An Introduction to Landsby: Q & A with Landsby Founder Jason Sarracini
In late 2021, RTO 9 partnered with VIA Rail and Canadian tourism company Landsby to help stimulate economic growth in the region by encouraging local Winter travel.
The result was the successful and ongoing Rail + Roam campaign, which offers travellers discounted train tickets and exclusive itineraries in South Eastern Ontario.
Landsby worked with multiple industry partners across all RTO 9 regions to create exclusive itineraries that would excite Canadians. To learn more about Landsby, we’ve invited founder & CEO Jason Sarracini to tell us about his company and how you can get started working with Landsby to grow your tourism and hospitality business.
What is Landsby?
“I launched Landsby in the spring of 2021 because I saw a desire among Canadians for meaningful and authentic travel within our own country.
Years ago, I met with the Destination Canada team and I was introduced to the Canadian Signature Experience portfolio. These are unique, owner-operated experiences that highlight the best of Canada and the pandemic presented the opportunity to create more of these experiences in South Eastern Ontario and across Canada.
Canada is often marketed to international travellers, which is great, but we wanted to capture the imagination of the Canadian traveller by curating immersive and unique itineraries that highlighted interesting places to see from coast to coast to coast.
The response has been phenomenal! Every day we hear from Canadians who are interested to discover more about Canada’s amazing people and places. Now more than ever, Canadians want to support our local businesses and aid in our collective healing and growth through domestic travel.
Our wonderful partnership with RTO 9 and VIA Rail allowed us to create great itineraries in South Eastern Ontario and we are always looking for more partners in the region. Landsby is also working with Destination Ontario and Destination Canada to create even more opportunities to grow this country’s domestic travel market.
Why work with Landsby?
“Building strong and mutually beneficial partnerships is at the heart of what we do at Landsby. We want our partners to be successful and we know that we are stronger as an industry by working together.
Landsby is a division of OST.travel, a Canadian travel company founded in 1967 by the Sarracini family. We have a database of loyal customers that typically travel internationally and there is an opportunity to capture that spend, domestically.
Landsby also offers you increased exposure and revenue to your business through our targeted advertising, partnerships, creative initiatives, and our website traffic.”
How can a business get started working with Landsby?
“There are three ways you can work with Landsby to grow your tourism and hospitality business.
1. We have just launched a Community Subscription Program. For $10 per month or $100 per year, you will be able to create a “card” for our website to showcase your business. The CTA on the card will be a straight clickthrough to your website (or a link of your choosing i.e booking engine, Facebook page).
There is no other work on your part — you create the card and let our targeted marketing lead customers to your business. Your card will be placed amongst our itinerary offerings for your specific province and location. This program is a unique and exclusive low-cost option for all types of hospitality businesses, from galleries to spas, and kayak providers to local eateries. Claim your business here.
2. List with us! If you operate a vacation rental, you can place your business in our stays category. We will help you craft your listing and give your business exposure through our various channels. The sign-up link is located at the bottom of our site.
3. Partner with us on an exclusive itinerary. We love creating itineraries that give Canadians a fun adventure, an authentic experience or a restorative getaway. Connect with us regarding your business and we will work with you to create a product offering that is unique and meets the needs of Canadian travellers. We would love to hear from you. Please don’t hesitate to send us an email at rto9@landsby.ca.”
Don’t forget to subscribe to the Landsby Journal for exciting stories, interesting experiences, and a ton of Canadian travel inspiration!