Happy New Year 2011

Happy New Year

Bonne Annee



-- Post From My iPhone

"Happy Christmas to All and to All a Good Night"

May you have a wonderful Christmas Day (whether you celebrate it or not)

Almost final blog post of the year. Ready for 2011? Start early with Canada-e-Connect and consider the new Canadian Tourism Marketing Summit

The disaster that was 2009 is hopefully a distant memory. While 2010 was not spectacular, we did see some recovery in the Canadian Tourism industry. It is by no means a great state of affairs, but there's cautious optimism that 2011 might be an OK year for Canada. The challenges going forward are many: the weak American economy, the rising loonie (Canadian dollar for those of you who don't know our currency's nickname), the debt crisis in Europe, and the intense competition from a myriad of other destinations.

Do you long for the good all times BYT, BFB, BT (before YouTube, before FaceBook, before Twitter)? The digital revolution has been wreaking havoc in many industries for several years now and it's like a tsunami that keeps on going. Music, advertising, marketing, public relations. Even politics has changed because of the digital revolution. Just a mere 5 years ago you could still compete very effectively with traditional marketing communications (TV, radio, print, static Web) and trade relations (wholesalers, tour operators, airlines, etc). If your destination had big budgets you could make more noise than the others and get decent results. Today, that's not the case.

Destination marketers are having a very hard time keeping up with the consumer and the ongoing changes that the digital world brings about. 5 or 6 years ago the buzz was SEO, optimize your website so that people can find you on search engines - improve your rankings so your website/destination appears on the first page of Google organic results. And just when many destinations were getting right, in came the Social Media storm. Today, a DMO's voice is just one of thousands talking (or not) about a particular destination. Same thing goes for tourism businesses. Even when none of the current digital means of communication existed, admen and adwomen talked about "cutting through the clutter." We had seen a fragmentation of TV audiences with the "500 channel" universe, and that was hard enough. Now the audience is fragmented into millions (even if 500 million of them are on Facebook).

How are you competing in this environment? What is your strategy going forward? In my previous post I encouraged you to attend Canada-e-Connect. I still do, but you may also want to consider attending the new Canadian Tourism Marketing Summit next March. If you need help with tactics and hands on learning, there's Online Revealed also in March. If you plan to attend ITB this year and you are interested in the latest technological developments in tourism, I recommend the PhocusWright @ ITB conference (the theme in 2011 is "Marketplace Chaos: Spotlight on Technology and Innovation). Unfortunately PhocusWright @ ITB takes place at the same time as Online Revealed and the Canadian Tourism Summit, so you will have to choose.

Today more than ever, it is important to keep up with technological and communications developments in the tourism space. The old tourism marketing, advertising and distribution system that lasted for decades has been creatively destroyed in just a few years and changes happen almost on a daily basis. Stay on top or fall behind.

Jaime

www.cactusrock.com

62 days 'till Canada-e-Connect eTourism Strategy Conference 2011

While there are only 23 days 'till Christmas (Happy Hanukkah, btw, Dec 1 to 9), there are only 62 days until Canada's national etourism strategy conference, Canada-e-Connect, presented by TIAC and PhoCusWright. Register by tomorrow, Friday December 3, to get a shot at a brand new iPad 16G.

This year the CeC has put together another great program. Speakers include Scott Stratten @unmarekting on "Unmarketing" fame, Tara Hunt @missrogue, and Amber MacArthur @ambermac, one of the leading social media experts in Canada and author of Power Friending (my review is coming on this blog soon).

The first Canada-e-Connect conference held in Vancouver was all about "joining the conversation," the second Canada-e-Connect in Toronto in 2009 was about the "Digital Revolution," and how digital technology is the new gauge (see Dr. Ian Fenwick's DigiMarketing), content is personal and content travels and engaging instead of targeting. The third installment of Canada-e-Connect in Montreal was not only about joining the conversation using digital media, but how to go beyond and create conversational capital (see Betrand Cesvet's "Conversational Capital"), conversations that enhance brand equity. What will Canada-e-Connect IV be all about?

We all know how fast technology moves today. At the second Canada-e-Connect in January 2009, while I was interviewing Ted Souder, at the time Head of Travel Central Region at Google Inc., during a luncheon session, I asked if anyone in the audience had a twitter account. Besides me and Ted, only 2 or 3 people tweeted! That was less than 2 years ago! Today we are seeing an explosion in geo-location services and group buying might be the next big thing (Google might be buying Groupon as I write this).

How are you adapting your strategy to take advantage of the ongoing digital revolution? Come to Canada-e-Connect 2011 in Toronto and get ahead of the curve. There will be sessions on geo-location, video as a branding, marketing, communications and sales tool, what's going on in the mobile space, of course social media, branded content and very importantly - measuring it all. And if a session does not cover a particular interest of yours, I am sure you will meet people who can either help you or point you in the right direction. Network with experts in their field.

Canada-e-Connect 2011, February 2 to 4, 2011. Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Register early.

Hope to see you at CeC 2011

Jaime Horwitz MBA

Past Chair Canada-e-Connect

member advisory committee

@jaimehorwitz

Todd Lucier on WiFi and Social Media - get with the program people

Todd Lucier is a pioneer in Canadian Tourism - one of the first Canadian tourism professionals who understood the digital revolution and its impact on tourism marketing.

(watch out Rick Mercer)

11.11.11 "Lest we Forget"

11.11.11

"Lest we Forget"

In Flanders Fields
By: Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae, MD (1872-1918)
Canadian Army

In Flanders Fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.

Price, Proximity and Ease of entry - the drivers of tourism worldwide

A few days ago FutureBrand, the organization that ranks countries' brands, announced that Canada reached the top spot in the Country Brand Index. This prompted some lively discussion on Twitter and on the Canadian Tourism Professionals Group on LinkedIn regarding the value of such rankings in tourism performance. I believe that rankings of this type do not materially affect tourism performance one way or the other. While ranking at the top in the Country Brand Index is something to be proud of, just as being in the top 10 countries on the United Nations' Human Development Index is something to be proud of, the facts don't support the idea that any of these rankings help tourism performance. In general what drives tourism around the world (and domestically) is proximity, price and ease of entry.

Proximity - when you look at tourism on a global scale and see where destinations are actually getting their tourists from, you'll see that most of them travel from countries nearby - No #1 source of international tourists to Mexico is the US followed by Canada. No #1 source of international tourists to the US is Canada, followed by Mexico. No # 1 source for Spain is the UK followed by Germany and France. Most international tourism in Australia is generated by Oceania countries and East Asia (China, Hong Kong, Japan). China derives the biggest percentage of tourists from neighbouring Asian countries. But we don't have to go global to see this. We have always seen that domestic tourism is also driven by proximity (if you are tourism marketer you have known this for a long time). Most visitors to Muskoka, Ontario are from the Greater Toronto Area. Most visitors to Whistler are from the Greater Vancouver Area. Most visitors to Montreal (outside Quebec) are probably from Toronto, etc., etc.

Price - we can come up with the best and most creative campaigns to attract visitors to our destinations or attractions, whether these campaigns are digital, physical or singing telegrams, but unless the price points are affordable to our guests we will not grow the business (and in some cases won't survive). This is a bit of a cruel truism in business. Not only must the visitor see an attractive benefit per dollar, but he or she must be able to afford it. Currency wise, Canadians are rich at the moment vis a vis the US greenback and the Mexican peso. What do you think will happen this winter when Canadian winter destinations will be competing for Canadians travel plans if an all inclusive week in Mexico, Dominican, Cuba, etc., will cost them a fraction of what it would cost to spend that week in Tremblant or Whistler? We are in for a spike in our travel deficit this winter courtesy of the weakness in the US dollar and higher commodity prices. At the same time, the appreciation of the loonie is making our destinations more expensive than they already were 2 or 3 years ago. Skiers in the US may find that skiing at home will be more affordable than skiing in Canada. European skiers (those left who can afford to travel) will find European slopes much more affordable than Canadian moguls.

Ease of Entry - there are various reasons why most tourism industries around the world are sustained by domestic tourism. The biggest is ease of entry. People can move around their own country with the most ease (and of course there's significant VFR travel domestically). Speaking internationally, we have seen how important this driver of travel is by witnessing how it has affected the flow of US visitors to Canada since 9/11. Another case is the dramatic drop in Mexican visitors when Canada imposed visa restrictions on them last year. But ease on entry not only refers to visa and security issues, it also refers to airlift, airport fees, and other issues. Ease of entry is very much related to proximity and cost. 9/11 notwithstanding, it is still very easy for Canadians to enter the US and for Americans to enter Canada. And it's still very easy for both Americans and Canadians to enter Mexico. In North America, Mexico is a good example of a destination that competes very well with other destinations because of its proximity, its prices and its ease of entry. It is remarkable that with all of Mexico's image and security problems, its tourism industry has not seen a significant drop in American and Canadian tourists in the last 2 years, and according to the Mexican Tourism Ministry (Secretaría de Turismo de México) Canadian visitations have grown 38% since 2008!

In conclusion, look at your destination or tourism business and remind yourself where you get or can get most of your guests/customers. Sharpen your pencil and price your offerings so that they are attractive and affordable to your target community/tribe/market. Regarding Ease of Entry, you may not be able to do much about it, since you are where you are (on the other hand, make sure that the directions and maps on your website are correct - and definitely make sure that your place appears correctly on a Google Maps search).

Jaime Horwitz MBA

The US Market and Canadian Tourism

Tweets from the Tourism Summit:

EventsWest

Great article in today's Vancouver Sun: Canada's tourism slump & what to do about it. http://ow.ly/33SzC#TIACsummit

Pierrebellerose

La Commission canadienne du tourisme se retirera du marché leisure américain pour laisser la place aux joueurs canadiens #Tiacsummit

AkBeattie

#tiacsummit Doug Fyfe sites ongoing concern affecting US tvl to CDA: Economy, Security, X-chng Rate, Competition, Product, Mktg, Consumers

The Canadian Tourism Commission, CTC, announced at the Tourism Industry Association of Canada's Tourism Summit, that it is leaving the US leisure market. Most leaders in the industry already knew this, so it didn't come as a shock to them. Veteran industry insider Doug Fyfe, speaking about the decline of the inbound US market, talked about the various issues that have contributed to that decline, issues that all of us in the industry have known for years, whether it was 9/11, SARS, the economy, security or the exchange rate. The one element Doug touched on that is very important to keep in mind is Competition. In my opinion, it is this issue, more than any others that has affected the US travel market for Canada.

Canada has lost significant market share to other destinations in the last decade. While the US economy has indeed affected travel in that country, the fact is that Americans continue to travel abroad, a fact that may surprise many. According to Forbes Traveler, based on data from the US Department of Commerce's Office of Travel and Tourism Industries, 63.6 million Americans traveled outside the US in 2008. Yes, you might say, but that was 2008, not the disastrous 2009. Well, according to an article in the New York Daily news (that quotes the Forbes Traveler research), up to May 2009 the decline of US outbound travel was only 7.7% below 2008 levels. While significant, it is not what many people would expect. Even a 10% drop in 2009 would indicate that over 55 million Americans traveled abroad last year. While Mexico is still the #1 foreign destination for Americans (negative image notwithstanding), Canada is still strong at #2 (proximity matters) receiving almost 40% of all those travelers in 2009. I personally think that the CTC's abandonment of this market jeopardizes that standing. Yes, the cities and provinces will continue to invest in the US market, but I think that the CTC's support is still important, if not critical. Consistency is also important. The US economy will come back. Will Canada be in Americans minds when it does? I don't think the lack of better results has been for a lack of effort and hard work. What I think is needed is more creative thinking and more risk taking to stand out from the crowd (yes, making it easier for travelers to cross the border and fly into Canada is very important, but only part of the solution).

What I would recommend is to look at the US with fresh eyes and to work on sending the right message not only to Americans, but, very importantly to Canadians, that Canada loves America. Whether we agree or not with their various political views, most of us do like the diverse American people. It was tweeted at the TIAC Summit that with Social Media we can reach passionate communities. True. The hard work lies in discovering and engaging those communities with the right messages about Canada. This does not mean that social media alone would do it, we still need to use traditional methods like paid advertising and most of all, be creative, be creative and be creative.

Jaime

Is your brand a One Night Stand or a Serious Relationship? Part II

Staying with the topic of relationships and tourism destinations or businesses (see previous blogpost), tourism marketers would benefit from strategies that segment their visitors between those who are just looking for a "one night stand" and those who want or could develop a "serious relationship" with their destination, attraction or tourism business. This is easier said than done, but not impossible. At the micro-level, small tourism businesses like lake resorts, B&B's, restaurants and some attractions already have "going steady" relationships with many of their customers. For example, my family has an ongoing relationship with the Gravenhurst, Ontario area. We try to go to the same vacation rental property every year. Every year we go to the same ice-cream parlour at the Muskoka Wharf and the same café in Port Carling. We always shop at the stores in that town - I particularly like Muskoka Bear Wear.

I also have a "serious relationship" with the IHG Hotel Group. I am a Priority Club Ambassador member. Informally, I have made a commitment to stay at IHG hotels wherever I go if at all possible. Priority Club is their loyalty program and Ambassador is a higher level of membership, and implies a bigger commitment from IHG to make these loyal guests happy and treat them in a special way. As long as I perceive a real benefit from this membership, I will remain loyal to the brand. The main reason for this loyalty is that I always know what I'm going to get when I travel and stay at the different IHG brand hotels.

In today's "world of the customer," in the new "era of pull", where the "customers are the message", and brand is the sum of customers' Public tweets, comments, complaints, videos, etc., knowing what kind of relationship your business or destination can aspire to and with whom is critical for long term viability. The number of substitutes for all leisure and entertainment products is growing exponentially. The current global economic reality will force consumers to make tough decisions. "Should we go for a weekend to Montreal or New York or should we buy the new Apple MacBook Air?" We are not just competing with other destinations or attractions. We are competing for consumers' share of wallet with a myriad of products and services. Today more than ever we must strive to make our guests and visitors feel special. We should focus on developing "long term relationships."

When applying Social Media strategy to these two kinds of customers what might be the right approach:

• For your "going steady" customers you should strive to develop an ongoing dialog. These customers should be more open to receiving your newsletters and follow you on Twitter. It is very important that you listen and respond to these customers more than any others. They will be the champions of your brand. Applying what I call PERL to these guests would yield the best results. P for promotion, E for engagement, R for responding and L for listening, not in that particular order, of course, but easy to remember. Furthermore, you should consider a loyalty program of some sort. With the explosion of geolocation services that are easy to use, you should think about a FourSquare, Gowalla, Living Social, WagJag and/or other geolocation and group buying strategy.
• For your potential "one night stands" you would apply more traditional marketing tactics, including digital and traditional advertising, supported by social media elements (and attractive price points). Harness the positive content created by past guests and your brand champions and do everything possible to distribute that content for all to see. Tourism British Columbia is an example of a destination that has striven to do this with their blogs. TBC was one of the first destinations in Canada that offered travelers the opportunity to create blog posts on their official website. When TBC started its blog social media had not taken off yet so readers could not share blogposts via Twitter and FB, but today they can and TBC rightly added "share this" buttons to every post.

In conclusion, I suggest you begin to look at the marketplace with fresh eyes. Take time to figure out how marketing fits with this idea of your "steady" guestfriends vs. your "short term affair" guests and how you can use digital marketing to engage them both. Remember that divorce is a very real threat and that there are many other destinations that could take your "steady" guestfriends away if you don't treat them right. I leave you with another TIAC Tourism Summit tweet from Pierre Bellrose - I believe - about Doug Fyfe's presentation on the US Market:

Pierrebellerose

"Peut importe ce que le Canada essaie sur le marché touristique américain depuis 10 ans, cela ne donne pas de résultats #Tiacsummit" "No matter what Canada has tried to do with the American tourism market, after 10 years we haven't seen results"

Cheers,

Jaime

Is your brand a One Night Stand or a Serious Relationship? The challenge for Tourism Destinations in Social Media

"Thanks to all re: #TIACsummit. Seems #socialmedia is top of mind. What are your thoughts on its place in the #tourism industry? Discuss! ^AJ" Deloitte Canada's Tweet from the Tourism Summit 2010 - Ironically, Social Media is not an official topic in the conference (for that don't miss Canada-e-Connect 2011, next February in Toronto)

More than 15 million people like "Starbucks" on Facebook. Same goes for Coca-Cola. The Skittles brand has generated about 12 million likes on the dominant social networking site. (see "5 Most Engaged Brands in Social Media" on Mashable). The official Facebook page for the city of Paris has only 381,818 likers as of today (Nov 2, 2010). Amazingly the official FB page for NYC & Company, the official tourism board for the Big Apple, only has 7,964 likes! Ironically, a non-official community (Community Pages are not affiliated with, or endorsed by, anyone associated with the topic) Facebook Page for New York City has over 1 million members. Canada? Well, the Canadian Tourism Commission's official "Keep Exploring" Facebook Page has 16,309 likers as of today. Tourism Toronto's official FB page? 25,144 likers. Tourisme-Montreal, which does not have a direct link to Facebook on its official website's home page (sacrebleu): 18,286. The blog I ♥ Mtl, which is not connected to Tourism Montreal, has over 41,000 likers.

Starbucks and Coca-Cola are two of the biggest global brands. But one could say that New York, Paris and Canada are also global brands. These destinations are known the world over. So what happens in the world of social media that the difference in engagement between these product brands and just about any destination in the world is so big? The answer is simple. Consumer brands have the potential to develop "serious relationships" with consumers, they can achieve a "going steady" state of affairs.

Many consumers drink a Starbucks coffee or a Coke soft drink every single day so they have an ongoing and physical relationship with the product. Millions of consumers use their iPhones not only every day, but every hour! They even feel attached to their mobile device (not me).

Tourism destinations, on the other hand, particularly for leisure travelers, are usually "one night stands." This is great for the traveler, but not so good for the destination. Given the myriad destinations available to the average traveler, why would anyone commit to visiting the same place year after year? Similarly, if I will probably visit your destination only once (maybe twice) in my lifetime, why would I join your Facebook page or your Twitter feed? If I joined all the FB pages of destinations I want to or plan to visit in the future, my FB wall would be clogged to the point of annoying frustration (I have already started deleting some "Likes" in order to clean up the stream).

Fortunately, not all destinations are a "one night stand" for every traveler. It is possible to "go steady" with many (sometimes millions) visitors. While not all destinations (or specific tourism businesses) can aspire to achieve this in any substantial way, activity specific destinations and large urban centers have the best chances for two reasons: 1) passion and 2) proximity. Passion refers to people who belong to specific groups or tribes who travel to the same destination because of the activity that takes place there and nowhere else. The Caribana and Toronto International Film Festivals are two examples. Many passionate Caribana revelers and avid film-goers go to these events every year they can. The SXSW Festival in Austin Texas attracts many repeat visitors every year as do many music Festivals like Coachella in California. Proximity: destinations that are easy and affordable to get to in a short period of time can also develop "long term relationships" with travelers (e.g. New York City, Toronto, Niagara Falls, Boston, Montreal, Ottawa can all be reached relatively easily from each other - of course some pairing work better: NYC-Toronto, Toronto-Niagara, etc). I know destinations close to other cities, states or countries have always targeted those nearby consumers in traditional ways, it is important to revisit this in the age of social media.

It is the consumers closer to your destination that are the best prospects for ongoing social media engagement because it is these consumers that are most likely to be repeat visitors. It is these travelers who may be most interested in what's going on at your destination, e.g. events, festivals, special offers, etc. And it is with these travelers with whom your destination has the best chances at developing a dialog with. Finally, it is these visitors that you should find a way to reward for their "loyalty."

To be cont'd.....

Jaime Horwitz MBA
Cactus Rock New Media

Fall into Fall's Canadian Tourism events and conferences

Fall is a beautiful season in Canada with all the autumn colours and crisp cool air around us. It is also a time when the industry re-evaluates where it is and where it is going. There are several important Canadian Tourism conferences in the Fall. In the past week I have been reminded of two interesting conferences taking place in November (in addition to the national Tourism Summit): HR Forum 2010 (Nov 15 to 17), The BC Tourism Industry Conference (which starts tomorrow) and almost brand new TOTA (Thompson Okanagan) 2010 Tourism Summit (second annual Nov 3 to 5). In this post I will comment on the HR Forum.

The HR Forum is an important conference because it focuses exclusively on human resources issues in the industry. For years we have been hearing about the impending hr crisis in tourism because of the aging of our population and the need for qualified workers (not to mention the critical need for excellence in guest services). This issue has taken a back seat in the last couple of years on account of the global economic downturn. But make no mistake, if Canada is to remain competitive in tourism, the industry has to continually work on solving our human resources challenges. These are some of the sessions the HR Forum will have this year which I think any tourism business in Canada may find very helpful:

Excelling In the Tourism Sector and Learning from the 2010 Olympics - Nancy Greene Raine- Canada’s Female Athlete of the 20th Century, Entrepreneur and Senator

Using Technology for Recruitment & Retention

Foreign Workers – Clarifying the Processes

Diversity and Creating a Cohesive Workplace: Attracting and Retaining Internationally Trained Workers

Performance That Rocks - Jim Knight- Senior Director of Training, Hard Rock International

The Canadian Tourism Human Resource Council (CTHRC)’s 9^th Annual HR Forum will be taking place from November 15 – 17 at the Edmonton Marriott at River Cree Resort in Edmonton. With the theme, “FRESH Ideas: New Opportunities - Developing a Dynamic Workforce."

---

Jaime

Canadian Tourism Blog

www.cactusrock.com

Canadian Tourism Summit - "refreshed, renewed, reenergized" Nov 1 to 3

The Tourism Industry Association of Canada will host its annual Tourism Summit conference from November 1 to 3 in Ottawa Gatineau. This will be new President and CEO, David F. Goldstein's first TIAC conference. One small, but notable, change about the conference is that the name has been changed from "Tourism Leadership Summit" to "Tourism Summit." This reflects an effort on TIAC's part to become more inclusive perhaps as the former name implied somewhat of an elitist approach to the event. I do not speak for the association, of course, but it seems to me that the idea is to bring in more tourism stakeholders to the lobbying table. TIAC is a lobbying organization, the official voice of the industry vis a vis government. Interestingly enough, this year's conference includes a session called "The View from Parliament Hill" with the participation of 3 members of Parliament as panelists. Should be an interesting panel, e.g. "what does the Federal Government think of the tourism industry?" "Should there be a Tourism Ministry?" "Should the CTC be closed down?" "Should the CTC be expanded with more support?" "Should Canada impose a fee on overseas visitors like the US and Mexico do?"

In addition to the "View from Parliament Hill" this year's conference includes several, in my view, important sessions, such as "Green Tourism: A National Strategy for Sustainable Tourism," "Cultural Events and Festivals," and "Future of the US Market." These three sessions encapsulate in my view three key success factors for Canadian tourism going forward. First, there will be no tourism industry in the future, if our practices do not include a sustainable tourism strategy. Second, Cultural Events and Festivals are perhaps the biggest engines of urban tourism in Canada - just think Festival International du Jazz de Montreal, Juste Pour Rire, Caribana, The Toronto International Film Festival, the Calgary Stampede and so many other events that attract millions of visitors to their respective destinations. Third. The US Market. Regardless of how low the US inbound market has dropped since 1999, it is still by far the most important foreign market for Canadian Tourism (although not the most important overall - that place belongs to our domestic market). There are many opinions as to how to address the issue of American visitors' decline. I have my own as well. This session will continue the debate and the ongoing efforts to find ways to attract more American tourists to Canada.

If you have never attended Canada's national tourism conference, I do recommend it. Not only will you get valuable information, but you will have a chance to network with the industry's leaders. It's your industry, get involved.

Regards,

Jaime

www.canadamigos.com

Happy Thanksgiving Weekend Canada

Thanksgiving Weekend is upon us. I am looking forward to a long weekend before the busy Fall-Winter season chasing clients, attending conferences and working harder to make a living. But first, Turkey dinner and many thanks.

Did you know that "The first Thanksgiving Day in Canada after Confederation was observed on April 15, 1872, to celebrate the recovery of The Prince of Wales (later King Edward VII) from a serious illness?" Canadian Heritage

Today, of course, Thanksgiving in Canada is a Holiday, a weekend when many Canadians drive to their cottages and close them down for the season at the end of the long weekend. But it is also an occasion for great dinners with family and friends and for most of us I'm sure also an opportunity to quietly give thanks for the great fortune that is to be Canadian, to live in Canada. While we are not perfect - while this country is not perfect by any means and there is much work to do for Canada to achieve its promise - it is today one of the best (for the very best) countries in the world in which to live. For that I am eternally grateful to life, fate, karma or whatever you wish to call it.

Happy Thanksgiving,

Jaime

www.canadamigos.com

"Our hopes are high. Our faith in the people is great. Our courage is strong. And our dreams for this beautiful country will never die." --Pierre Trudeau

Toronto 2015 reveals its visual brand. Viva Panam, United we Play

Toronto 2015 will be twice the size of Vancouver 2010

The budget for Toronto 2015 is $1.5 billion

10,000 athletes. 48 sports. 50 venues.

Toronto 2015 will be huge. It's anticipated that the Games will attract 250,000 visitors to the Golden Horseshoe. However, Ian Troop said at a Hispanic professionals event that as he sees the work and the planning progress, he thinks that the number of visitors could reach 1 million. I agree.

United We Play, Viva PanAm

Jaime

The Quest for the Remarkable - "Great Balls of Fire," Seth Godin and the TIFF

Sometme ago my eTourism colleague and fellow soccer fan, William Bakker, a remarkable eTourism professional himself, wrote a blog post on his blog Wilhelmus about the "Great Balls of Fire." No, not the great hit song written by Otis Blackwell and Jack Hammer and made famous by Jerry Lee Lewis. William was writing about cheese balls, yes cheese balls. But not just any kind of cheese balls. He was writing about Oregon's restaurant Salvador Molly's spicy habanero cheese balls. Apparently, these cheese balls are so good, so remarkable, that William and his friends drove 5 hours from Vancouver to eat this marvel of hot cuisine. The point of his post was to ask the question:

"What’s the remarkable thing your business or destination has that’s worth driving 5 hours for?"

A corollary to the post is that not all remarkable things (or people) are remarkable to everyone. You might love Eminem and think he's a remarkable artist, while I may disagree and say that Michael Bublé is truly remarkable (I happen to like both artists, but you get the point). The main thing is to achieve critical mass. In the fragmented world we live in where there are countless substitutes for every product and service out there, the key thing is to create something that is remarkable to enough people that it makes it viable at worst and enormously successful at best.

The famous marketing blogger Seth Godin wrote a now famous blog post about "How to be Remarkable." I won't quote the entire post here. You can read it by clicking on the title. And while I don't necessarily agree with all of Seth's statements he makes very good points, especially his mentioning that it is not what's remarkable to you, but what's remarkable to me (ie your customers, fans or guests) and that what's remarkable today may not necessarily be remarkable tomorrow (e.g. iPhone).

The Toronto International Film Festival is one attraction, if we can call it that, that keeps getting more remarkable every year (Caribana might be another example). Of course, that must have something to do with the remarkable films the festival manages to show every year. The star power that the festival attracts does not hurt either. This year, on its the 35th anniversary, the festival celebrated by opening its own building, the Bell Lightbox. The new headquarters of TIFF has brand new cinemas with state of the art technology. Bell Lightbox will not only be the festival's headquarters, but also run many of TIFF's programs all year long, including film related exhibits, starting with a Tim Burton Art show. The Toronto International Film Festival started 35 years ago as the Festival of Festivals. It was started by a few friends who loved film. It was their initial passion and the response of Torontonians that made the festival what it is today. Remarkable.

One of the problems with many tourism destinations and businesses is that they're not remarkable at all. For those that were once remarkable the problem is how to recapture their former glory. And the tourism boards cannot create the remarkable attractions or businesses. Tourism boards are marketing organizations. Their job is to promote the destinations, which very few do in remarkable ways. To grow tourism, industry stakeholders must reach out beyond their silos and foster a culture of excellence inside and outside the industry. Our roads must be remarkable, our public transportation systems must be remarkable, our taxi drivers must be remarkable (good luck with that one), our customs officers at point of entry should be remarkably friendly (one can only dream), etc. In a fiercely competitive global tourism industry, the winners will be those who manage to be remarkable.

Jaime

Toronto International Film Festival 2010

Films watched so far:

Bad Faith (Sweden) - interesting (not like Hollywood) suspense movie - an illogical script, but a different way of telling stories. Not everything in life makes sense.

Stone (US) - Robert DeNiro and Edward Norton - what else can I say. If you like the art of acting, watch this film for a lesson on how it's done (well, you won't know how it's done, but the actors are brilliant). Milla Jovovich is excellent as the female supporting actress

The Illussionist - Sylvain Chomet's follow up to "the Triplets fo Belleville"- a work of art in many levels. The film is a love letter to a bygone era. Ironically (or not) the film was made in 2D animation, the old fashion way. Every frame is a work of art by an animator. The story revolves around a vaudeville magician who sees his world disappearing (just as 2D animation has)...

"Passione" another love letter - this one to the city of Naples, its music and its people. Stunning photography in stunning locations and incredible music - "Passione" lives up to its name. Directed by actor John Turturro (who incidentally is Italian American, but not from Naples, but from Sicily).

TIFF is a remarkable festival in a remarkable city.

Jaime

TIFF

I have been attending the Toronto International Film Festival on and off for 17 years or so. In fact I'm writing this post from the cinema theatre where I'm waiting to see "Deep Into the Woods," a French film. I love film. In another life I wanted to be a filmmaker - got a university degree in Film and worked in commercial production for a few years. But I digress. I felt like writing this post because while I was in the line up, I remembered Sid Lee's Bertrand Cesvet's book "Conversational Capital" and its 8 engines of Conversational (I think its 8).. No other event or festival in Canada generates more conversational capital than TIFF. The Fest illustrates elements of all or most engines. It really didn't have the "odd sensory oddity" before, but now with its new headquarters, the Bell Lightbox building with its new state of the art cinemas and exhibits, TIFF will cover that engine. TIFF is an example of what great cities can create and grow, but by cities I mean the citizens not the government or the tourism board.

Movie's about to start. More later....

Jaime


-- Post From My iPhone

GoMedia Canada in Toronto - where is the CTC going? Musings on Canadian Tourism

I did not attend all of Go Media Canada's sessions or meetings. After all, the event is focused on international (traditional) media. But that is changing. This year Go Media reached out to important bloggers and influencers like Kim Mance of Go Galavanting and founder of TBEX. And furthermore Go Media also had the open marketplace for local media (to which I was invited). I must clarify that while Canada en Español could be considered "local media," my digital media properties have always been designed to inform and entertain foreign audiences. 90% + of Canada en Español's online visitors live outside of Canada.

I only attended three things at Go Media, the Tourism Toronto reception at the magnificent Royal Conservatory of Music (great job Andrew and Company), the Go Media Open Marketplace for local media, and the Ontario Tourism Marketing Partnership's Taste of Ontario at the Distillery District (Boiler Room Restaurant) - good party (where I had a great conversation with Mexican media folks). As many other events that TIAC organizes or manager, I must say that my experience was very good. At the open marketplace I did have an opportunity to speak to a few media relations professionals from destinations I have never been too and that I would like to cover in the future. I spoke to Jillian of Travel Manitoba about Churchill and the Hudson's Bay; spoke to Jenny and Anastasia of the new Jasper Tourism organization; had a brief chat with Amber from Tourism Vancouver (not that I need to visit there, I know Van quite well, but it was nice to say hello); and Miles and Ellen of the Thompson Okanagan Tourism Association. This last destination - Thompson Okanagan is an area that I am sure will be of much interest to my audiences. I think it will be one of the hottest destination in Canada in the very near future (and it's not doing badly at all at the moment).

I also had a very good chat with Elyse Mailhot, Travel Media Relations Manager at the CTC. It was interesting to hear about the change in direction the CTC is taking, moving away from advertising and focusing more on social media, not necessarily as a creator of content and initiator of conversations, but rather as an enabler and facilitator. This direction is partly the result of having to deal with insufficient funding going forward that precludes the organization from investments in advertising. Some people might think that advertising does not work any longer. That's not true. What doesn't work any longer is bad, lazy, complacent cookie-cutter advertising. Advertising today is merging with entertainment, infotainment, gaming and other tools. And most importantly, advertising today must be honest. The days of "there's a sucker born everyday" are gone.

I am a big supporter of a strong CTC, and I hope that the Tourism Association of Canada does a better job of lobbying the government to support a strong, well funded Canadian Tourism Commission - for one thing we should impose a Travel Promotion Fee on international visitors like many other countries do (including the US), with which we can fund the CTC. Having said that, I also propose stronger ties between the private tourism sector and the CTC. One of the issues I have with the CTC is that because of its bureaucratic nature it is sometimes too slow to act and because of its governmental ties it is risk averse when it comes to advertising and communications. As Kim Mance said at Canada-e-Connect 2010 in Montreal last January when I asked her "what should Canada do to raise its profile in the US (and in the world for that matter)?" "Make more noise."

Jaime Horwitz Rodriguez

Past Chair Canada-e-Connect eTourism Stratgy

Cactus Rock New Media Ltd.

The Canadá en Español Network

Better times coming? June saw good growth in inbound tourism to Canada

Statcan's Advance Travel Information Bulletin for June 2010 had good news for Canadian tourism. Visits from the United States were up 5.6% from June of last year, Europe was up 3.7%, Asia was up a stunning 33.5%. Even the beaten up Mexican inbound market did better with a drop of 38,3% compared to June 2009, but far from the disastrous drops of last year when it was down 60% in some months. It appears that Mexicans are getting used to the fact that they need visas to visit Canada and the anger of the sudden imposition of visa restrictions has subsided. Visits from South Americans were also significantly up in June 2010 with a 22.9% increase over 2009. Finally, inbound tourism from Australia and New Zealand also showed great progress with 17.9% and 21.3% growth respectively.

Let's hope that this is the beginning of a trend :-)

Jaime

Past Chair Canada-e-Connect eTourism Strategy Conference

Commitment - attributed to Goethe's Faust via Anster

Worth keeping in mind:

"Until one is committed, there is hesitancy, the chance to draw back-- Concerning all acts of initiative (and creation), there is one elementary truth that ignorance of which kills countless ideas and splendid plans: that the moment one definitely commits oneself, then Providence moves too. All sorts of things occur to help one that would never otherwise have occurred. A whole stream of events issues from the decision, raising in one's favor all manner of unforeseen incidents and meetings and material assistance, which no man could have dreamed would have come his way. Whatever you can do, or dream you can do, begin it. Boldness has genius, power, and magic in it. Begin it now."

"Then indecision brings its own delays, And days are lost lamenting over lost days. Are you in earnest? Seize this very minute; What you can do, or dream you can do, begin it; Boldness has genius, power and magic in it"

source: The Goethe Society of North America

The CTC pulling back on account of cutbacks and stimulus funding drying out.

If you are a member of the Tourism Industry Association of Canada, you must have received an email from its president, David Goldstein, on July 19 regarding the restructuring of the Canadian Tourism Commission. The email basically describes what the CTC announced on July 16 (although I could not find a release or an article about it on the CTC's website). The main points about the CTC's restructuring in David's email are the following:

• Ceasing to invest in direct-to-consumer advertising in the United States, and ceding the way to other Canadian destinations which are already invested in this area.
• Centralization of resources to ensure the affordability of CTC’s international operations. This includes using the London office as the regional hub for the traditional markets of U.K., France, Germany and Australia, and supplementing in-market efforts with the assistance of General Sales Agents.
• Making use of resources at the CTC Vancouver Headquarters as the regional office for new and emerging tourism markets (Korea, China, India and Brazil), as well as for markets in transition (Japan and Mexico).

Basically the CTC will not partner in consumer advertising in the US with the provinces, territories and cities and it will need to do more (or try to stay the course) with less regarding our international markets - it is not clear to me whether the CTC will be closing its offices in Japan and Mexico.

David's message goes on to remind us that "According to the UNWTO, Canada dropped from 7th to 15th in terms of international tourist arrivals between 2002 and 2009. TIAC believes that Canada is losing competitive ground in the global tourism marketplace. If Canada is to compete in the global tourism market, and make the most of the opportunities in one of the fastest growing sectors in the world, we will need a strong marketing voice."

Given these changes, What do you think the result will be in the next couple of years? We will probably see a continuing decline from US visitors (considering that America's economy is still weak). But this decline might not be across the board. I expect to see more inter-provincial and inter and intra city partnerships targeting the US, e.g. Ontario/Quebec, Toronto/Montreal, BC/Alberta, all Atlantic provinces together, Vancouver and Whistler, Calgary and the Rockies, etc. I think that the right partnerships with the right creative campaigns will be able to see very positive results. Nevertheless, the loss of the CTC's support will have an impact and it will be missed.

As for international markets, it remains to be seen how the CTC will manage its core territories with less resources. The private sector will have to step up to the plate and find ways to market Canada despite the lack of tax payers support. The US did it for years, although it is ironic that last year it passed its Travel Promotion Act S. 1023, that when implemented (not sure if this has been done or will be in the near future), it will generate over one hundred million dollars for tourism promotion. I have advocated for a similar measure in Canada since I heard of the American TPA. Canada, as many other countries already do, should implement a $10 to $15 tourism promotion fee on international tourists and use all the proceeds to fund the Canadian Tourism Commission in a consistent and predictable manner.

Jaime

Lake Country, Muskoka, Ontario, Canada

Canada has over 2,000,000 lakes. And while Alberta has some of the most spectacular lakes, most are glacial and thus not swimsble. The area North of Toronto known as Muskoka has some of the most swimsble and tranquil lakes in Canada, also great for canoeing and water skiing (in the summer, of course).



-- Post From My iPhone

Port Carling, Ontario, Canada

Port Carling is a quaint tiny town in Muskoka, Ontario where Lake Muskoka (or as I like to call it, Lake Rich) and Lake Joseph (or as I like to call it, Lake Richer) meet. Many well heeled Torontonians and more than a few famous people have cottages in one these two lakes. You never know who you might run into in Port Carling.



-- Post From My iPhone

From the great women at the YummyMummyClub - watch this video, get inspired!

We've talked about generating conversational capital in the past. This is an example of an event that creates great conversational capital, but also is a great example of how to use social media and the physical world to inspire people. "Social Media for Social Good." Enjoy (grab a facial tissue first).

J

Canada should bid for the World Cup of Soccer - Top Ten Reasons

The World Cup of Soccer is the largest single sport event in the world. It is truly the only World Competition in which most nations of the world participate. The globally televised event billions of us enjoy every four years is only the finals, the top 32 of the 280 nations whose Federations are members of FIFA. Canada can and should bid to host a World Cup as soon as possible.

Top ten reasons Why Canada should bid for a World Cup:

1. A very high ROE (Return on Exposure)
2. Canada successfully hosted the U20 World Cup where many of the stars who played in South Africa 2010 got their World Cup start
3. Canada has successfully staged 3 Olympic Games
4. Canada is one of the most successful multi-cultural countries in the world
5. A large number of Canada's ethnic communities are soccer crazy
6. Canada's access to a multi-cultural, multi-lingual work force makes it an ideal country to host the Cup
7. With all the love and respect to our national obsession with Hockey, there are more Canadian kids registered in soccer programs than in hockey programs
8. While there's no way to tell where Canada's economy will be in 2018, 2022 and 2026, currently we have one of the most stable economies in the world (bids for 2018 and 2022 may be closed already, but we could go for 2022 and/or 2026 and/or 2030)
9. Because it's the "Beautiful Game" for a "Beautiful Country"
10. It's the only way in the foreseeable future that Canada's National team can participate in a World Cup (host nation gets automatic pass in the top 32)

Cheers, And Viva España!

Jaime

The Laurentians - a fantastic region North of Montreal

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The Laurentians - Les Laurentides Québec

I just finished running a promotional campaign for my friends at Tourisme Laurentides in the Canadá en Español Network. The campaign reminded me of what a fantastic region this area of Quebec North of Montreal is. I have been to Mont-Tremblant a few times and have seen just a few of the pretty towns in the Laurentians. I hope to visit the P'tit Train du Nord park this year and do some relaxed biking along the old train route. I also want to try the famous Bistro a Champlain restaurant with it's 35,000 bottle wine cellar! So many places, so little time. Ah, but if my friends from TL invite me? :-)

Jaime

Joyeux Fête du Canada - Happy Canada Day

My daughter Maddy's rendition of O Canada for all of you :-)

What is Canada Day?

Canada Day in Ottawa

Happy Canada Day everyone!

Jaime

Looking to get away from Toronto this week or weekend? Away from the G8 and G20 Summits?

This week Toronto's downtown around the Entertainment District and surrounding the Convention Centre is looking like a two ton gorilla with braces. Everyone who can work from home or take vacation days this week will do just that. Many businesses near and around the area will close for a few days including the Rogers Centre (the Blue Jays will play their home games away from home in Philadelphia) and the Mirvish organization's theatres will be dark. All in all not the weekend to enjoy Toronto's usually bustling downtown. I will definitely be nowhere near the core as we get close to the weekend and during the weekends itself. If you live in Toronto or were planning to visit Toronto during the Summits, may I suggest the best alternative: Montreal (of course, there's always New York as well, but NYC may be pricey and there's always the hassle of crossing borders or airport security). Montreal is awesome. The Festival International de Jazz de Montreal starts this coming Friday (check hotel availability before you decide to follow my recommendation).

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If you live in Toronto and have never been to Montreal, what are you waiting for? Montreal is a Canadian city, a North American city, but with one big difference from all other cities in the continent. It has a distinct international feel that is neither European nor North American. It's a hybrid of both. Great ambiance, fantastic restaurants, awesome festivals, quaint neighbourhoods, beautiful parks and even more beautiful people. If you've never seen it, check out Tourisme Montreal's website. Get some insider/local info and secrets from TM's bloggers, especially Tamy and Christophe.

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But just in case you think I only recommend the official tourism board (I just happen to believe that Montreal Tourism is actually doing a great job promoting their destination with a more entrepreneurial and less bureaucratic approach to tourism promotion than many traditional tourism boards) - here are some of my faves in Montreal:

Schwartz's Delicatessen (smoked meat sandwiches)

Old Montreal (not necessarily to eat, but to take a stroll, absorb the ambiance, maybe take a cruise on the St Lawrence

Place des Arts and whatever's going on there

Mont-Royal (one of my favourite places in Canada to go for a jog)

Boulevard Saint Laurent or "La Main" as it's locally known

Also check out this website: Made in Montreal

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Bon voyage,

Jaime