Light Up the Village

Light Up the Village

This value and experience driven campaign showcases the opportunity to come to Whistler for a relaxing, pre-festive getaway during the end of November and the first few weeks of December. The campaign will encourage visitors to explore the Village, take in the beautiful seasonal light displays, do some holiday shopping and take in our unique "winter wonderland" before the crowds arrive for peak winter season.

Visitor highlights include early-season skiing and other winter activities, a shopping voucher program with local retailers, self-guided festive lights tours, carol singing, Eberspächer Luge World Cup, ice skating in Olympic Plaza, Arts Whistler Holiday Market, Vallea Lumina, the Whistler Film Festival, Bespoke Market and other holiday-themed fundraisers, programming and performances.

This initiative is now complete. Come back soon for information on participating in 2024.

Target Dates
November 23 - December 20, 2023
Target Audience
All
Marketing Focus
Regional and Destination
Partners
Retail, Lodging and Activity Sectors, RMOW, Arts Whistler
Landing Page
whistler.com/lights

If you have any questions or have a new idea to explore, please contact Rachel Hughes, Coordinator of Destination Development, at rhughes@tourismwhistler.com or (604) 938-2748.

1. Retail Sector members are invited to sign up as a Shopping Voucher location!

To drive visitation for early winter season: we are renewing our $25 Whistler Shopping Voucher promotion in which customers booking 3+ night stays on Whistler.com for arrivals November 23 - December 20, 2023 are eligible to receive 4 x free $25 Shopping Vouchers to use at participating locations.

In order to participate, all voucher locations must agree to the following:

  • Be a current member in good standing of Tourism Whistler
  • Be open for the duration of the initiative (minor scheduling modifications permitted i.e. closed Mondays)
  • Accept vouchers at the full $25 value, without restrictions, through our digital coupon platform CouponTools
  • There is no cost to participate! Participating locations will be reimbursed 100% for all vouchers accepted at their location
  • Additional offers, promotions, festive decorations or experiences at each location are encouraged
  • A minimum of 20 participating retail locations is required to move forward

About CouponTools

The CouponTools digital voucher platform allows users to redeem their non-transferable voucher via a mobile device. Each retailer will be issued training instructions and a unique password that will validate coupons at their location. Once the voucher is "redeemed," the retail staff can credit the customer bill $25. Vouchers will have no cash value, so no change should be given. Weekly reporting will be provided to all locations to assist in tracking, and full reimbursement will follow the program completion.

Further details will be sent to all interested businesses - please sign up by contacting promotions@whistler.com.

1. Create a New Experience: Do you have a fun, creative holiday idea for the early winter season that will appeal to visitors? Let's partner! Suggestions include:

  • Warming stations with hot apple cider, hot cocoa, etc
  • Holiday themed menu items, festive afternoon tea etc
  • Christmas tree lighting ceremonies
  • Holiday craft stations and workshops
  • Holiday pop-up performances or movie screenings
  • Snowman making competitions

To learn more about available funding for new or related experiences, please review our Experiences Fund Application Criteria.

2. Feature an Event Listing: All holiday-themed and relevant events from November 23 - December 20 can be entered in our Events Listing Calendar, and will be piped into a dedicated feed that will be located on whistler.com/early-season-deals

Submit your events here.

Spread the word!

  • Familiarize yourself with all upcoming Whistler pre-festive events on whistler.com/early-season-deals
  • Visit this page regularly to view participating shopping voucher locations
  • Share pre-festive messaging and offers on your social channels
  • Decorate your hotel, shop or check-in desk
  • Don't forget to tag all of your social posts and photos with #OnlyInWhistler and @GoWhistler