Comptoirs du eTourisme Marseille Travel Massive - DMOs, Bloggers and Digital Marketers working together.

Last week I participated in Marseille's #Travelmassive organized by my friend @claudebenard of Hotelitur. It was a fun and interactive chat among Keith Jenkins, blogger extraordinaire of VelvetEscape fame, the sweet and brilliant Fabienne Wintle of Untanglemyweb and myself. We connected to the event via Group Skype, and even thought we had a couple of technical glitches, we did have a great time. Our task was to address the question of how can digital marketers, travel bloggers, hoteliers and destination management organizations (DMOs) best work together? Not an easy topic to summarize because there are many variations on the theme. For example we talked about the different types of travel bloggers and their different objectives. A professional blogger working for a large organization (like Conde Nast, for example) would not have the same objectives that a blogger who does note depend on his or her blog to generate revenue. We commented as well on the different projects a digital marketer might encounter. Fabienne, for example specializes in assisting, training, educating and helping small tourism businesses in Australia on the various topics related to digital and social media marketing. Her challenges are very different than those a digital marketer/consultant working for a large DMO or a multi-national hotel chain might face.  Keith addressed the issue of fees for blogging - something that might have been taboo 2 years ago, but something that's very important. Some bloggers are quite happy with getting travel invitations from destinations and blogging about them without getting paid for this content hoping that they will generate revenue through advertising. Other bloggers are offering sponsored blog posts thereby getting fees per post.  Still other bloggers are now getting speaking fees at various conferences and events.

My conclusion after our very interesting chat is that there are great opportunities for bloggers, digital marketers, hoteliers and DMOs to work more effectively and strategically to achieve the ultimate goal - more satisfied visitors and guests.  One of the points we touched on was international collaborations wherein we could share our audiences with each other, offer a syndicate of bloggers (guest blog posts as well) to destinations, access our different networks to offer clients more bang for their marketing dollars - bring in our Facebook and Twitter followers.  For example, I offer my clients campaigns that include display advertising, blogging, tweeting, facebooking which reach Hispanic travellers everywhere. What if when I am pitching to them I can offer increased reach by offering them coverage from Keith who reaches another audience altogether. Destinations do this all the time with bloggers. A group of bloggers (Kim Mance, Wendy Perrin, and Shannon Hurst Lane), were invited to Toronto for Canada-e-Connect 2010 in Montreal. Since they  were going to be in Montreal, Ottawa invited them to visit there before or after the conference. So destinations and bloggers can reach out to each other to maximize social media and digital marketing opportunities. 

As for Travel Massive Marseille, I hope a group of us bloggers get together in Marseille in the near future under a strategic digital marketing plan from the DMO there. We can certainly get some traction in the blogosphere. En Français, in English y en Español.

Bon voyage,

Jaime

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).

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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).

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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.

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Jaime Horwitz MBA

Cactus Rock New Media Ltd.

The Canadá en Español Network

www.canadaenespanol.ca

http://twitter.com/jaimehorwitz

A social networking site for the Canadian Tourism Community

There's been a lot of talk on and offline about social media and social media marketing in the tourism space for the past two or three years. Most of this talk has focused on social media marketing: how to do it, how to take advantage of it, how to measure its effectiveness, how to participate in the conversation, whether to participate in the conversation or not, how to promote your brand or destination, how to protect your reputation, etc. Most of the talk has been about social media marketing to the consumer/traveler, but not much has been said about business to business social media, at least not within the Canadian tourism industry. While many Canadian tourism professionals have signed up on LinkedIn and many have joined groups on that site or on Facebook, until now there has not been a social networking site solely for the Canadian Tourism Community. Enters www.canadiantourismcommunity.com.

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Cactus Rock New Media Ltd. has launched the CanadianTourismCommunity social networking site as a service to the industry and as an extension of this blog. I must admit that the success of the Spanish tourism industry's site, Turismo 2.0, to which I also belong, made me think as to why we haven't had a similar social networking site in Canada. Being one of the most connected countries in the world with some excellent work being done in the digital tourism space, I have found it ironic that we don't take advantage of the capabilites available to us to network, to share knowledge, to stay in touch with our partners, clients and potential partners and clients, to learn from each other. And so I decided to put the industry to the test and see if we can (take advantage).

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The Canadian Tourism Community site, built on the Ning platform, is a private social networking site. Membership is free but by invitation only. At the moment there are two reasons why private and why by invitation only. First, it is easier to manage and monitor that way. While I'm happy to manage the site, which I hope will help my own networking efforts in the industry, it takes more time to monitor an open site because there are many spammers out there trying to take advantage of open sites. Second, being a private site it may be more comfortable for members of the industry who are concerned about, well, privacy.

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Having a social networking site exclusively for the Canadian tourism industry and its partners is better than forming groups on Facebook or LinkedIn because the primary purpose of the site is to serve the needs of the members of the industry who choose to use it, i.e. the layout and content are not cluttered by non-tourism related stuff (or ads). Each member has a big page with clear font and can write a blog, upload photos, videos or documents. Members can write on each other's comments boxes or sent private messages. Also, the site has chat capabilities for those who wish to communicate in real time, a feature that may come in handy to have conversations with partners overseas.

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The success of the site will depend on the involvement of the industry as a whole. The site is not for techies or eBusiness people. The site is for everyone involved in the Canadian Tourism Industry, from restarauranteurs, to hoteliers, to human resources specialists, PR people, suppliers, tour operators, receptive tour operators, etc. As of this writing there are 45 members in the www.canadiantourismcommunity.com. Our Spanish counterpart, Turismo 2.0 (online for a few years now) has almost 5,000! Now more than ever, we need to find better, more efficient ways to communicate among ourselves and this is one tool that can facilitate this (who knows, it might even save you money or get you a new partner/client. The best way to understand social media is to participate. If you are in the Canadian tourism industry or work for or with anyone in the Canadian tourism industry, whether in Canada or outside Canada feel free to join. To get an invite write to jaime (at) cactusrock.com

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Regards,

Jaime Horwitz MBA

Co-Chair Canada-e-Connect Montreal 2010

Online travel trends from a Travolution blog post

One of my favourite blogs to follow is the Travolution Blog. If you work in the travel industry, this blog is a must read. A couple of months ago it published an interesting piece by Professor Dimitrios Buhalis, research editor for Travolution and chair of the Enter09 conference in Amsterdam. The post's title was "24 things to think about if you are involved in online travel." I won't reproduce the 24 things here (clic on the post's title to read the whole thing). I just want to comment on some of them:

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1) Context is king - due to the relevance to consumer needs - this includes location, party, purpose of visti, timing, etc. Absolutely agree. Context and content go hand in hand, but relevance is everything when marketing your destination, hotel, attraction, etc. Twitter's success notwithstanding, search is still the biggest digital tool and what searchers want the most is truly relevant results to their queries. Right now, for example, might be a good time to ramp up Golf marketing campaigns since golfers are beginning to plan as the weather gets better.

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2) Content needs to be reorganized and presented to serve context. It almost goes without saying, but much harder to implement.

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3) Gadgets that can be plugged into iGoogle, Facebook, Vista and other platforms which can extend the reach of a website. Content travels and as Dr Fenwick pointed out at Canada-e-Connect 2009, content has been liberated from devices. Destination should spend some time and effort developing engaging gadgets, widgets and iPhone/Blackberry apps.

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9) Two conflicting trends - from "Personalisation/CRM/need everything about the customer - to "leave me alone/give me what I want/you don't onw me. Permission is everything and it is a challenge. How do you get potential customer's permission to market to them? One way is to make it fun first perhaps via an iPhone app or perhaps by building a follower base on Twitter or a fan page on Facebook. Or making use of interactive outdoor campaigns using QR codes to engage people. Whatever the media, it will become increasingly important to get people's permission to address them directly given the proliferation of digital addressable media.

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12) Twitter is becoming the next big thing and many predict that it will have a similar success to SMS due to its simplicity, interactivity, speed and relevance. Agree. Twitter seems to be already the next big thing, even though it only has about 7 to 8 million users currently. But don't go all crazy about Twitter just yet. Twitter's strength at the moment (and it attractiveness to companies like Facebook and Google rumoured to be courting Twitter) is in the aggregate. At the individual, DMO or small business level I see Twitter as a complement to all other marketing tools in the mix. I will write an assessment of Twitter in a future post soon.

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13) Impossible to concentrate with so many channles of interactivity interrupting everything - relevance is vital, once again. True. Goes almost without saying. The explosion of channels, tools, apps, etc., requires an effort from consumers to filter out annoying things. This is one of the reasons I am a bit turned-off from Facebook. Many of the apps on Facebook are very intrusive and "force" users to annoy their friends and connections by sending all kinds of invitation to all kinds of quizes, contests, etc., that for some of us are a bit of a waste of time.

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17) Most Destination Management Organization (DMO's) are totally inadequate to meet the challenges of the future. I don't agree with Prof Buhalis on this one. First, I think he does not understand DMO's very well (BTW I believe the initial M is for marketing not management). I will agree that many DMO's are indeed inadequate to meet the challenges of the future. But there are many destination that are doing great things in the digital space and also offline. At Canada-e-Connect we learned about Tourisme Montreal's digital strategy for 2009 and everyone at the conference was very impressed with it. Sweden's Community of Sweden social networking site is a success. VisitLasVegas is another DMO that has been doing very innovative Web 2.0 marketing.

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18) Only agile desinations as presented by bahamas.com Minister of Tourism and Aviation for the Bahamas, Vincent VanderPool-Wallace, will use innovation and eTourism for destination strategic advantage. Agree with the "only agile assertion," but Bahamas is not the only DMO doing good work in this space.

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20) VisitBritain takes 202 bookings per month!!! What is the return on investment on that? VisitScotland nationalised their booking service company whilst Tiscover was fully privatised and purchased by HRS.com. The jury's still out as to whether tourism board websites can successfully offer bookings direct to consumer. Some Canadian DMO's have indicated that their booking numbers are very good (although I've never seen specifics).

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23) Increasingly virtual worlds and immersive technology (developed in gaming and military applications) will be critical in marketing and cultural heritage representation. Not very much is said or written about regarding digital games and immersive technologies vis a vis eTourism, but it is an area with incredible potential. However, in order to be successful in this area, tourism businesses and destinations must be very creative (going beyond placing ads in a virtual world a la Second Life or within a Wii game), perhpas develop original games that promote the destination while providing fun to the users (and perhaps even an additional revenue stream for the DMO).

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24) We need to think differently and strategically as well as use the digital tools to raise our game to the global challenges. Couldn't agree more. But change is hard and it takes time. The purpose of the Canada-e-Connect eTourism Strategy Conferences is precisely to foster new thinking, strategic thinking in our industry vis a vis Tourism and eTourism. However, I have noticed that many in the industry resist change and while there is progress in the digital marketing space (e.g. Tourism Montreal, Tourisme Quebec and the CTC are working on very interesting projects in the space) inertia is very strong and we are not moving as fast as other competitors.

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To read the Travolution post clic here: "24 things to think about if you are involved in online travel."

Regards

Jaime Horwitz

Sweden, Bjorn, the Winter Games and the Big Idea

At the recently concluded Canada-e-Connect eTourism Strategy 2009 conference, Terry O'Reilly, adman, enabler, radio personality and raconteur extraordinaire, talked about the Big Idea in communications whether it's in an ad, a blog post, a prosumer video or a multi-million advertising campaign. His presentation was entitled "Ideas Move Mountains." Here's an idea on video I found on the home page of the CommunityofSweden social networking site. I don't know what the genesis of the idea is, but I think Terry would agree with me, it's good. Perhaps risqué for Canadian sensitivities, but this YouTube video makes the point in a very...well...why don't you see it and decide for yourself. Oh and by the way, this particularly idea may or may not move mountains, but it certainly went to a few mountain peaks. It certainly sparked my interest in Sweden's Åre and Östersund ski destinations.

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(unfortunately, if he goes, I may not see Bjorn in Vancouver in 2010 because I did not get a single ticket from the games' lottery, which by the way upsets me to no end)

By the way, if you have any great ideas you may want to share or any big ideas you may have seen in tourism marketing let me know and if I agree with you, I'll blog about them.

Jaime Horwitz

www.canadamigos.com

Joe Buhler, DMO and eTravel specialist to speak at Canada-e-Connect

I have known Joe Buhler for a few years and I can verify that he's a highly respected professional in the eTourism space. Joe is a Senior Analyst with PhoCusWright, perhaps the leading tourism research and eTourism conference producer in the world. He is also principal of his own consulting firm Buhlerworks, which provides consulting services for Vision, Strategy & Innovation in travel & tourism web marketing, with a focus on destination marketing organizations (DMO) at the national, regional and local level. Joe Buhler has Global experience in destination marketing, tour operations, retail travel and the airline industry and since the early days in the largest e-commerce vertical - online travel. He has held senior executive positions in Japan, Canada, the United Kingdom and the United States.

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Joe is a member of the international group of Travel industry bloggers, the T-List and is a sought after speaker at tourism events. Joe will make a fascinating and engaging presentation at Canada-e-Connect on Jan 22 at 3:45 pm. He will speak about The Road Ahead On The Smart Web: The focus is shifting fast in online travel, from the completion of a simple transaction to an integrated planning, researching and buying process. Search, user generated content and social media are all important elements but not enough to deliver a superior, integrated experience for today's savvy and demanding online travelers. There is a need to act now to change the business model to meet the demand for personalization, intelligence and vertical integration of local services on DMO's sites. Joe Buhler will examine where DMOs are in relation to these innovations in e-travel and look at what new relationships are necessary to compete and take full advantage of this trend.
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There is still time to register for Canada-e-Connect

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Jaime Horwitz MBA
Chair Advisory Committee Canada-e-Connect 2009

Rob Torres, Managing Director of Travel at Google will be at Canada-e-Connect 2009

I'm happy to inform readers of this Canadian Tourism Blog that Rob Torres, Managing Director of Travel at Google will be our luncheon speaker at the second Canada-e-Connect eTourism Strategy Conference. Mr. Torres' session will take place on Friday, January 23, 2009 (and I can't wait) and it will be an interview format. Here's a brief bio of Rob Torres who was also one of the key presenters at PhoCusWright 2008 this past November in Hollywood. -

As managing director of travel, Rob Torres oversees the day to day strategy for Google’s North American travel advertising business. Rob is responsible for the profitable growth of travel advertiser and agency business. In that capacity, he oversees the strategic planning, sales, operations and business development efforts as Google provides internet, as well as radio and print, marketing solutions to its customers. Rob is based in Google’s Seattle office. Prior to joining Google, Rob was vice president of strategic hotel partnerships at Expedia.com. During his career at Expedia, Rob managed a team that had Global responsibility for 30 strategic accounts, generating gross bookings in excess of $2B. Rob is on the board of HSMAI and ATME and serves on TIA’s eMarketing committee. In 2004, Rob was named to HSMAI’s Top 25 list of Most Extraordinary Minds in Hospitality and Travel Sales and Marketing. He is actively involved in Royal Family Kids Camp, an organization that provides summer camp opportunities for children in foster care. Rob is a frequent speaker at industry events. Rob received a bachelor of science degree in public administration from the University of Southern California and holds an MBA from Georgetown University Business.

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I very much look forward to meeting Rob next January.

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Here's Rob Torres in an interview at PhoCusWright Hollywood 2008:

Email me your questions for Rob. We will select the most interesting and challenging ones for the interview.

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Jaime Horwitz MBA
Chair Advisory Committee Canada-e-Connect 2009

To Register for the conference visit www.canadaeconnect.travel

Terry O'Reilly, one of Canada's top Marketing thought leaders, to close Canada-e-Connect Conference 2009

"There is a huge seismic shift in ad dollars going to online and digital marketing." Terry O'Reilly.

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Canada-e-Connect and the Tourism Industry Association of Canada are extremely pleased to announce that Terry O'Reilly will be the closing speaker at Canada-e-Connect 2009.

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AdMan Terry O'Reilly is one of the most interesting, engaging, fun people you can meet in the advertising, communications field anywhere in the world. A recognized authority in advertising (see Marketing Magazine's 100th Anniversary double Issue November '08 - 100 thought leaders look to the future, pg 39), Terry O'Reilly will be inducted into the Canadian Marketing Hall of Legends at a Gala event a few days after Canada-e-Connect. As you can surmise, Terry O'Reilly is a sought after speaker and we are thrilled that he will be the closing keynote speaker.

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Terry is a partner in Pirate Radio (Toronto, New York) which keeps him busy enough. But his restless, enthusiasm makes him go beyond his day job to the air and digital waves through his CBC Radio One's program The Age of Persuasion in which he talks about all things related to advertising, communications, persuasion. Age of Persuasion is also available as a podcast through the CBC website (link above).

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Terry's extensive experience in the advertising world, his talent for ideas, and his endless curiosity and enthusiasm (not too mention the myriad of advertising awards he has won) makes him an ideal closer for next January's Canada-e-Connect eTourism Strategy Conference in Toronto. Terry will bring his fun, informative, engaging and persuasive presentaton style to the closing session. Don't miss it!

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Canada-e-Connect eTourism Strategy Conference

InterContinental Hotel Toronto Centre

January 21-23, 2009

Register now at www.canadaeconnect.travel

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regards,

Jaime Horwitz MBA
Chair Advisory Committee Canada-e-Connect 2009

www.canadaeconnect.com

www.tiac.travel

Focus on Canada-e-Connect the Shift to DigiMarketing

TIAC's and my own focus as Chair of the Advisory Committee now turns to Canada-e-Connect eTourism Strategy Conference, the Shift to DigiMarketing. This conference designed for decision makers in the industry will cover the vast number of topics surrounding Digital Marketing. We are calling it Digital Marketing a oppose to Online Marketing because it is the digital aspect of communications technology that tourism marketers should understand best. Whether it is the Web, Mobile, Digital Signage (indoor and outdoor), digital TV, or Gaming, all of it is based on digital technology which means content can travel. It means a digital poster can communicate with a mobile device. Dr. Ian Fenwick, co-author of DigiMarketing has been confirmed as our opening Keynote Speaker. Consumers, i.e. travelers can interact with tourism providers via many devices. What are the implications for marketing and tourism product distribution in this constantly evolving environment? Canada-e-Connect 2009 will answer many of the questions from a strategic point of view. Whether you own a small B&B or manage a chain of hotels, you should not miss Canada-e-Connect January 21 to 23 at the InterContinental Hotel in Downtown Toronto. Registration is now open.

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Jaime Horwitz MBA
Chair Canada-e-Connect Advisory Committee

I love Fashion and so do millions of Hispanics around the world

I am doubly busy this week because I am personally covering Toronto's L'Oreal Fashion Week for my Spanish language blog and www.blogdecanada.com and my social networking site, www.canadamigos.com. Fashion is very important to Latin Americans and Spaniards. Especially women, although men also like to indulge in a certain sartorial eloquence. Rare is the Latin or Spanish tourist who travels and does not purchase clothes (except of course those on a limited budget like the backpacker crowd, but even them will rather buy a new pair of jeans than pay for a hotel room). Part of Canadá en Español's mission is to educate my fellow Spanish speaking travelers about great things we have in Canada besides the obvious attractions like the Rockies and Niagara Falls. While we don't yet have truly global fashion brands, we do have great fashion talent in Canada and the Toronto and Montréal Fashion Weeks prove it.

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In the last two days I have seen fantastic Spring 2009 collections starting with Alfred Sung's White Collection, which opened this year's Fashion Week. Today I saw a great and sexy women's fashion collection by rising star Jason Meyers and a splendidly elegant swimwear collection from Aqua di Lara's Reyhan Sofraci.

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Cheers,

Jaime

The Ontario Tourism Marketing Summit begins this evening. Now more than ever good effective marketing is critical to our tourism industry's health.

aI'm going to the Ontario Tourism Marketing Summit this week. The event starts tonight with a reception at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre followed by a visit to the 500 m tall CN Tower. The weather promises a clear night so the view from the tower should be spectacular. The view of the tourism industry going forward however is not that clear. Financial markets around the world are reeling from problems caused by irresponsible lending pratices in the United States in the last several years. Banks are failing in Europe and businesses are beginning to really feel the pressure of a frozen credit market. It does not take a degree in Economics or an MBA to realize that the situation will hit the travel industry hard. Marriott international came out a few days ago with a warning going forward that earnings will decline.

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Given the situation, should we give up on tourism marketing efforts? Caution is called for, yes, but not a stop to our marketing. It is in difficult times when marketing becomes that much more important. In high tides all boats are lifted, but in low tides, only those water crafts with the right configuration can navigate a shrinking ocean. There will be many people who will postpone their trips in the next little while (how long it's hard to tell, but at least for the next 12 months). But many more people will continue to travel. Their plans may change to go to less expensive destinations perhaps closer to home, but they will still travel. The challenge for every tourism business will be how to stay afloat by attracting sufficient guests in the coming months. In my opinion, the best way to do this, will be with good, focused, cost-effective Digital Marketing. The key is to find the right niche, the right segment, and better yet to make it easy for that niche of travelers to find you online.

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Affluent consumers, whether in the US, Europe or Mexico, will still travel. The question for us, really, is whether they will come to our Canadian Destination or will choose somewhere else. This is why this Ontario Tourism Summit and the coming TIAC Tourism Leadership Summit in Gatineau and the PhoCusWright Travel Innovaton Conference in Los Angeles are so important this year. And why Canada-e-Connect 2009 (Jan 21-23) in Toronto is a must-attend to begin 2009 with the right tools to navigate the low tide that's coming.

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saludos,
Jaime
www.cactusrock.com

Mexican inbound tourism to Canada continues to grow at a consistent 15% rate

Statistics Canada published its service bulletin International Travel: Advance Information for May 2008 today. While the news about US visits continues to be dismal with a further 10% decline for the month compared to May 2007, Mexico continues to grow at a 15% rate. 21,658 Mexican visitors came to Canada in May 2008 compared to 18,840 for the same period last year. Total numbers from Jan to May: 86,238.

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Spain remained flat for the month, but South America, excluding Brazil grew 7.2% for the month. and is up 8% for the period from Jan to May.

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Given the global credit crunch and the fuel debacle among airlines it is all the more remarkable that the Mexican inbound market continues to grow at this clip. In my opinion, it is confirmation that there continues to be pent-up demand in Mexico for travel to Canada. The success of the Canadamigos Social Network to date (over 5,000 visits per months and reaching 1,700 active members since December '07) and continuing growth in traffic for the Canadá en Español websites (over 200,000 monthly visits) leads me to reassert my belief that with the right marketing mix going forward Mexican inbound tourism to Canada could reach 350,000 visitors by the end of 2010. Furthermore, once Canada begins to market itself in Spain we could see a dramatic increase of Spanish visitors to this country.

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Saludos,

Jaime Horwitz MBA

www.cactusrock.com

April 2008 - a very bad month for Canadian Tourism. US visits down 15.5% (14% year to date, 39% in the last 4 years).

The numbers from StatCan are out for the month of April. According to the International Travel: Advance Information Bulletin US visitations were down 15.5% for the month of April 2008 compared to the same period in 2007. For the period of Jan to April US visits are down 14%. The only dim light in the report was a 1.3% increase in US visits by plane, albeit not enough to neutralize the year to date decrease of 2.7% Same day US visits by automobile were down by a whopping 23%! (visits by bus down 14.7%). Provincial Data is not much better but some provinces and territories are being hit harder than others. The Yukon, for example, saw a 64.2% drop in non-automobile visits in April '08 compared to '07. When it comes to automobile visits all provinces and territories experienced significant declines. The Yukon and Manitoba were the worst performers with 41.7% and 22.4 % declines respectively. In the last 4 years US visits to Canada have declined by 39%!

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Visits by Non US residents were not much better in April 2008 but at least there was no decline. There was a 0.8% increase compared to April '07. YTD (Jan to April) there was a 2.3% increase from Non US visitors to Canada. Mexico was down 10% from April of last year, but that's to be expected because of the Easter effect. If Easter falls in March there will always be a decrease in April and if Easter falls in April there will always be a decrease in March. For the year to date period of Jan to April, however, Mexican visits are up a very healthy 15.5% compared to last year. (only Malaysia shows higher growth albeit with very low absolute numbers). Spain and South America are doing fine with 7.3% and 7.2% growth for the first four months of the year.

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US numbers are so large compared to any other visitor segment (YTD approx 5 M Americans versus 1 M Non-US visitors) that the Tourism Industry Association of Canada is right in saying that the Canadian Tourism Industry is on the verge of a crisis. And they said it before Air Canada announced a cut in seats and massive layoffs. With pundits forecasting oil prices to stay around the $115 to $120 per barrel of oil for at least another year, it is clear that the cost of travel will increase, thereby reducing demand. What can the industry do? What's going to happen if or when oil hits $200 per barrel?

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Individually, businesses need to revisit their business plans, decide on the best target market for the next little while (one to three years) and go after it. Businesses will also need to look at their expenses and try to reduce them to improve their bottom line (apparently the rationale for Air Canada's moves). However, in my opinion, what businesses should not do is compromise on the quality of service they provide. This would only make things worse (especially in the era of Travel 2.0). As an industry (via TIAC and the provincial DMO's) we should redouble lobbying efforts to get governments to pitch in and help. What form this help may take I leave to experts to decide, but one that comes to mind is in the area of airport rents and airfare extras (such as the security tax). Both of these should be reduced. The federal government is raking in additional revenues from oil exploitaton and gas taxes, so it's not like we are asking for help from a cash strapped administration.

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Another way to help would be to increase investments in destination marketing (e.g. on the CTC and provincial DMO's) in order to develop new markets and support inbound markets that are doing well. This, in my opinion also entails making sure that we work on better marketing - take some risks (see my "Dream Campaign" post).

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It looks like the next two years at least will be quite challenging for the Canadian Tourism Industry. It remains to be seen whether the 2010 games will really be of benefit to the industry before and after. But Olympics are statistical outliers (up or down, but outliers nonetheless). I am not aware of a long term plan, but I think we need one going forward for the next 10, 20, 30 years. Any ideas or comments?

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Regards,

Jaime Horwitz MBA

www.cactusrock.com

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Canadian Tourism. Targeting the real decision makers in Mexico: affluent Women

Women in Mexico are still behind their North American counterparts when it comes to progress in the workplace or politics. Although they have achieved remarkable progress in the last twenty years, the fact is that Mexico is still quite a male dominated society. However, when it comes to the household, women in Mexico are queens. They exert enormous influence in the family or couple's decision making and in many instances they are the key decision maker. One area where women pretty much make the decision is in that of travel. Whether they travel with their partner or with the whole family, women are the key decision makers when it comes to travel. Men may dominate the workplace, but at home they aim to please when it comes to travel. If a Mexican woman does not want to go to a destination you can be sure the trip won't happen.

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Swishy is an up and coming publication from one of the largest travel trade publishers in Mexico, Grupo Boletur. It is the first magazine in Mexico exclusively targeting affluent women travellers. According to their data (it would be easy to find other surveys corroborating this. In my case I just have to look no further than my experience living in Mexico and my relatives and friends there):

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•95% of Mexican women are active decision-makers in the planning of a trip;
•1/3 are the main decision-makers
•80% of women consider vacations as a must have

Barely two years old, the magazine is distributed in Mexico, South America and Miami. It is found in key high end spots, including several hotels, around Mexico with a circulation of 35,000 issues plus special inserts in the Mexican Reforma newspaper. It is also found aboard Aeromexico and LanChile flights.

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I have always been aware that content on the Canadá en Español sites should appeal to women as well as men. Going forward, with particular attention to the Canadamigos Social Network, there will be more content that appeals to this segment of the travelling public. For example, last year I covered Toronto's Fashion Week for my Blog de Canada.com and Toronto en Español. This year I plan to cover Montreal's Fashion week. When I was in Berlin last march attending the PhoCusWright Bloggers Summit at ITB, I ran into Magdalena Saldivar, Director of Sales at Swishy and Grupo Boletur. Since then we have in contact to discuss potential collaboration between Swishy and Canada en Español. In the meantime, this month I placed a full page ad on Swishy to promote the entire network of websites (clic on the images to see a large version). The issue features Toronto as an international fashion centre in an 8 page article.

Saludos,

Jaime Horwitz MBA

www.canadaenespanol.ca

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Canadian Tourism in crisis. Critical times require extraordinary measures. My dream Campaign.

This past Monday I received TIAC's Media release entitled Canada's Tourism Sector on the Brink of Crisis. Among other things, the release mentioned that "Governments have traditionally neglected the industry, and have tended to regard tourism as a source of taxation dollars, burdening business with structural costs and compliance measures which impede its price competitiveness. For example: The continuing insistence on charging airport rents, airport security fees, excise tax on aviation fuel, NAVCAN fees, or the abrupt cancellation of the Visitor Rebate Program and its replacement with the onerous and burdensome Foreign Convention and Tour Incentive Program are illustrative of the problem...Canada’s travel deficit has ballooned to 10.3 billion in 2007 and the latest quarterly numbers for 2008 show a continued deterioration."

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Given the ongoing weakness of the American economy and, more importantly, high fuel prices that are affecting air travel demand, it is clear that we're in for a very challenging year for Canadian Tourism. This brings me to suggest a more agressive marketing approach for Canadian Tourism. This is not the time to cut back, on the contrary. This is the time to increase marketing efforts, particularly in the United States. Economic troubles notwithstanding, it is not like America is all of a sudden a poor country. It is still a $14 Trillion economy and with a population of over 300 million people there are surely many millions who will continue to travel and travel in style. But how can we persuade them to come to Canada if most people outside a few major markets in the US do not know anything about this country?

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Here's my pitch. A television and multimedia campaign in the United States beginning in the winter of 2009. My dream campaign is not timid and would cost several million dollars. The key success factor for the campaign is a television spot during SUPER BOWL XLIII (90,000,000 viewers more or less). This, of course would be the most expensive marketing campaign ever attempted by Canada. A 30 second slot during the Super Bowl will cost close to $3,000,000 USD next year and I propose to show the Ad 1 per quarter during the game. That media buy alone would cost about $12,000,000 (assuming of course that the network accepts the ad since Super Bowl slots are highly competitive). I haven't been involved with TV commercial production in a while, but I would guess that my spot idea would cost as much as $4,000,000 to produce (depending on negotiations with talent, a critical element). So far we've spent about $16,000,000. I would also suggest investing an additional $5,000,000 in multimedia marketing (online and print) following the Super Bowl including distribution in all social media in order to take advantage of the long tail of Internet communications. A new website would need to be launched in order to track results and very importantly offer research and booking capabilities. It would require the cooperation of all major DMO's and their constituents in Canada. I am sure that the industry as a whole has enough money to launch this kind of campaign. I am sure that the budgets of all major DMO's in the country (CTC, provinces and cities) combined could afford it.

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What kind of spot would I want to see? Here's a very rough draft of the spot (very rough - after all, I do have to get back to work).

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WHITE TITLES ON BLACK SCREEN.
Music starts – at first not recognizable – as spot continues it becomes clear it’s a rock/hip-hop rendition of O Canada).

TITLE
Where are you going?

INT. RECORDING STUDIO
Medium shot to Close up of Avril Lavigne

AVRIL LAVIGNE (TO CAMERA)
I’m going to Canada.

EXT. STUDIO BACK LOT.
Close up of Willam Shatner

WILLIAM SHATNER (TO CAMERA)
I’m going to Canada

INT. COULD BE AT A STUDIO OR IN A HOME OR RESTAURANT
Close up of Pamela Anderson

PAMELA ANDERSON (TO CAMERA)
I’m going to Canada.

Quick shots of Canadian destinations and Canadian festivals in all seasons. Lots of action, lots of colour. 5 seconds

EXT. MUSKOKA, ONTARIO
Medium shot of Goldie Hawn and Kurt Russell. Cut to: Close up of Ms. Hawn

GOLDIE HAWN (TO CAMERA)
Canada

Camera pulls back to Aerial shot of a luxurious cottage in Muskoka, Ontario. Cut to:

WHITE TITLES ON BLACK SCREEN

TITLE
Where are you going?

EXT. TORONTO. DOWNTOWN ENTERTAINMENT DISTRICT
MAN’S BACK. Camera rolls in as man turns around.

MIKE MYERS (TO CAMERA)
Going to Canada, Baby

More Quick shots of Canadian destinations and Canadian festivals in all seasons. Lots of action, lots of colour, cutting back and forth from cities to nature and back.

EXT. MONTREAL OR QUEBEC CITY. DOWNTOWN OLD MONTREAL
CAMERA moves to reveal CELINE DION – pull back to establish Montreal or Quebec City.

CELINE DION (TO CAMERA)
I am going to Canada

EXT. MOVIE LOCATION IN LA.
Close up of Kiefer Sutherland

KIEFER SUTHERLAND (TO CAMERA)
I’m going to Canada


EXT. SOMEHWERE INN TREMBLANT, QUEBEC.
Med. Two shot up of Michael Douglas and Catherine Zeta Jones

MICHAEL DOUGLAS (TO CAMERA)
Going to Canada

More Quick shots of Canadian destinations and Canadian festivals in all seasons. Lots of action, lots of colour, cutting back and forth from cities to nature and back. Music reaches crescendo. 5 seconds

EXT. VANCOUVER SOMEWHERE.
Shot of a mimic on Robson Street performing to the crowd. Camera gets in close as man turns and we realize id Jim Carey

JIM CAREY (TO CAMERA)
Goin’ to Canada. Somebody stop me!

CUT TO---

FULL SCREEN – CANADA.TRAVEL GRAPHICS.

TITLE
Canada. Keep Exploring

URL: GOINGTOCANADA.COM

THE END

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Cheers and good luck this summer,

Jaime

www.canadaenespanol.ca

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High loonie notwithstanding Mexican inbound tourism was up 35.5% in March

While the sub-prime mortgage debacle, high gas prices, an interminable Democratic party race, recession fears, a "been there done that" mood, a low greenback, and other worries continue to keep Americans away from Canada (down a further 14.8% from March '07), a high loonie has not deterred Mexican tourists from visiting the Great White North. Visits from Mexicans in March of this year were up 35.5% compared to last year and 28% higher this year than last for the period of January to March. The Mexican economy is stable for the time being supported by a strong petropeso so summer is also looking good for Canadian Tourism organizations catering to these visitors.

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It also appears that for the first time ever, Mexico (22,195) surpassed Japan (20,344) in monthly visitors and also in total visitors year to date (Jan - Mar, Mexico: 47,991 Japan: 47,230). Orale!

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(source: StatCan's International Travel: Advance Information, March 2008).

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Saludos,

Jaime

www.demexicoacanada.ca

www.canadaenespanol.ca

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P.S. Given the numbers, there must be a mistake in StatCan's The Daily report "Travel between Canada and other countries," which says: "Travel declined in 8 of Canada's top 12 overseas markets, with the strongest decreases in travel from Mexico, Germany and Hong Kong. On the other hand, there were gains in visitors from India, Italy and the Netherlands."

Tourism Toronto names Russell Peters Global Ambassador. Russell who?

If you don't know who Russell Peters is then you are definitely not hip. Mr. Peters is one of the hottests comics in North America today. A native Indo-Canadian Torontonian Russell Peters has taken the comedy world by storm and is one of the most watched comedians on YouTube.

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"In our business we compete literally with the entire world. Russell canhelp us break through the noise and reveal the true personality of Toronto -the diverse, cosmopolitan experiences that make it such a tremendous place tolive, work and visit," said David Whitaker, President and CEO of Tourism Toronto. "Russell has demonstrated that sometimes the best way to bring people together is by laughing."

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"Mr. Peters will appear at major trade shows promoting Toronto to meeting and convention planners and other travel influencers." Tourism Toronto press release.

It will be very interesting to follow this initiative from Tourism Toronto and look back in a couple of years. One thing is for certain, Russell Peters is a very funny comedian whose comedy is based on great observation skills. If you have never seen or heard any of his comedy, here's a sample:

Jaime

PS this reminded me of my dream ad campaign to bring back Americans to Canada - I'll post it soon - cheers

A closer look at TripAdvisor. How interested are travelers in your destination?

TripAdvisor (now part of Expedia Inc.) is the leading (and I believe was the first mover) travel review site in the world. Many have tried and many more are trying to imitate it. TripAdvisor's home page says "18,114,828 Travelers from 190 Countries Planned Trips Here This Week!" I don't know how the site measures this. If I visit TripAdvisor and just look around or browse, do I count as one of those visitors planning trips?

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Question: Can TripAdvisor's forums tell us anything about the demand for a destination? Which comes first, interest on a destination or volume of reviews/topics (questions) and posts on TripAdvisor? Do TripAdvisor's users create demand for a destination?

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While this is not, by any means an exhaustive scientific analysis, I think the numbers do tell us something. You decide what this "something is." (In the past I looked at Google as a possible proxy for interest in a destination and the numbers were also telling. "Are Google results a proxy for people's interest in a certain country?..."

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If you are not familiar with TripAdvisor, visit the site and do a search for any destination that comes to mind. At the top of the results page you will see som Travel Deals (sponsored links). Below the travel deals you will see a "Location Results" box. This box will have anywhere from a few to several links for the word you chose because there are many locations with the same name. For example, if you search for Mexico you will see 250 results because there are many locations in the world called Mexico (e.g. Mexico, Indiana). It will also include establishments with the word Mexico in them, such as a restaurant called "Mexico" in Derbyshire, England, etc.

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For the purposes of this post I am focusing on the destination itself, usually the first result in the "Location Results" box. You will notice that underneath the destination's name there are a few links to: Hotels Things to Do Restaurants Deals Forums Maps, etc.

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When you click on Forums, you go to the forums page for that destination. The forums' table includes the Topic (which many times is a question), the name of the Forum (e.g. Cancun), the author of the Topic (or question), a registered member of TripAdvisor, replies (if any) to that Topic or question and the last time a message was posted.

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One would think that if there are many Topics or questions about a particular destination, as well as many replies then the conclusion may be that there are many travelers interested in or planning trips to that destination. So I did a search for various countries a few days ago to determine how many Topics and Replies each generated (I mainly focused on TripAdvisor's English language site). This is what I found:

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Number of Topics/Questions when people searched for the word Canada in TripAdvisor's UK and US versions (same results for both): 30,840 Topics or questions

Number of Topics/Questions when people searched for the words United States in TripAdvisor's UK and US versions (same results for both) versions: 515,126 Topics or questions
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Number of Topics/Questions when people searched for the word Mexico in TripAdvisor's UK and US versions (same results for both) versions: 209,620 Topics or questions
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Other destinations:

China – 22,120 Topics/Questions
France – 56,340 Topics/Questions
Italy - 98,480 Topics/Questions
UK - 60,860 Topics/Questions

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Note: Topics searched went as far back as what's on TripAdvisor more or less since the Fall of 2004.

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The reader can draw his/her own conclusions. Mine is simple. I wrote about it in my submission to the first version of the Tips From the T-List book entitled "Social Media and SEO are no substitute for Advertising and PR." In order for people to ask questions about a destination or plan a trip there, first they must be interested in it. If we want to see more people talking and asking questions about our destinations, products and services we still need to advertise to them (whether online or offline, but ideally a combination of both). Even though my recently launched Canadamigos.com social network is growing well from promoting it in my Spanish network of sites (sort of in-house advertising) I still think it's important to adveritise it offline and in search engines, in order to get more people interested in the site. On my next post, I will write about my fantasy ad campaign for Canada as a destination.

Happy surfing,

Jaime

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Cape Breton Island working to face challenges. I see opportunities.

I was a bit surprised to read in the Tourism Daily News, that Cape Breton Island's tourism, one of my favourite places in Canada and one of the most beautiful places in the world is having problems. I understand that there have been challenges for the entire industry in years past, but overall the global numbers released recently indicate that, as a whole, Canadian tourism is strong, mostly because of our domestic tourism.

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I have been saying for years that Nova Scotia is a prime destination to develop in the Mexican and Spanish markets. As I mentioned in my previous post, the CTC's market research study (September 2007) lists a number of attributes "Mexicans strongly associate with an ideal destination." Let's see how these apply to Cape Breton Island and indeed to all of Nova Scotia:

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Seeing as much as possible in the time available. Nova Scotia offers a great many number of places to see in a short period of time. Cape Breton itself can be explored in a couple of days seeing great spots like Cheticamp, Pleasant Bay, Meat Cove, Baddeck and many more. Given the average time Mexicans and Spaniards take for vacation, they would have more than enough time to explore in Nova Scotia.

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Places important in history. If you are interested in Canadian and world history, Nova Scotia is one of the best places to observe and learn. There is living history in Nova Scotia. Of course, Louisbourg is one of the main attractions that Mexican and Spanish tourists would find wonderful, but there is also the Annapolis Valley, Pictou and Halifax itself. So many important events in the history of Canada, France and Great Britain took place in Nova Scotia that anyone interested in history would have a great time learning about them.

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Great food and drink. Seafood anyone? One of my favourite things about Cape Breton and Nova Scotia is the food. Lobster, lobster, lobster. Lobster anyone? Did I mention that Mexicans and Spaniards in general love seafood? Drink? Well, while Nova Scotia is not known for wineries, Mexicans and Spaniards love beer. Perhaps a pint or two of Alexander Keiths would do the trick.

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Buying the latest fashions - OK so we can't have it all. In this regard, we can't pretend that Cape Breton or Nova Scotia are fashion centres. Nevertheless, there is some good shopping in Halifax.

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Exciting travel stories. I still have very fond memories of my first (and unfortunately to date) and only trip to Nova Scotia (recall that I was born in Mexico). Undoubtedly, Mexicans would come away with great memories from their time in Cape Breton.

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A sense of freedom. Anyone who has driven around Cape Breton Island and has stood on the tip of Meat Cove or taken a boat ride to see whales in Pleasant Bay will understand what a sense of freedom one can find in Nova Scotia.

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I am convinced that Cape Breton is a gem when it comes to its potential in the Mexican and Spanish markets. Of course, no destination is for everyone. Markets must be segmented and the right targets approached. Nova Scotia and Cape Breton are for Mexican and Spanish independent experienced travelers who love to fly and drive and design their own itineraries. Much work needs to be done to develop the markets, but I believe it would be worth it.

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Regards,
Jaime Horwitz MBA
www.nuevaescocia.ca

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Mexican inbound market to Canada continues to grow at double digit rates. ¿What's the attraction?

Given the recently published figures from Statistics Canada showing that the Mexican inbound market grew by almost 21% in February '08 compared to the same month in '07, I am following up on a previous post about the Mexican and German inbound markets, and comments from Vicky Brock (Scotland's Tracking Tourism: the Tourism Research Blog).

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In one of her comments Vicky asked : "is there research or are you aware of what the key destination attractors are for the Mexican market segments? For example, in Scotland, the German market is typically thought to be attracted by the rugged outdoors, the beauty of wild nature, exploring, walking and hiking. And I can see that in these respects Canada and Scotland are direct competitors when it comes to the German market."

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"is there research?" and "Are you aware?" Yes and Yes. I have been aware of the key attractors since I launched the "Canada en Español Network," and I've conducted many surveys online to confirm my empirical knowledge about the Mexican market (I was born and grew up in Mexico City among Canada's target markets - i.e. affluent Mexicans). Furthermore, since the Canadian Tourism Commission began marketing in Mexico, it has commissioned various studies and continues to do research in that market.

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So, why do Mexicans come to Canada? What do Mexican travellers like? What are the "key attractors" for Mexicans when it comes to visiting Canada?

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The CTC's latest research, Mexico Consumer & Travel Trade Research (september 2007), lists the following attributes "that Mexicans strongly associate with an ideal destination, they include:

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Seeing as much as possible in the time available

• Places important in history
• Great food and drink
• Exciting travel stories
• Buying the latest fashions
• A sense of freedom

When it comes to Canada specifically, the research lists a number of Canadian activities in which Mexicans are very interested. Number one is "Seeing Niagara Falls," followed by "Visiting Canada's major cities" and, believe it or not, "Aurora viewing in Canada's North." In addition to the above, "Visiting a World Heritage Site" and "Seeing the Canadian Rockies" aslo scored above 70% of respondents.

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My two cents (without revealing secrets) - Why do Mexicans come to Canada? It's new! Canada is famous around the world for being a "nice country," for being the "peacekeeper," and for being cold. In Mexico there is a very very high regard for Canada as a country, perhaps exaggerated, (something I am confirming more and more from Canadamigos Social Network's members), but until quite recently (in the last ten to twelve years) there was virtually no knowledge in Mexico about Canada's tourist attractions, except for Niagara Falls (a wonder of the world). Today, many affluent Mexicans know a lot more about Canada, but mostly about Ontario and Quebec led by Niagara, Toronto and Montreal. This is to be expected since Ontario and Quebec have been the most active in promoting their destinations in Mexico in recent years and Toronto and Montreal get more media coverage internationally than any other Canadian cities. This is due in part because of professional sports (Mexican are avid sports spectators) like baseball and basket-ball (Toronto) as well as high visibility events like the Toronto International Film Festival, the International Jazz Festival and the Grand Prix.

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Going forward, there is a lot of room for growth vis-a-vis the Mexican market as other destinations increase their visibility (BC and Alberta follow Quebec and Ontario) and air access increases. I have heard that Mexicana Airlines will begin direct flights to Calgary and Edmonton this year, although I have not seen official announcements yet. If this is the case, expect significant growth in visitations to Alberta this year (provided the flights are properly marketed).

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What do Mexicans travellers like? Well, (Vicky) one thing I can certainly say (even though no one likes broad generalizations) is that Mexican travellers are not attracted to "the rugged outdoors, the beauty of wild nature, exploring, walking and hiking." As most tourists to Canada, Mexicans certainly want to see and enjoy Canada's natural wonders, Niagara Falls being #1, but they are not into walking, camping and hiking the great outdoors, especially the rugged kind. While there are niche segments of the Mexican travelling public who do enjoy the outdoors and are experienced outdoorspersons who love adventure tourism, most Mexicans who can afford to travel to Canada want comfort. They want to see everything and experience new things (like the Ice Hotel in Quebec, for example) and have fun and gather great stories to tell when they go back home. But they don't want to "rough it" and they definitely want to have time and places to go shopping. Mexicans love good food. They like to go out to great restaurants, enjoy great meals and spend time in the sobremesa (a Mexican term that refers to the conversation that goes on after eating their meals while they enjoy dessert or brandy and a coffee). The CTC research rightly points out that in this regard, Canada needs to do a better job of educating the market about our culinary offerings.

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Finally, this may sound to obvious, but one major thing about Mexicans when they travel abroad. They want to feel welcomed. Mexicans love to make friends and a friendly attitude and friendly service go a long way in making these visitors happy. And not only that, this will also make them word-of-mouth marketers for your destination or your tourism business. Allow me to quote a member of the Canadamigos Social Network, who wrote a description of her first trip to Canada:

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"Puedo decir sin lugar a dudas que Canadá es un país indiscutiblemente bellísimo, es difícil dejar de contemplar todos los tesoros que tiene tan sólo esta parte del país, sin embargo puedo asegurar que una de las sorpresas más gratas que tuve fue descubrir la generosidad y carisma de su gente."
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"I can say without a doubt that Canada is indisputably beautiful, it's difficult to stop contemplating the treasures that you find in this part of the country alone, however, I can assure you that one of the nicest surprises I had (on this trip) was to discover the generosity and charisma of its people."
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I could easily do a half day seminar about Mexican travellers to Canada in all their permutations, I can continue writing about this topic in more detail, but I think the above will suffice for now. Thanks Vicky for prompting me to write about this.

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Saludos,

Jaime