No fast cuts. No high-gloss edits. No crescendoing music building to a clink of wine glasses. Just a roadside fuel stop in the Rockies. A backyard barbecue under the northern lights. A sense of place that doesn’t perform (on queue).
This is Canada’s new national tourism brand: Canada, naturally. And it’s rewritten the rules of destination marketing. Louder doesn’t always resonate. Faster doesn’t always land. And true beauty doesn’t need a spotlight.
Unveiled in Winnipeg at Rendez-vous Canada 2025, the campaign is more than a marketing refresh. It’s a quiet rebellion against tourism-as-theatre. Shot entirely on 35mm film and stitched together with slow, observational moments, the brand leans hard into selling Canada as it is.
A response to a filtered world
The campaign comes at a time when the world is questioning what’s real. Destination Canada says it was designed in direct response to audiences burned out by over-produced, AI-assisted travel content.
“We’re living in a world that’s increasingly filtered and fake,” Gloria Loree, Destination Canada’s Senior Vice-President, Marketing Strategy and Chief Marketing Officer, told Karryon.
“People wonder if the images they see of a destination are AI-generated or not. What can they trust?”
The idea that travellers crave something honest sits at the heart of the brand. And for a destination built on wide skies, big silences and communities that value connection over spectacle, it makes strategic sense.
Real moments, not montages
The campaign roll-out includes:
- Hero videos that feature real-time moments of everyday life, filmed on 35mm stock for a warm, documentary look.
- Digital ad assets that reflect the same slowed-down rhythm.
- A first-of-its-kind Google Street View collaboration, showing authentic, unstaged imagery of Canadian locations in real time.
There are no jumpy edits. No pulsing soundtrack. No model-perfect families hiking into the sunset.
“It was really hard to get there,” Loree said. “It’s easier to do what you’ve always done. Fast cuts, upbeat music. But we just have to be who we are.”
What this means for the trade
For travel advisors, this campaign doesn’t just offer a new brand story, it offers a new language.
Loree says the shift makes it easier for trade to have honest conversations with clients, especially around travel that moves beyond viral destinations and traditional peak seasons.
“It helps us make decisions,” she told Karryon. “Like why we want to promote a shoulder season. If the strategy is correct and it’s based in truth, then it gives you clarity.”
Destination Canada plans to support the trade with updated training tools, speaker videos, and a refreshed asset library reflecting the new look and feel.
A counterpoint to over-tourism
The brand’s focus on everyday moments also doubles as a deliberate move away from overexposed places and over-loved experiences.
“The influence of Instagram or shows like White Lotus can destroy places,” Loree said. “It’s wonderful to be wanted, but being overloved is a difficult thing.”
In that context, she sees travel agents as allies in protecting destinations through thoughtful recommendation.
“AI might tell you what’s popular. But agents? They know what works,” she said.
A slight shift in location, a few kilometres off the tourist trail, can mean the difference between being processed and being welcomed, Loree added.
“These kinds of recommendations don’t just disperse crowds; they elevate the guest experience and preserve the local rhythm that made the destination worth visiting in the first place.”
The bigger play
Canada, naturally. is the brand expression of a larger goal: Destination Canada’s 2030 Strategy: A World of Opportunity.
The goal? Make Canada one of the world’s top seven tourism destinations and drive $20 billion in incremental tourism revenue by the end of the decade. The agency says the sector currently contributes $130 billion to the economy, fuelled by 265,000 businesses in 5,000 communities.
This brand isn’t chasing that target with flash or gimmicks. It’s choosing something quieter—and harder. A bet that slowness creates depth, that presence builds connection, and that real stories are what travellers remember.
KARRYON UNPACKS: Destination Canada just made stillness a strategy. In a marketplace built on attention-grabbing edits, it’s offering something different: Canada, naturally. For agents, that means a brand that opens the door to richer conversations, deeper experiences, and clients who are ready for more than a highlight reel.
