A tour through the Uplands is a likely stop for any visitor to Oak Bay, but whether or not they’re able to specifically recognize the finer points of the trip, is debatable.
There’ll soon be an app to address that.
One of the features in the works for Tourism Oak Bay’s nearly completed new website are smartphone apps for walking or biking tours of landmark and heritage stops within the district, including the historic Olmsted-designed Uplands neighbourhood.
The Tourism Oak Bay website, which bears the tagline Beautiful Oak Bay, will go live this month, with the tour applications expected around the same time.
“We’re kind of getting into the 21st century,” said Coun. Tara Ney, the council liaison for Tourism Oak Bay. “We’re trying to create a new identity for Oak Bay, one that speaks to a community that’s healthy, that’s upbeat and that is environmentally conscious. We’re opening the doors to the community to visitors who are interested in visiting our heritage sites, our beautiful villages and our cuisine and our remarkable coastline and beaches.”
The tourism site falls in line with the municipality’s overhauled web presence. Last month Oak Bay launched the revamped oakbay.ca, a $50,000 project designed by UpanUp Studios, the same company behind the latest website.
“What we want to tell people is that we’ve got a lovely community with terrific amenities,” Ney said. “We’re really trying to bring to the fore some obvious assets: the remarkable beauty, the heritage, and our village areas.”
The restaurants within those village areas, Ney added, are prime stops for foodies and another facet to the rebranding of Oak Bay.
