I have to spend the night in Newark, NJ because my Berlin flight was delayed and consequently, I missed my flight to Toronto. Nancy, the attendant, at Continental's international transfer counter told me I could stay and fly in the morning or get on a standby list. Being rather tired, I did not want to risk it by getting on the stand by list, so I'm staying here for the night.-
Since I have a bit of time on this Sunday night let me summarize my impressions of Canada@ITB. If you want a graphic representation of how tough the competition for tourist's dollars is around the world, you must visit ITB some day. The largest tourism trade show in the world, ITB lives up to that reputation. The congress
centre in Berlin is enourmous. There are several huge buildings housing the numerous halls where various countries have their exhibits. (I heard someone say that thisyear they had over 180 countries participating) The Canada pavilion was located in Hall 2 at the very back. To get there you need to walk by the massive Russian exhibit and then the massive US exhibits (Chicago, New York, Florida, Las Vegas, Discover America, etc.) The Canada pavilion is very well appointed and wrapped in the new "keep exploring" graphics and colours. However, visually it just looked small compared to the rest of the exhibits (sort of ironic for the second largest country in the world). One could argue that the German market is not as important to Canada as it is to other countries that are closer to Germany but it's pavilion's size is probably more as a result of budgetary constraints than anything else). Nevertheless, the pavilion looked busy. While I was there, I ran into some industry insiders. Here's what they told me when I asked how business from the German market looks. - 
Kim Hood from the Fairmont Whistler told me that the Fairmonts do get quite a bit of business from the German market. Whistler gets a fair amount of German skiers and the Fairmonts in the Rockies also do well in that market. I ran into Brandon Furyk also from the Fairmont organization who also mentioned that business was going well at ITB.
-
Mia Dario from the Delta Chelsea Hotel said that business was good for the Chelsea. She ha
d been hearing that for the US, the German business is way up, but that Canada had been holding its own. Obviously the reasons have to do with the high Canadian and the weak US dollars. The Delta Chelsea is the largest hotel in Canada located in downtown Toronto. She said that one challenge has been trying to raise the average rate, something the Chelsea has been trying to do since 9/11, but it hasn't been quite successful yet.
Kim Hood from the Fairmont Whistler told me that the Fairmonts do get quite a bit of business from the German market. Whistler gets a fair amount of German skiers and the Fairmonts in the Rockies also do well in that market. I ran into Brandon Furyk also from the Fairmont organization who also mentioned that business was going well at ITB.
-
Mia Dario from the Delta Chelsea Hotel said that business was good for the Chelsea. She ha
d been hearing that for the US, the German business is way up, but that Canada had been holding its own. Obviously the reasons have to do with the high Canadian and the weak US dollars. The Delta Chelsea is the largest hotel in Canada located in downtown Toronto. She said that one challenge has been trying to raise the average rate, something the Chelsea has been trying to do since 9/11, but it hasn't been quite successful yet. -
Barry Dane from Ca
lgary Tourism also said business was good overall, but this being his first time at ITB he had not seen many people yet. Barry and I also spoke about the Mexican market. He mentioned that it looked like there will be direct flights to Calgary and Edmonton from Mexico City beginning this summer. If that is so, it';s great news for Mexican travelers and great news for Alberta. I hope to have more details about this soon.
-
lgary Tourism also said business was good overall, but this being his first time at ITB he had not seen many people yet. Barry and I also spoke about the Mexican market. He mentioned that it looked like there will be direct flights to Calgary and Edmonton from Mexico City beginning this summer. If that is so, it';s great news for Mexican travelers and great news for Alberta. I hope to have more details about this soon.-
I also said hello to Roseanne Longo of Tourism Toronto. Toronto is doing well with the German market. She said many German visitors arrive in Toronto and rent a motorhom
e to tour around the province. usually they will spend 3 or 4 days in Toronto at the beginning or the end of their trip. And finally, I was able to say hello to Gaby Kots from the OTMP who was busy with meetings almost all the time I was at the pavilion (a good sign for Ontario). What everyone agreed on is that the high dollar is affecting growth. While the German markets still looks good for Cananda in '08, growth rates won't be anything like the growth that the US will experience because of their low dollar.
e to tour around the province. usually they will spend 3 or 4 days in Toronto at the beginning or the end of their trip. And finally, I was able to say hello to Gaby Kots from the OTMP who was busy with meetings almost all the time I was at the pavilion (a good sign for Ontario). What everyone agreed on is that the high dollar is affecting growth. While the German markets still looks good for Cananda in '08, growth rates won't be anything like the growth that the US will experience because of their low dollar.auf wiedersehen,
Jaime
Share on Facebook
No comments:
Post a Comment