Maggie Duffy still sees Halifax through fresh eyes.
As a transplant from Alliston, Ont., who moved to the city in 2016, Duffy retains something of an outsider’s point of view. Having visited Nova Scotia frequently with family as a child before later moving to Halifax to study marketing at Dalhousie University, she’s watched the city evolve, but says a certain “emotional undercurrent” still runs through it.
“I love walking around this city and trying to step into the mindset of a visitor, and just trying to see, if I were walking through Halifax for the first time, what would that be like?” Duffy says. “It’s being able to see what other people are feeling and being able to step into that and also almost feel it myself. That really helps me to get in front of my audience in a clever way.”
Since joining Discover Halifax three years ago, the 26-year-old has helped revitalize the destination marketing organization’s (DMO) brand online by putting forth a more textured and honest view of the city. Going against the tourism-industry grain, Duffy creates content on Instagram and TikTok that mixes idealistic coastal landscapes with more down-to-earth representations of the region – fog, clouds and all.
“The blue-sky version of this city is gorgeous and it’s radiant and lovely, but there’s also a more rugged, kind of gritty, side to Halifax. And I think that being able to show the reality of that through our content, and being able to frame it in such a beautiful, kind of romanticized way, really resonates with people.”
As the voice of Discover Halifax’s owned channels, Duffy’s long-term brand storytelling approach and detail-driven marketing instincts have resulted in significantly boosting the DMO’s presence and engagement online.
In fact, Clare Tidby, VP of marketing and visitor experience at Discover Halifax, says Duffy’s work has led to a 52% increase in social-media engagement, with followers across channels now surpassing the 250,000 mark. Duffy also contributed to the May 2023 relaunch of the DMO’s website, which went on to win Webby and Web Excellence awards, and worked on Discover Halifax campaigns that gained recognition from the ICE and ADCC awards.
Tidby says Duffy’s work across social media, the website, published guides, campaigns and newsletters has been key to boosting tourism numbers. Last year Halifax reported a 14% increase in visitation levels compared with 2019.
While the tourism increase and online-engagement results are tangible, Duffy says her marketing motivation is to drive feelings, not just conversions. For her, building a brand community is less about convincing travellers to visit than it is an attempt “to light a spark for someone who already is maybe open to us.”
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Tidby adds that Discover Halifax shed its former sales and contest-driven messaging under Duffy, who has taken the brand in a modern, emotionally-driven direction.
“She’s just got it,” says Tidby, who joined Discover Halifax in April 2021 after stints at agencies Time & Space, Famous Folks and Arrivals + Departures. “I’m 25 years into my career. I’ve worked agency and client side, worked on a lot of interesting brands, and she’s the best I’ve ever worked with in her field, and she’s just starting out. Yeah, she’s stellar.”
As the lead of Discover Halifax’s culinary marketing program, Duffy ensures a portion of the DMO’s budget is allocated toward highlighting the city’s food sector, a scene she says “punches above its weight.” Duffy has deployed organic and paid media to increase awareness and worked with photographer Jessica Emin to help produce a number of guides and campaigns, including 2023’s TV project “Stoked on Food.”
“We’re really at an advantage here as well, because Halifax is just filled with local restaurants,” says Duffy, who cites the menu at Dartmouth’s Ori Foods as a personal favourite. “We have a lot of independent restaurants. We don’t have too many chains here, so there’s so many stories to be told.”
Duffy also sits on Destination Canada’s committee to help shape best content practices for the country’s DMOs. And she was recently invited back for a second straight year to sit on an expert panel at the Tourism Industry Association of Canada’s conference, which wil lbe held in Gatineau, Que., in November.
Beyond her work with Discover Halifax, Duffy regularly volunteers as a mentor to university students, her rapid rise serving as inspiration for those aspiring toward careers in destination marketing.
“When I was starting out, I looked up to professionals and there were some people that were really generous with their time talking to me, and that really benefited me and gave me some confidence and a little bit of direction and clarity in what I wanted to do,” Duffy says. “And I think that now that I am that person, students look up to me and I just really want to be able to give that back to them.”
Portrait of Maggie Duffy courtesy of Aaron McKenzie Fraser
