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

A unique piece of Canadiana. Call for Sponsorship. Voyageur, the Six String Nation Guitar.

I'm a big fan of all things Canadian, including Canadian music and Canadian artists. Recently, while attending a concert where my daughter performed I came across Voyageur. When I learned about Voyageur I couldn't believe I had not heard from it before. Voyageur is a guitar. It was given this name by Lt. Col. Susan Beharriel who attended the ceremony launching the 2008 Festival du Voyageur in Winnipeg-St. Boniface. Voyageur was Jowi Taylor's idea. Jowi is an award winning writer and broadcaster who was inspired by the looming Quebec Referendum in 1995. The guitar is made out of wood from every part of Canada. Some pieces have significant cultural and historical value for Canadians. For example, there is a piece from a hockey stick used by Paul Henderson at the famous game against the Soviet Union (september 1972); a piece from former Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau's canoe paddle; and a piece of shelving from the office sideboard of Sir John A. Maconald, the first Prime Minister of Canada.

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Since 2006, Voyageur has travelled all over Canada and has been played by hundreds (if not thousands) of Canadians including stars and amateurs, most recently at the Canadian Voices Festival at Harbourfront Centre in Toronto. Jowi Taylor lent the guitar to the SongStudio songwriting workshop student showcase and allowed the students and faculty to play it. Here's a video of my daughter playing Voyageur and singing one of her songs:

Coincidentally, there is a Six String Nation Festival in Italy called "Un Paese de Sei Corde." Organizers of that festival learned about the Canadian Six String Nation and Voyageur. They have invited Jowi Taylor and his crew to take Voyageur to Italy and participate in the Festival. However, the Six String Nation organization has limited funds and they need to raise money for travel expenses. I think this is an excellent opportunity for Canadian tourism destinations or businesses to get some good visibility in Italy and to support a very worthy Canadian cultural initiative. Last year Canada received 106,000 visitors from Italy. I'm sure we can attract a lot more.

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The Federal Government recently cut a program to support travelling Canadian artists so organizations like Six String Nation need our support. In my opinion, it is these kinds of Canadian artistic projects that create conversational capital for Canada as a tourism destination. People may know about our mountains, lakes and wildlife. Many others may now be aware about our fantastic cities. But how many people know that Canadians not only love music, but that we are indeed a Six String Nation? Please visit the Six String Nation website and support Jowi and his crew with whatever you can. If you are interested in sponsoring the trip to Italy let me know and I can put you directly in touch with Jowi.
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Visit the Six String Nation website to learn more about Voyageur and how it helps bring Canadians together to celebrate the country through music.

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Jaime Horwitz MBA

the Canada en Español Network

On Holidays in Quebec City. Celebrating 400 years!

I'm in Quebec City on Holidays with my wife and my daughter (they're in the pool and I am blogging for five minutes). Quebec City is as beautiful as ever and all dressed up for a huge party. Last night we went to see Robert LePage's the Image Mill, an immense and brilliant work about the history and culture of this great city. LePage's Image Mill is quite impressive as it involves projecting the piece onto the silos at the old port. The silos comprise a screen that's 600 metres long by 80 metres high I believe. Just awesome.

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Today, after some R&R by the hotel's pool, I will be going to the Quebec 400th Commemorative show by the Quebec Parliament's building. It should be a lot of fun.

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A bientôt,

Jaime

www.quebecenespanol.com

4 Canadian spots recommended by the New York Times this Summer

In its "The 31 Places to Go This Summer" featured article, The New York Times acknowledges that the summer of 2008 "is starting out like a cruel joke, with air travel increasingly a nightmare and with wildly escalating gas prices threatening to make the road trip all but obsolete..." however, "there is no reason to forgo it this year. It will just take a bit of creativity — and perhaps the willingness to stay a little closer to home this time around — to pull it off in 2008."

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4 Canadian destinations made it to the Times recommendations: Niagara-on-the-Lake, Quebec City (400th Anniversary), Montreal (Jazz Festival) and Manitoba (specifically Northern Soul Wilderness Adventures).

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Ironically Toronto is Not among the four spots that the New York Times editors recommend for a vacation this summer. I find it ironic because page 5 of this weekend's travel section is a full page ad for Toronto (seetorontonow.com). Maybe next time.

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Cheers,
Jaime

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Canada @ ITB Berlin 2008 things are looking good, but not great.

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.
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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.

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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.
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Mia Dario from the Delta Chelsea Hotel said that business was good for the Chelsea. She had 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.

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Barry Dane from Calgary 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.

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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 motorhome 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

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What Do Americans Like About Canada???

The following is posted the New York Parks and Recreation site.

"New Yorkers can't get enough of their friendly and 'well-dressed' Canadian neighbors! From now through December 31, officers from the Royal Canadian Mounted Police will be stationed at The Pond at Bryant Park every Monday to meet and greet the public and celebrate Canadian activities in the park. Visitors can even take home a free keepsake photo with their new Mountie friends in front of the Holiday Tree, all compliments of the Canadian Tourism Commission.

Photo Taken at Haliburton Ontario's Annual Dog Sled Derby in 2007.