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

The impact of tourist visas on the Mexican inbound market to Canada and marketing to emerging markets.

On this morning's edition of the Globe and Mail, respected columnist and opinion leader, Jeffrey Simpson writes: "It's no wonder Mexicans feel aggrieved. How long does it take to get a visa? One part of the Canadian government website in Mexico recommends applying 30 days in advance; another part suggests six weeks." SIX WEEKS! Do we think that Canada is such a compelling must-see destination that we expect travelers to set aside 4 to 6 weeks just to get a visitor's visa? And that's just the time. I have stories from Mexican friends, relatives and clients about the visa application process that read like a surreal, magic-realism tale. But they're not funny to the operators or the travelers who should have received visas, but didn't (hiring a Canadian immigration lawyer to argue on behalf of the traveler or tour operator, is not worth the cost to any of the parties in these cases, so a visa rejection stands and there's no recourse to fight it).

Simpson: "Want a tourist visa? Here's a sampling of what's required over and above the usual passport and photo: a signed letter from your employer granting a leave of absence and specifying your salary (In French or English only, as Spanish will not be accepted!); original bank documents showing your financial history over the past six months; recent pay slips (a business owner must submit proof of the past three years' income tax statements); evidence of assets in Mexico; evidence of precious travel (previous passports)." These requirements appear to be a legacy of permanent residency applications (I would know because I came to Canada as a legal resident and went through all the paperwork). A tourist should not have to go through all these hoops to visit a destination. Americans, who have been issuing visitors visas to Mexicans for decades have a very efficient system to do so (in Spanish). Why not emulate them? Why not accept American Visas as proof of tourist worthiness?

The economic impact of Canada's visa imposition on Mexican tourism to Canada has been devastating for those Canadian (and Mexican) businesses that serve the inbound Mexican tourism market. Mr. Simpson goes over some calculations to get an idea of the impact in dollars. However, longer term, the numbers are harder to calculate, but are certainly up there. ("And how does one measure the drubbing that Canada's reputation has taken in Mexico, especially when senior Mexican officials, including judges, have been refused visas!")

Mr. Simpson quotes Prime Minister Harper referring to the issue of the visa at the top of his article: "This is not the fault of the Mexican government...This is a problem with Canadian refugee law, which encourages bogus claims." If this is so, then logic would dictate that it is the Canadian Government's fault that many Canadian tourism businesses, including mine, are suffering badly because of this decision. The prorogation of Parliament doesn't help, but I am not holding my breath in regards to refugee system reform. Being a sovereign country, Canada could determine what nationals can apply for refugee status and what nationals could not (a similar model to the British system) thereby blocking Mexican refugee claims and allowing the hundreds of thousands of law abiding Mexican travelers that wish to vacation in Canada (or used to want to anyhow) to come here as before. But I am not naive (rhetoric notwithstanding, Mexico is not really that important to Canada). Refugee System reform will not happen anytime soon, if at all, so, in my case, I am looking at other sources of income or another area of endeavour (not sure Canada's Economic Action Plan covers my case).

The way things are going I wouldn't be surprised if the Canadian Tourism Commission downsized in Mexico or closed down its office altogether in a year or two.

One thing to keep in mind as Canada markets our country as a tourism destination in emerging markets (developing countries) is that all these potential visitors in India, Brazil, China, will require visitors visas to enter the country. How many visas can the Canadian Government process in each of these countries in any given year? The answer to that question gives you the maximum number of tourists per year you could expect from any of those markets.

Mr. Simpson's article in the Globe and Mail: While Mexicans fume, our reputation and revenues take a hit

Jaime Horwitz Rodriguez MBA

www.cactusrock.com

Canadian Tourism is getting hammered. What are you doing about your destination or business?

Because the tourism industry is a very fragmented one and employment is spread over hundreds of thousands of businesses, from large hotels to small burger joints along Ontario's Highway 400, to beds & breakfasts in Cape Breton to soft adventure outfitters in the Yukon and so on, it's an easy industry to ignore. It's not like a big automotive plant closing and laying off 2,000 people at a time which gets the attention of unions, the media and consequently the politicians and society at large. In tourism there are thousands of jobs lost when small kayak rentals operators, small receptive operators, restaurants, and others fold. Many thousands more go unreported as lost jobs because businesses froze hiring this summer and thousands of young people who otherwise would have been employed in the industry were not. The lack of jobs concentration makes it difficult for the media to write stories about the problem. And of course, we could also do better integrating all the voices of tourism across the country (Join the Canadian Tourism Community social networking site).

-

Notwithstanding the above, the industry made the front page of today's Globe and Mail. The natonal paper reports that "Cross-border travel hits lowest levels on record. New passport rules prompt 26% drop in same-day trips from U.S. to Canada in June." But that's just part of the story. According to StatCan's International Travel: Advance Information Bulletin for June 2009, just about every market, primary or otherwise, was down in June and most are down significantly for the period Jan to June. And this after what was perhaps the worst May on record as well. If the year continues going this way, 2009 may see half the numbers of tourists Canada had in 1999! While it is undeniable that the last ten years have seen numerous challenges for the Canadian tourism industry, in my opinion, there are other reasons why the numbers of visitors continue to tank, one being the lack of impactful, creative marketing and advertising. The reasons for this are debatable and one reason must be, of course, a lack of sufficient resources, but another, again in my opinion, is the lack of risk taking to make our marketing and advertising break through the clutter. I believe provincial and national tourism marketing is hindered by a playing it safe mentality so as to not create any controversy (I again think of advertising in America's Super Bowl). If I sound frustrated is because I am. I believe Canada can do much better selling itself to the world (and to ourselves). And when marketers like Rod Harris leave a DMO (or are ousted), it gives me less confidence in the powers that be. By any measure of success in marketing, Rod Harris is indisputably is one of the best tourism marketers in the world (but I think even he was limited by the political considerations that sometimes - like it or not - come into play in Canadian Tourism marketing).

-

On a final note, I am happy to report that of all our European markets, the ONLY one that is showing growth in the period from January to June 2009 is SPAIN. Gracias amigos españoles , Olé.

-

Jaime Horwitz MBA

Cactus Rock New Media Ltd.

The Canadá en Español Network

www.canadaenespanol.ca

http://twitter.com/jaimehorwitz

Forbes 10 best Travel Campaigns

Forbes.com has published a list of what they consider the 10 best Travel campaigns (not necessarily new). Canada's current Locals Know campaign came in at number 8. Congratulations to the CTC and Canadians who are uploading their favourite spots to the LocalsKnow.ca website. Here's the list:

1 - Las Vegas "What Happens here, stays here" (since 2003)
2 - Incredible India (2009)
3 - New Zeland - 100% Pure (since 1999)
4 - Australia - Paul Hogan's ads (1984-1990)
5 - Jamaica - "Once you go, you know" (since 2004)
6 - Pure Michigan - since 2006
7 - Alaska - "B4UDIE" 2005
8 - Canada - Locals Know 2009
9 - Oregon "150 Challenge" 2009
10 - Virginia - "Virgina is for Lovers" since 1969

Read the story Travel Campaigns Aim To Get People To Hit The Road in Forbes.com

Happy travelling.

Jaime

Reasons Why Canda Ranks in Top 10

A little Humour with Canada’s New Top Rankings.

It is with interest over the last few months Canada has made the world headlines with “Top 10” positioning. The first and probably the most important for Canadian Tourism is the ranking by Lonely Planet, and most recently the number 2 country brand recognition in the world. This ranking comes from the Country Brand Index by FutureBrand of New York, NY.

The introductory paragraph on the Lonely Planet website, may provide the best laugh and possibly the heart of the Canadian culture, the depth, the passion, the raison d’etre for Canadians. Canada’s image has been captured with the phrase “the handle on a Canadian beer case – big enough to fit your hands, even with mittens on. If you think that’s impressive, consider Canada’s other mondo attributes……” Photo: Ron Taylor, Canada Travel News, Ontario Travel North of Toronto.