Captivated by Cirque du Soleil's Wonderful Kooza! Lessons for tourism? Strive for wonder.

Once again I have been totally amazed by Cirque du Soleil. One of the various definitions of Wonder from the people at Merriam Webster is "rapt attention or astonishment at something awesomely mysterious or new to one's experience ." "Rapturous" is defined by the Random House College Dictionary as "full of, feeling or manifesting ecstatic joy or delight." And it is this "rapturous wonder" that I experience when I go to a Cirque du Soleil show. Of course, one must be in the mood to be amazed and one must suspend disbelief as in the theatre or films. But given this convention between audience and artists the experience created by Cirque du Soleil is unique (perhaps in the world). After the show I came back to reality and thought about what a great example of creativity (books have been written about Cirque's creativity). Can we learn something here? Cirque is a concept that incorporates many an art, from painting to arquitecture to music to theatre and dance. At its core you have athletes performing death defing feats and using their bodies in ways one can't imagine possible. But that is just a core - then the whole thing is dressed in wonder. Can your tourism business come up with creative ways to bring a sense of wonder to your product or service? For example, Indigo hotels have created a concept that incorporates color in their hotels with sleek design. It differentiates their properties from others and while one may say this does not consitute wonder, it's a step above just a simple room with a bed. Strive for wonder. Your guests will appreciate it and they will want to come back again.

Cheers,
Jaime

http://www.cactusrock.com/

Said good bye to Vancouver (best city in the world to live according to the Economist Intelligence Unit) with a day at the beach. Loved it.

My last day in Vancouver before returning to Toronto we spend at the beach in Kitsilano. I had a great time swimming in the ocean (a bit chilly, but really refreshing after 5 minutes in the water) and spending quality time with my sister (who lives in Burnaby), my best friend (married to my sister), my wife, daughter and my niece. I'm very happy to be home though. Home is home. I love to visit Vancouver, but I love to live in Toronto. By the way, the Economist Intelligence Unit's global city rankings placed Vancouver as 1st and Toronto as 5th best cities in the world to live. How about that? Melbourne, Vienna and Perth came in between the two Canadian cities. Montreal unfortunately did not make the top ten this time (merde!). We can do better Canada - Australia is eating our lunch (4 of the top 10 cities).

Cheers,

Jaime

Our Tofino Visit - when something goes wrong what do you do for your guests?

Not everything has been wonderful in paradise in Clayoquot Sound. After a great first afternoon and evening in Tofino we went to bed in our beautiful spacious room at the Middle Beach resort (see traveller insight posts to read about this process from the travler's point of view). Because my wife wanted to bring her Mother and Step Father along, we booked a large room for five people - i.e. one bedroom, one loft (where our daughter slept) and the sitting area with a pull out couch. My wife and I decided to leave the bedroom to her Mother and we took the sofa. We went to bed around midnight but soon enough discovered it was going to be a rough night. As it turned out we realized that being two feet away from the refrigerator was going to be a big problem because this particular fridge makes a lot of noise every four to five minutes. Not to go through all the excruciating details, suffice it to say that my wife left the room furious at around 2:30 am to try and sleep in the main building's lounge/lobby. I did my best to try and get some shut eye through the noise and did sleep some albeit not very well. You can imagine how we felt come 7:30 am (my wife came back to the room at around 4:30 am). This has never happened to me before - where I stayed at a $300 + a night establishment and had problems at night and no one we could call to fix them. So in the morning we went to the front desk and let the young staff know that we had a huge problem - we had a horrible night and were not about to have another one (we did try unplugging the fridge ourselves but the way the resort installed them does not allow you to reach the plug wherever it is). The young woman in the front desk did what any good hospitality business should do - she was very calm and apologetic and immediately asked us if we wanted to switch rooms to a slightly larger maybe more comfortable one (and also asked if we wanted that fridge unplugged later in the day). And that's what we did. It does not make up for the very bad night last night, but at least the resort made an good effort to make things right. We'll see how this night goes. Other than that today was another great day in the Pacific Rim side of Vancouver Island. More comments in the coming days.

Cheers,

Jaime

Just when I thought I had seen enough beauty, I arrive in Tofino.

I have a new kind of slogan for Canada (or my Canada if you will). Canada: Beautiful. If Spain is passion, Mexico is beach, Italy is art, the US is big and flashy - then Canada is beautiful. Some may think this is sort of clicheish, but I don't care. Canada is so vast, so rich, so amazing that we will never be able to encapsulate it in one word or one phrase. Perhaps from this point of view, the "Keep Exploring" brand makes a lot of sense. And as people keep exploring this place we call Canada they will inevitably discover more beauty. Why am I saying this now? Well, those of you from BC will understand right away. I am in Tofino, BC a veritable Canadian Paradise. I am here with my family for a very short period of time (my mistake), but in the few hours we've been here, I have discovered two very important things - 1) not enough time to do everything we would like to do and 2) the food is awesome (or at least the crab I had for dinner was). Since I am supposed to be with my wife at the moment (there's only so much blogging your spouse will take - although she's happily reading a book nearby - here at the Middle Beach Resort) - I will stop now - but promise to write about the experience and some traveler insights - By the way Tofino is named after an 18th Century Spanish explorer and cartographer, Vicente Tofiño from Cadiz, South of Spain - perhaps an auspicious sign for Hispanic inbound tourism to Canada.

Saludos,


Jaime

And speaking of Exploring. Campbell River and the Wonderful Discovery Islands - something new to tell Hispanic Travelers about. Wow!

Looking for Wow Places and Experiences. Staying several days on Vancouver Island to spend time with the family and explore different places to create content for my future ColombiaBritanica.com website, I have had a great time, even without the perfect weather we had in Vancouver a few days ago. Weather wise, it has been very strange, but in a very good way. It's been cloudy and rainy (except for today, which was spectacular when I went on a whale watching tour to Campbell River), but every time we stopped to take pictures or visit a spot (like Little Qualicom Falls), it stopped raining. I have been touring Courtenay (where my wife's Mother lives), Comox, Qualicom, Parksville, Coombs and Campbell River. My favourite so far is Campbell River. A couple of days ago I went with my wife and daughter to have lunch at the Painter's Lodge resort (actually April Point across the water ) and have a look around Campbell River. It was cloudy and rainy, but the sky did clear a bit - enough for us to take some pictures and some video. Today, I went back to Campbell River by myself to go on a whale watching tour with Aboriginal Journeys on a Zodiac. I found them through the Web and local publications. Because of the weather, I made a last minute booking (the trips at Painter's Lodge were sold out) but it worked out alright. I made it to the marina on time and got a great seat next to the Zodiac's Captain (a friendly guy by the name of Elvis - yup, like the singer). It did not take long to make contact with some Orcas, something I personally like very much (I really like marine mammals and big cats for some reason). The weather today was spectacular - many great images for my upcomong site, but also a feeling of discovery. I know this area of Canada is not easily accessible and it's not for mass tourism - but it is an amazing spot - another Wow region of Canada to promote to those Hispanic travellers, who want to get away from their big cities - be it Santiago, Buenos Aires, Caracas, Bogota, Madrid or Mexico City - and experience nature like only Canada can provide. I look forward to seeing more of this incredible Province starting with Tofino and Ucluelet tomorrow and Tuesday.

I Love Canada!

Jaime

www.colombiabritanica.com

www.vancouverenespanol.com

I kept exploring and stumbled upon a clothes optional beach near UBC. Orale!

Knowing that UBC is a topic of interest for thousands of Hispanic online users, yesterday I decided to explore the university on my visit to Vancouver in order to come up with more content for Vancouver en Espanol.com and el Blog de Canada.com. On yet another perfect sunny day in the Lower Main Land, I walked all over the University of British Columbia, admiring some of its architecture and impressed with all the green areas. I knew the University was right by the ocean and I wanted to get to that side of the campus, so I kept walking down the East Mall until I reached Cecil Green Park, an absolutely beautiful spot. From there I could see the ocean, but I wanted to get to the shore, so I went back up the road to follow the East Mall once again, but instead I saw a sign that leads to the beach. The sign indicates (although you might miss it) that the beach is "clothes optional." But this did not deter me from my quest to get to the ocean. I hiked down the amazing rain forest and finally reached the beach, which did not look great compared to Kitsilano. At Tower beach, there is a google number of rocks, stones and pebbles (very different from Kitsilano - another world in the same city - also not the famous Wreck beach that I think is more sandy and to the West of where I was). Nevertheless, I pressed on and walked in the direction of the Spanish banks. There was hardly anyone on the beach. Finally, I came to a clearing where there was sand instead of stones and the place just invited me to go au naturel all the way - definitely a new experience for this Latin Canadian - and I loved it! It was liberating. I even went in the water and cold as it was it felt great. (Mind you, I'm not sure if I want to do it with many people around - in any case, the experience will be great content for my Hispanic audience). After some time contemplating life and absorbing the beauty of the place, I had to go back to civilization, so I walked back to UBC and stopped by the bookstore where I heard a couple of young Mexicans talking. I said hello and struck up a conversation. It turned out one is studying English in Vancouver and the other was visiting. Funnily enough they wanted to go to the beach and asked me if I knew how to get there. Go figure. As for me, this experience is another item I will have to add to the Top Ten Canadian things to Do or Top Ten Things Canadians Should at Least Once in a Lifetime , a growing list in Canada en Espanol.com (not really ten...)

Keep Exploring,

Jaime

Checking out Vancouver's Culinary Scene with Jens Thraenhart and talking eTourism Strategy

Last night, after getting together for a drink in Yaletown with Chris Clarke, a Hospitality professional and consultant, of Chrispitality Media and Vacant Ready I had the pleasure of joining Mr. Jens Thraenhart for dinner. Since I am not an expert on Vancouver restaurants, I chose one from a few he suggested by checking out the restos' websites first. So we met at the Blue Water Cafe also in Yaletown. We had a delicious dinner of great BC Oysters (the BWC's selection is so extensive I can't remember the specific kinds, but I think I had some Kusshis and Stellar Bays) followed by a fabulous fish dish with scallops in a saffron sauce. I must admit that I have been less than enthusiastic about Vancouver's culinary scene, but this dinner (and another I had last May at Joe Forte's on Robson) are really changing my mind. Splendid food aside, I enjoyed seeing Jens again. We met at a TIAC conference some time ago and have kept in touch via email (and now Facebook). It was a good time with interesting and stimulating conversation about Canada's tourism, Hispanic inbound markets and eTourism Strategy, the main focus of the upcoming conference that Jens is organizing, Canada-e-Connect. The focus of this first ever eTourism conference is about Strategy. It is not about learning tactics to improve an organization's web presence or about SEO (search engine optimization). Canada-e-Connect will be about tourism organizations' overall Strategy (or lack thereof) vis a vis web techonology.

Strategy is a big word and many people confuse tactics with strategy. Some companies may need a website, but they may not need a Web strategy. DMO's, Hotel companies and large attractions definitely should have one. Strategy is basically how one goes about achieving goals. It may be easier to think of Competitive Strategy as oppose to simple strategy since most organizations (and definitely all destinations) compete for consumers/travellers share of - first attention - and then (hopefully) share of wallet. Many books have been written about business Strategy. I like Michael Porter's, but many others may be just as good. Porter reminds us of the basics, e.g. define how the business (read destination, hotel chain, attraction, etc.) is to compete. Then go about defining objectives and finally arrive at a strategy to achieve them. Start by evaluating generic strategies (from which all others derive), i.e. Differentiation (uniqueness perceived by the customer/traveller), Low Cost Position, Focus (on a particular segment - e.g. honeymooners, families) or Overall Cost Leadership. Translating these concepts to a Web strategy is not simple, thus a conference like Canada-e-Connect is very timely, given the explosion of new Web tools (like social media, blogs, etc.) The other component of the conference is the First Ever Canadian eTourism Awards to recognize excellence in Canadian online marketing and also bring in the consumer to the fold. Read more about it on the awards' site.

It's late so I will leave it at that. Need to get some shut eye because early tomorrow morning I'm going to Vancouver Island to spend a few days with family and to finally visit Tofino.

Cheers,

Jaime

www.cactusrock.com

Wow. Vancouver in a Sunny Day.

Doing the tourist thing in Vancouver (some phantom shopping trying out clients' products and services) and visiting family while working at the same time. Being in the tourism industry has its privileges. I've been having a great time. The weather has been spectacular and neither hot nor cold. Vancouver on a sunny day can make the most experienced traveller jealous of not living in this spectacular city. There's a strike going on in the city, but so far I haven't noticed any problems for tourism. I have seen many Hispanic tourists out and about (mostly Mexicans - whom I recognize by their accents). You can't walk one block on Robson street without seeing some Mexican family carrying several shopping bags. Bienvenidos! I've done some shopping myself - had to go to the Richard Kidd store in Gastown - and my daughter had a ball with her cousin shopping on Robson and at the Pacific Centre Mall. Vancouver is looking good. And I have a lot of new content and content ideas for Vancouver en Español.com. I have also met several American tourists at the hotels we've stayed at (Holiday Inns) and they seemed very happy with their visits. I am very curious to know what the tourism numbers will be for this summer, hopefully very good.

Cheers,

Jaime

Back in Vancouver a jewel of the Pacific Northwest

I am very happy to be back in Vancouver, British Columbia. I am here on a business and vfr trip. Yesterday, I visited Granville Island with my three favourite women in the world: my wife, my daughter and my Mother (who happens to live in Port Coquitlam, a suburb of Vancouver). We had a great time in Granville Island, a wonderful spot. Vancouverites should be very proud of Granville Island (its galleries, studios, community centre, marina and its great public market). I hadn't been here in some time and I was very impressed once again. Canada never ceases to surprise and excite me as I travel to new places and revisit old one. On a sunny day like the one we had yesterday, walking about the shops and the market, having dinner at a restaurant like Sammy Peppers, shopping in quaint stores like Edie Hats with my girls, being a tourist again, I not only enjoy myself very much and feel very grateful for being Canadian, but I also become reassured that our tourism potential is unlimited. I am confident and passionate that with the right marketing approach Canada can attract over one million Hispanic tourists annually from the US, Spain and Mexico (plus many more if we include South America). This particular trip will help me to improve Canada en Español's coverage of Vancouver and continue work on the new Spanish site ColombiaBritanica.com (launching in the Fall). I am also happy to have the opportunity to meet with fellow tourism professionals from the West Coast.

Viva Vancouver! Viva Canadá!

Jaime

www.vancouverenespanol.com

Fall Industry Events: Great Opportunities for Learning and Networking to grow One's Tourism Business

I am very excited about this coming Fall's Tourism Industry Events. First, in early October we'll have Ontario's Tourism Marketing Summit (or The Summit as it's being branded) in the nation's Capital. I am particularly interested in the overall topic: "Marketing Excellence and Innovation." The agenda promises to provide new insights into tourism marketing as well as the opportunity to see old industry friends and meet new ones. The Summit takes place October 3 and 4 and based on past Summits, I highly recommend it. If you would like to attend, I suggest you register soon: Ontario's Tourism Marketing Summit

The other conference I always look forward to attending is TIAC-AICT's Tourism Leadership Summit. This is the premier national tourism conference where leaders and members of the industry get together to learn, discuss, debate and network. This year's topic is in everyone's mind, the US market. Red, White and Blues, Renewing American Travel to Canada is the title of this year's summit and it promises to generate a lot of ideas and heated debate. TIAC strives to make the summits better every year and this one should be no exception. One innovation I am looking forward to is the "On the Soapbox" concurrent sessions where attendees (who register in advance) will be given five minutes to address the conference. The Soapbox topics are: What I think about Marketing Canada, What Tourism Should be Doing on the Environment, What Should be Happening in Product Development and What are Canada's Greatest Opportunities for Tourism. These sessions will give us, ordinary tourism professionals, an opportunity to voice our opinions or concerns regarding these important topics (there will be a written record of the submissions). TIAC's Red, White and Blues, Renewing American Travel to Canada will take place in beautiful Victoria, BC November 4 to 6. Register early (especially if you want to participate in the Soapbox sessions).

The third conference I will attend this Fall is quite new. In fact this one will be its first editon. Canada-e-Connect, Canada's e-Tourism Strategy Conference and Awards, an initiative from Jens Thraenhart, the indefatigable Executive Director of Marketing Strategy and Customer Relationship Management for the Canadian Tourism Commission. Acording to its website, the Canada-e-Connect e-Tourism Strategy Conference is all-about strengthening Canada’s tourism industry profile. We do this by mixing in two key ingredients: a supportive environment that encourages different tourism sectors to collaborate and the latest know-how so they can adopt e-marketing into their mix with finesse. It’s that simple and fun. I am very much looking forward to attending this event because it's right up my alley. I look forward to meeting fellow eMarketers as well as industry members interested in this whole world of Web 2.0, SEO, Blogs, Facebooks, CGC, etc., etc. This conference will take place in Vancouver from November 7 to 9, right after TIAC's Summit in Victoria. Go West Young (wo)Man! To register, visit Canada-e-Connect's Website.

Hope to see you there!

Jaime

Mexican Inbound Tourism growth - the strongest to date.

While the US market continues its decline (down 8.8% in May, down 15 % Jan to May), Mexico marches on as one of the fastest growing markets for Canadian inbound tourism. Mexican visits in May were up 19.9% and are up 18.5% for the first five months of the year. This is spectacular growth during shoulder season. Numbers for June, July and August should be equally spectacular if not more so. All of this is proof that increased marketing efforts in Mexico by various industry stakeholders is paying off. However, there is much more room for growth. Last year's results (213,945 visitors) were in the 10% growth range, a mark that should be surpassed this year by several points.
It is in the realm of possibility that we could reach over 300,000 Mexican tourists in 2008 or 2009. I have said in the past that there are enough affluent Mexican travellers for Canada to receive over 500,000 visitors per year from that country. But in order to reach that goal more work needs to be done in the area of marketing and work with the airlines.

This year the CTC's marketplace in Mexico has invited operators from other Latin American countries to participate. This bodes very well for Hispanic tourism to Canada. But what about Spain? Spain was not invited. Spain, in my opinion, has enormous potential for Canada. I believe that a one million dollar investment in marketing in Spain could result in one hundred million dollars of economic benefit to Canadian tourism. The tourism industry has traditionally segmented markets geographically. Nothing wrong with that. But stepping outside comfort zones for a minute, why not address markets culturally and by language. This is not that dificult to do online, as Canadá en Español has always done. The websites reach over 30 countries with two main things in common: Hispanic culture and Spanish language. And although there are differences among these countries, these can be adressed with relevant content. Travellers looking for bookings could be directed to suppliers in their own country/city or to global providers like major hote chains that can take bookings from anyone online.

Any thoughts? Leave a comment.

Jaime

http://www.cactusrock.com/

One of my favourite spots in the World: Muskoka, Ontario

Just back from a wonderful week in cottage country north of Toronto. One of my favourite spots in the world is the Muskoka region in Ontario. For a few years now, my wife and I have rented a place in Muskoka to spend a week in the summer with our daughter and invited guests. This year our daughter invited 5 friends (13 and 14 year old girls) to spend the week with us. We rented a big place - actually two cottages on a cliff on lake Muldrew near Gravenhurst. Last year we invited another family to spend the week with us, but this year we figured our daughter could bring her best friends. It was a great week. The kids behaved very well and did their chores. We all had a very good time. We try to do this every year and it's the only week of the year that I make sure not to have email and Internet access whatswoever. It is a time to re-connect with my family, with nature and with Canada. I love the sensation of swimming in the lake. I also get a chance to do some canoeing near the cottage, an activity I would like to be better at (I know a man whose school could never teach him patriotism, but who acquired that virtue when he felt in his bones the vastness of his land, and the greatness of those who founded it. The Ascetic in a Canoe, P.E.T 1944) . I like Muskoka a lot because in addition to the peaceful fun at the lake, one can also visit the quaint little towns like Gravenhurst, Bracebridge and Huntsville and one of my favourites, the small village of Port Carling.

So now it's back to work, although this month of August I will be able to combine work and Holidays in British Columbia, where I have friends, clients and relatives. I am working on ColombiaBritanica.com, a new Spanish language site, to promote BC and this trip will move things along nicely. I will finally visit Tofino and the Pacific Rim National Park and, of course, will spend several days in beautiful Vancouver, where I will visit clients and gather more material for Vancouver en Español.com.

Cheers,

Jaime