that choose to invest in branding are looking to reposition their brand to encompass arts and culture in order to stimulate economic growth. The Resort Municipality of Whistler, British Columbia, has employed this approach in an effort to grow year-round tourism and protect itself from a changing climate and business environment. Leveraging 2 of Hankinson's ( 2009 ) destination branding components, partnerships and communications, to the case study of Whistler, British Columbia, this paper explores its brand repositioning towards the arts and culture.