An independent assessment of where demand is created, converted and measured.
Business Context
An award-winning eco-experiential attraction that opened in 2021 on the Malahat Nation’s traditional territory, approximately 35 minutes from downtown Victoria. The experience centres on a 600-metre TreeWalk, a 10-storey Spiral Tower and the Overhang glass observation deck.
Brand Strengths
A distinctive physical experience, strong guest sentiment and a brand platform worth strengthening rather than replacing. Public information indicates more than one million guests welcomed since opening.
Potential Awareness Gap
Discovery may be concentrated around branded search and regional word-of-mouth. Non-branded destination intent — "things to do in Victoria," "Vancouver Island attractions" — represents a measurable opportunity to capture travellers earlier in planning.
Conversion & Channel Opportunities
The website, ROLLER ticketing and Klaviyo lifecycle platform form a connected stack. The opportunity is to tighten the path from discovery to ticket, improve attribution, and activate post-visit engagement and repeat visitation.
Measurement Priorities
A unified measurement architecture is needed to connect sessions, ticket selection, purchase, on-site redemption and actual attendance — distinguishing tickets sold from guests who arrive.
Growth Opportunities
Independent visitation growth over 24 months through segmented acquisition, seasonal programming, destination partnerships, membership retention and a disciplined testing framework — within an approximate CAD 500,000 annual marketing budget.
Operating Premise
This assessment does not propose a rebrand. The objective is to make the existing brand and experience work harder commercially \u2014 strengthening awareness, conversion, attribution and repeat engagement \u2014 while preserving what has already been built.
Vancouver Island and Greater Victoria: where demand is formed.
Regional tourism context for the markets Malahat SkyWalk can reach. Quantitative visitor volumes for the attraction itself are not publicly reported and are flagged accordingly.
Outdoor and nature-based experiences aligned with post-pandemic travel preferences.
Family and multi-generational travel to Vancouver Island.
Day-trip and short-break behaviour from Greater Victoria and Metro Vancouver.
Shoulder-season growth as destinations extend beyond peak summer.
Indigenous cultural tourism as a growing segment of BC visitor interest.
Wellness, forest bathing and slow-travel trends favouring accessible nature sites.
Demand drivers reflect regional tourism trends, not Malahat SkyWalk's specific customer data.
How Malahat SkyWalk sits among Vancouver Island attractions.
A qualitative positioning review of relevant visitor alternatives and complementary experiences. Ticket prices and attendance are not verified from public sources and are intentionally omitted.
The Butchart Gardens
Direct competitor- Positioning
- Internationally renowned heritage gardens; a flagship paid attraction near Victoria.
- Experience Duration
- Half-day
- Family Appeal
- High
- Membership Model
- Yes (annual pass)
- Distribution Channels
- Strong SEO, tourism partnerships, group & coach tours
- Differentiation Opportunity
- SkyWalk offers an active, elevated nature experience vs. curated gardens.
Benchmark takeaway
Malahat SkyWalk's accessible, elevated, panoramic experience is distinct from curated gardens, indoor attractions and high-thrill adventure parks. The strategic opportunity is not to compete on the same terms, but to position as the accessible outdoor viewpoint experience of Vancouver Island \u2014 and to build itinerary partnerships with complementary attractions rather than treat them as substitutes.
The visitor decision journey, end to end.
An assessment of malahatskywalk.com and the path from discovery to referral. Suspected friction is treated as a hypothesis requiring usability or analytics validation, not a confirmed defect.
01 · Discovery
HypothesisRelevant Channels
Organic search, local listings, Google Maps, AI search, tourism sites, social, PR
User Needs
Awareness that the experience exists and why it is worth the drive from Victoria.
Potential Barriers
Low non-branded visibility; travellers search "things to do in Victoria" without finding SkyWalk.
Content Opportunities
Destination-oriented guides, scenic viewpoint content, accessible-attraction pages.
Measurement Events
Sessions by source, non-branded organic landing page traffic, GBP views, AI referral.
Possible Optimization
Build destination content for planning-stage queries; strengthen Google Business Profile.
Mobile-first checkout
A significant share of travel research and booking happens on mobile. Validate the ROLLER checkout on small screens and reduce required fields.
Travel-time clarity
First-time visitors need to understand the drive from Victoria. Surface directions and realistic travel time early in the journey.
Membership visibility
Annual membership value should be visible at the consideration stage, not buried. Frame pay-back in visits.
Being found before the visitor knows the name.
Search visibility assessment across organic, local and AI discovery. Keyword volumes and difficulty are not verified from a connected keyword platform and are labelled accordingly.
| Keyword Theme | Intent | Segment | Landing Page | Recommendation | Priority | Volume | Difficulty | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Things to do in Victoria BC | Commercial investigation | Independent travellers | Destination guide hub | Build a "things to do" content cluster linking to SkyWalk | High | Not verified | Not verified | Google Trends (relative) |
| Vancouver Island attractions | Commercial investigation | Touring travellers | Attractions landing page | Position SkyWalk within an island attractions guide | High | Not verified | Not verified | Google Trends (relative) |
| Family activities Victoria BC | Informational / commercial | Local & visiting families | Family experience page | Family-focused content with age/ability guidance | High | Not verified | Not verified | Google Trends (relative) |
| Day trips from Victoria | Informational | Greater Victoria & visitors | Day-trip itinerary content | Itinerary content featuring SkyWalk as a day trip | High | Not verified | Not verified | Google Trends (relative) |
| Accessible attractions Vancouver Island | Informational | Accessibility-conscious | Accessibility page | Detailed accessibility content; structured data | Medium | Not verified | Not verified | Google Trends (relative) |
| Outdoor experiences near Victoria | Informational | Nature & wellness | Experience content | Outdoor/nature content cluster | Medium | Not verified | Not verified | Google Trends (relative) |
| Malahat SkyWalk tickets | Transactional (branded) | Decided visitors | Tickets page | Ensure ticket page ranks for branded queries | High | Not verified | Not verified | Google Search Console |
| Victoria BC itinerary | Informational | Trip planners | Itinerary content | Multi-day itinerary content with SkyWalk included | Medium | Not verified | Not verified | Google Trends (relative) |
| Vancouver Island scenic viewpoints | Informational | Sightseers | Viewpoint content | Visual content on tower/overhang views | Medium | Not verified | Not verified | Google Trends (relative) |
| Unique experiences Vancouver Island | Informational | Experience seekers | Experience content | Differentiate the elevated walkway concept | Medium | Not verified | Not verified | Google Trends (relative) |
Volume and difficulty require a connected keyword platform (Google Search Console, Ubersuggest, etc.) to populate. Relative interest only is available via Google Trends.
The stack is largely in place. The opportunity is integration and attribution.
A technology audit based on BuiltWith public detection for malahatskywalk.com. Detection confirms presence, not configuration or active use. Every integration below requires internal validation.
| Technology | Category | Potential Function | Integration to Investigate | Strategic Opportunity | Priority | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Google Analytics | Analytics & measurement | Web session and behaviour measurement | GA4 event configuration vs. ROLLER | Unified attribution from session to ticket | High | Publicly detected |
| Google Tag Manager | Tag management | Deploys measurement and marketing tags | Container structure and triggers | Clean event taxonomy across channels | High | Publicly detected |
| Google Conversion Linker | Attribution | Links ad clicks to conversions | Cross-domain and consent handling | Accurate campaign attribution | High | Publicly detected |
| Google Call Conversion Tracking | Advertising | Tracks call conversions | Call source mapping | Phone-inquiry attribution | Medium | Publicly detected |
| Cloudflare Insights / Web Analytics | Analytics & infra | Privacy-friendly traffic metrics | Overlap with GA4 | Lightweight fallback metrics | Low | Publicly detected |
| Klaviyo | Customer lifecycle | Email marketing and automation | ROLLER → Klaviyo sync, post-visit flows | Post-visit, membership & event lifecycle | High | Publicly detected |
| ROLLER Software | Ticketing & attraction mgmt | Ticket sales, redemption, guest data | ROLLER → GA4 → Klaviyo data flow | Closed-loop ticket-to-attendance attribution | High | Publicly detected |
| ProcessWire | CMS | Website content management | Content structure for SEO | Destination content architecture | Medium | Publicly detected |
| DoubleClick / Google ads | Advertising | Display and search ad delivery | Conversion tracking alignment | Audience and remarketing activation | Medium | Publicly detected |
| Cloudflare | Infrastructure | CDN, security, edge | Caching and Core Web Vitals | Performance and SEO foundation | Medium | Publicly detected |
| UIkit / Flickity | Front-end presentation | UI components and carousels | Mobile rendering, accessibility | UX and conversion polish | Low | Publicly detected |
| Vimeo | Media | Embedded video hosting | Video schema and page weight | Experience storytelling + video SEO | Low | Publicly detected |
| Typekit / Adobe Fonts | Typography | Web font delivery | Font loading performance | Brand consistency vs. speed | Low | Publicly detected |
Source: BuiltWith public detection. Presence does not confirm active configuration or integration between platforms.
Ten working visitor segments, each with a commercial objective.
These segments are working hypotheses pending first-party consumer research. They are designed to be testable through ROLLER transaction analysis, GA4 behaviour, surveys and guest interviews.
👨👩👧 Local families
Hypothesis- Motivation
- A nearby, active, memorable outing suitable for kids and grandparents.
- Decision Triggers
- Weekends, school breaks, rainy-day alternatives, birthday outings.
- Potential Objections
- Cost for a family of four; weather; "is it worth the drive again".
- Relevant Experiences
- TreeWalk, Spiral Tower, Sizzler Slide, family programming.
- Recommended Message
- An accessible adventure minutes from home, for every age.
- Channels
- Local social, Google Business Profile, school & community partnerships, email.
- Partnerships
- Local family brands, schools, children’s programs.
- Commercial Objective
- Repeat visits and membership conversion.
- Measurement Approach
- Repeat-visit rate, membership uptake, local-origin attendance.
Recommended research methodology
Post-visit surveys · Ticket purchase surveys · ROLLER transaction analysis · GA4 behaviour analysis · Guest interviews · Review analysis · Visitor origin mapping · Repeat-visit cohort analysis.
An offline and online mix, organized by what each channel does.
Channels are separated by funnel role and scored against decision criteria. Online advertising is one lever among many; organic discovery, referral partnerships and destination distribution carry equal strategic weight.
Channel Investment Decision Matrix
| Channel | Intent | Geo Relevance | Measurement | Cost | Impact | Effort | Seasonal | Tier |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Organic search | High | High | High | Low | High | Med | High | Quick win |
| Local SEO / GBP | High | High | Med | Low | High | Low | High | Quick win |
| Paid search | High | Med | High | Med | High | Med | High | Medium-term |
| Paid social | Med | Med | High | Med | Med | Med | Med | Medium-term |
| Short-form video | Med | Med | Med | Med | High | Med | Med | Medium-term |
| Email (Klaviyo) | High | Med | High | Low | High | Low | Low | Quick win |
| Hotel partnerships | Med | High | Med | Low | High | Med | Med | Quick win |
| Tourism partnerships | Med | High | Low | Low | High | Med | Med | Medium-term |
| OOH / radio | Low | High | Low | High | Med | High | Med | Strategic |
| Travel creators | Med | Med | Low | Med | Med | High | Med | Medium-term |
| Referral / membership | High | Med | High | Low | High | Med | Low | Quick win |
Scores are qualitative strategic estimates, not measured performance. Actual channel ROI requires internal attribution and test data.
Reasons to return, across every season.
An example annual programming framework. Each concept is tagged as existing, a potential extension, or a new proposal, and evaluated on acquisition, repeat, sponsorship, revenue, complexity and weather.
Spring Renewal & Nature Walks
Nature & wellness, families
Acquisition
Med
Repeat
High
Revenue
Low
Sponsor
Low
Complexity
Low
Weather dep.
Med
Summer Signature Events
All segments
Acquisition
High
Repeat
Med
Revenue
High
Sponsor
High
Complexity
High
Weather dep.
Low
Sunset at the Tower
Couples, experience seekers
Acquisition
Med
Repeat
High
Revenue
Med
Sponsor
Med
Complexity
Low
Weather dep.
Med
Regional Wine Collaborations
Couples, experience seekers
Acquisition
Med
Repeat
High
Revenue
High
Sponsor
High
Complexity
Med
Weather dep.
Low
Local Culinary Collaborations
Couples, families
Acquisition
Med
Repeat
Med
Revenue
Med
Sponsor
Med
Complexity
Med
Weather dep.
Low
Wellness Sessions
Nature & wellness
Acquisition
Low
Repeat
High
Revenue
Low
Sponsor
Low
Complexity
Low
Weather dep.
Med
Educational & Nature Programs
Families, schools
Acquisition
Med
Repeat
Med
Revenue
Low
Sponsor
Med
Complexity
Med
Weather dep.
Low
Family-Focused Programming
Local families
Acquisition
High
Repeat
High
Revenue
Med
Sponsor
Med
Complexity
Med
Weather dep.
Low
Shoulder-Season Experiences
Island residents, couples
Acquisition
Med
Repeat
High
Revenue
Med
Sponsor
Low
Complexity
Low
Weather dep.
High
Autumn Forest Experiences
Nature & wellness, photographers
Acquisition
Med
Repeat
High
Revenue
Low
Sponsor
Low
Complexity
Low
Weather dep.
High
Winter Community & Membership
Members, local community
Acquisition
Low
Repeat
High
Revenue
Low
Sponsor
Med
Complexity
Low
Weather dep.
High
Indigenous cultural programming
Indigenous cultural programming must be community-led or co-created through appropriate consultation and consent with the Malahat Nation. This framework does not assign cultural content or partnerships without evidence of collaboration. The marketing director shapes strategy, partnerships, positioning and attendance generation; production responsibilities are assigned separately.
An illustrative budget model you can adjust.
An independent proposed scenario, not Malahat SkyWalk's actual expenditure. Every allocation and assumption is editable. The model validates that allocations total 100% and distinguishes cost per incremental visit from causal acquisition cost.
Annual Budget Allocation
Allocation by category
Scenario Modelling
Illustrative assumptions — not company resultsIncremental visits
15,000
Incremental ticket revenue
CAD 420,000
Marketing cost / incremental visit
CAD 33
Contribution (illustrative)
CAD 252,000
• Cost per incremental visit ≠ causal customer acquisition cost.
• Ticket price ≠ realized revenue; tickets ≠ actual admissions.
• Incremental revenue ≠ incremental profit. Weather-adjusted visits: 12,750.
One scorecard, five outcomes, one source of truth.
An interactive executive scorecard. Baseline and target are planning inputs you can set; actual values require internal analytics and are intentionally left unset — no company performance data is fabricated.
| KPI | Baseline | Target | Actual | Variance | Owner |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Branded search demand | Not set | — | Marketing | ||
| Direct website visits | Not set | — | Marketing | ||
| Share of search (vs. competitors) | Not set | — | Marketing | ||
| Earned media coverage | Not set | — | Marketing / PR | ||
| Local brand awareness | Not set | — | Marketing |
Baseline
The current measured value before the growth plan. Required from internal analytics.
Target
The committed goal for the period. Set by leadership against the 24-month mandate.
Actual & Variance
Populated from live data once measurement architecture is in place. Left unset until verified.
A practical first 90 days: understand, experiment, operationalize.
Each initiative lists an owner, expected output, required access, dependencies, effort, potential impact and a success metric.
Understand & Establish the Baseline
Interview internal stakeholders
Owner: Director of Marketing
Experience the guest journey firsthand
Owner: Director of Marketing
Review historical visitation & channel spend
Owner: Director of Marketing
Audit GA4, ROLLER & Klaviyo configuration
Owner: Director of Marketing
Review external agency reporting
Owner: Director of Marketing
Define "independent visitor" & attribution rules
Owner: Director of Marketing
Identify quick wins
Owner: Director of Marketing
Eight quarters from foundation to a sustained growth engine.
An executive timeline organized by workstream. The specific visitation growth target is set internally by leadership; this roadmap does not invent that number. Milestones are leading indicators to be agreed with management.
Measurement & analytics
Unified event tracking live; baseline definitions agreed
Brand awareness
Google Business Profile optimized; destination content started
Visitor acquisition
Quick-win campaigns live; non-branded SEO content published
Conversion optimization
Mobile checkout audit; first UX tests run
Workstreams covered across the roadmap
16 concrete opportunities, each tied to a business outcome.
Every opportunity connects to visitor demand, ticket conversion, guest experience, retention or performance. Filter by tier; each entry carries impact, effort, time to value, resource, dependencies, measurement and confidence.
Optimize Google Business Profile
Objective: Capture local & maps intent
Insight: GBP is a primary discovery surface for nearby and visiting travellers.
Initiative: Complete all fields, photos, posts, Q&A; enable messaging
Dependencies: GBP access
Measurement: GBP views, calls, direction requests
Automate post-visit email lifecycle
Objective: Repeat visitation & reviews
Insight: Klaviyo is present; a structured post-visit flow is a high-ROI retention lever.
Initiative: Build review-prompt + membership-offer flow
Dependencies: Klaviyo + ROLLER sync
Measurement: Review volume, post-visit membership rate
Mobile checkout simplification
Objective: Ticket conversion
Insight: Travel research and booking is mobile-heavy; checkout friction is a common leak.
Initiative: Reduce fields, clarify dates, test one-step options
Dependencies: ROLLER / dev
Measurement: Mobile checkout conversion rate
Travel-time & directions clarity
Objective: Reduce research friction
Insight: First-time visitors are uncertain about the drive from Victoria.
Initiative: Add clear travel-time and directions to key pages
Dependencies: —
Measurement: Directions page engagement
Membership pay-back framing
Objective: Membership conversion
Insight: Membership value is clearer when pay-back is shown in visits.
Initiative: Add "pays for itself in X visits" framing
Dependencies: —
Measurement: Membership page → purchase rate
Event schema & structured data
Objective: Search & AI discovery
Insight: Event and attraction schema help search and AI systems surface listings.
Initiative: Implement TouristAttraction + Event schema
Dependencies: CMS / dev
Measurement: Schema validation, rich result eligibility
Destination content cluster
Objective: Non-branded awareness
Insight: Travellers search "things to do in Victoria" before they know the name.
Initiative: Build "things to do" & itinerary content hub
Dependencies: Content production
Measurement: Non-branded organic sessions
Hotel & concierge partnership program
Objective: Consideration & conversion
Insight: Hotel concierge and front desks drive visiting-traveller decisions.
Initiative: Activate concierge materials & booking links
Dependencies: Partner relationships
Measurement: Partner-referred visits
Segment-based paid campaigns
Objective: Visitor acquisition
Insight: Metro Vancouver, US and family segments respond to distinct messaging.
Initiative: Launch segment-specific creative & targeting
Dependencies: Creative, ad budget
Measurement: CPA by segment, incremental visits
Sunset & signature event series
Objective: Repeat & premium visitation
Insight: Time-limited experiences create reasons to return and pay a premium.
Initiative: Pilot sunset series; scale signature events
Dependencies: Programming, ops
Measurement: Event-attributed visits, repeat rate
Unified attribution (session→visit)
Objective: Measurement
Insight: Linking ROLLER redemption to marketing turns tickets into measured visitation.
Initiative: Wire GA4 + GTM + ROLLER + Klaviyo
Dependencies: Platform access
Measurement: Attributed visit share
Accessibility content & SEO
Objective: Inclusive visitation
Insight: Accessibility-conscious travellers actively search usable attractions.
Initiative: Detailed accessibility pages + structured data
Dependencies: Content
Measurement: Accessibility page traffic, accessible-ticket share
Destination BC & regional tourism integration
Objective: Distribution & awareness
Insight: Official tourism channels reach planning-stage travellers at scale.
Initiative: Pursue listings, co-op & content placements
Dependencies: Tourism body relationships
Measurement: Tourism-channel referrals
Itinerary bundling with complementary attractions
Objective: Full-day trip capture
Insight: Bundling with gardens, whale-watching etc. builds full-day itineraries.
Initiative: Co-market & package cross-attraction offers
Dependencies: Partner agreements
Measurement: Bundle sales, partner referrals
Structured experimentation program
Objective: Evidence-based scaling
Insight: Disciplined testing prevents budget being spent on unproven channels.
Initiative: Stand up test framework & cadence
Dependencies: Measurement
Measurement: Tests run, validated learnings
Membership & loyalty growth engine
Objective: Retention & CLV
Insight: Members are the highest-value repeat visitors and advocates.
Initiative: Build member lifecycle, perks & referral
Dependencies: Klaviyo, ops
Measurement: Member count, repeat rate, CLV
Questions a Director of Marketing would ask before committing budget.
These questions are constructive and collaborative. They surface the internal data and decisions needed to turn this framework into a committed plan.
What is the current baseline of independent visitation by origin market and season?
What is the exact 24-month growth target, and how is success defined?
What proportion of tickets purchased becomes actual attendance (redemption rate)?
Which channels currently demonstrate the strongest incremental visitation?
How are ROLLER ticketing and guest data connected to marketing analytics today?
Which visitor segments have the highest revenue and repeat-visit potential?
How are programming, marketing and guest experience coordinated across the year?
What is the organization’s appetite for testing new partnerships and formats?
What internal capabilities are strongest, and where is agency support most valuable?
How should emerging attractions within the broader master plan influence audience development today?
Prepared by Bruno Santiago
International Marketing & Growth Strategist | Founder, Imagina Digital
British Columbia — a region I know personally, not only professionally.
Bruno Santiago is a Brazilian marketing strategist, journalist and entrepreneur, and founder of Imagina Digital, established in 2014.
His work connects marketing strategy, digital experiences, organic growth, customer acquisition, content, marketing automation, analytics, AI and international market development.
He has experience working with Brazilian and Canadian businesses and has spent extended periods living in Vancouver, British Columbia.
His approach combines commercial objectives, creative thinking, marketing technology and practical execution.
A Personal Connection to British Columbia
British Columbia is more than a market I've studied professionally. Having spent extended periods living in Vancouver and having visited Victoria, I've developed a personal appreciation for the region's natural beauty, tourism appeal, culture, and lifestyle.
This familiarity gives me an additional perspective on what makes destinations like Malahat SkyWalk special, both for visitors discovering Vancouver Island and for people who already have a connection to the region.
I'm fully open and prepared to relocate to Greater Victoria for the right leadership opportunity, and I welcome the prospect of working on-site, collaborating closely with the team, and contributing to Malahat SkyWalk's next chapter of growth.
Open to Relocation | Greater Victoria, BC
Previously lived in Vancouver and visited Victoria. Fully available to relocate to Vancouver Island and work on-site.
Capabilities matching the mandate
The Opportunity Is Bigger
Than Awareness Alone.
Malahat SkyWalk has already built a remarkable guest experience. The work ahead is to turn that experience into a scalable system for demand generation, visitation growth and long-term guest relationships — strengthening the existing brand, not replacing it.
Awareness is the first lever, but the durable advantage comes from connecting discovery to conversion, conversion to measured visitation, and visitation to repeat engagement and advocacy. That is how an attraction becomes a destination growth engine.
Prepared independently by Bruno Santiago | October 2026
This independent assessment uses publicly available information and strategic modelling. It was not commissioned or endorsed by Malahat SkyWalk or BoldHouse Executive Search. Internal commercial and analytics data would be required to validate operational hypotheses and financial projections.
Public sources used in this assessment.
Where live research or a third-party integration was unavailable, the report relies on verified public information provided in the brief and flags unavailable research accordingly.
Note on data: Keyword search volumes, website traffic, organic rankings, conversion rates, ticket sales, campaign spend, customer acquisition costs and financial results were not available from connected platforms and are not invented. Quantitative fields are labelled "Not verified" where applicable. The 93% guest-expectations figure is attributed to the Director of Marketing role description, not an independently validated study.