This document compares and summarizes information about four national parks: Yellowstone National Park in the US, Banff National Park in Canada, Arenal Volcano National Park in Costa Rica, and Torres del Paine National Park in Chile. For each park, details are provided on location, establishment, attractions, visitation numbers, and communications strategies. Yellowstone is highlighted for its thermal features, designation as the first US national park, and targeting of families and older adventurers. Recommendations are made to advertise Yellowstone through commercials and a Google Maps partnership.

1. Yellowstone National Park
compared to Banff, Arenal Volcano, and Torres del Paine
David Martinez, Grace Poat, Florence Lo
COMM 447
Professor Collison

2. Yellowstone, USA - Introduction
● United States’ first National Park
○ Established as a national park in 1872
○ Yellowstone National Protection Act: “the headwaters of the Yellowstone River … is
hereby reserved and withdrawn from settlement, occupancy, or sale … and dedicated and set
apart as a public park or pleasuring-ground for the benefit and enjoyment of the people”
● Located mostly in Wyoming (96%) - remaining land in Montana (3%) and
Idaho (1%)- 3,468.420 sq mi spanning three states
● Situated atop a supervolcano
○ Hydrothermal activities - more than 10,000 thermal features and sixty
percent of the world’s geysers (highest concentration of geysers in the
world)
● 1978 declared a World Heritage Site
● 1976 designated as biosphere reserve

3. Banff, Canada
● Canada’s first national park
○ Established in 1885
● Parks Canada
● Included within UNESCO’s Canadian Rocky Mountain World Heritage
site
● To celebrate Canada’s 150th year as a nation, free admission was
offered to any Canadian national park in 2017 - open to any person
coming from any country
○ Discovery Pass- annual unlimited entry to any park
○ Single-location Pass- unlimited entry to one park

4. Banff, Canada- Communications
● Parks Canada Social Media
○ Instagram: 114K followers
○ Facebook: 227K followers
○ Twitter: 188.3K followers
○ YouTube: 9.8K subscribers
● Get involved:
● BioBlitz event
○ iNaturalist app
● Parka, the mascot, photo scavenger hunt

6. ● Located in the Northwest part of Costa Rica, this
national park covers over 291,000 acres
● Contains several trails, diverse flora and fauna as
well as the the remains of laval tracts
● The volcano unexpectedly erupted in 1968 and is
now considered dormant.
● Advertised by the Costa Rica Advertisement
Board and receives over 100,000 visitors a year.

7. ● Their website run by the Costa Rica Tourism Board
“Visitcostarica.com”, is available in multiple
languages including English, French, and Italian.
● The website has an intuitive feature allowing the
customer to easily locate information, rather than be
bombarded with random facts.
● The website allows customers to plan itineraries,
research attractions, and purchase trips, creating a
one stop shop.
● Facebook: ~1 million, Instagram:158k, Twitter:26k

8. Arenal Volcano, Costa Rica
Visitcostarica.com

9. Torres del Paine, Chile
● Located in the Southern Chilean Patagonia (Magallanes Region)
● Established in May 13th, 1959
● Known for mountain ranges, lakes, glaciers, and rivers
● Attracts over 200,000 visitors a year
● Run by National Forest Corporation (CONAF)
○ Private, non-profit organization that works with Chilean Ministry of
Agriculture
○ Responsible for establishing forest reserves and national parks,
monitoring and promoting the sustainability of native forests,
landscapes, and protected species

10. Torres del Paine, Chile - Communications
● Utilizes travel sites dedicated to providing visitor information
○ ParqueTorresDelPaine.cl (run by CONAF)
○ TorresDelPaine.com (run by Discover Chile)
● Featured on travel websites
○ VisitChile.com
○ Chile.Travel
○ GoChile.cl
○ WelcomeToChile.com
○ SustainableTravel.org
● Social Media
○ Twitter: 28.8K followers
○ Instagram: 282 followers
○ Facebook: 7,000 likes

11. Yellowstone National Park - Market
● Target
○ Families age 30-55 , soft adventure but must be
memorable. Household income of $40-$60k with children
between 6 and 17.
○ Active aging adventurers age 55-64
○ Geo-travelers age 25-45
● Average of 4 million visitations per year.
● Now attempting to advertise more on the internet due to a 33%
increase of the internet being a primary trip planning tool.

12. Yellowstone National Park - Communications
● Employs the Strategic Communications Office of NPS
● Publicity, Highway Signage, On-site Brochure
Distribution, Email Newsletters, Old Faithful Livesteam
● Mobile Apps: Yellowstone National Park, Geysers
● Websites:
○ Owned by NPS: NPS.gov, DestinationYellowstone.com,
NationalParks.org
○ Independent: YellowstoneNationalPark.com,
YellowstonePark.com, TravelWyoming.com
● Social Media
○ Twitter: 846K followers
○ Instagram: 596K followers
○ Facebook: 1,071,661 likes

13. Yellowstone - Suggested Changes
● Commercials
○ Simple and effective way to advertise
○ Has a wide reach
○ Can advertise not only domestically but also to international
visitors
● Google Maps Partnership
○ Aimed at roadtrippers
○ Suggest relatively unknown sites within the parks
○ Showcase a different side of the park

14. Thank You
Questions? Comments? Concerns?