Some key take-aways from the Ontario Tourism Summit Conference

Canada's economy is in good shape relatively to other industrialized countries - particularly the United States. The recovery will continue this quarter and good growth is expected for 2010. However, employment will lag growth in other sectors. The Canadian dollar will stay strong perhaps fluctuating between $0.85 and $1. This last point is the most important to remember from Don Drummond's economic overview at OTS '09 because it means that our tourism product will not be as competitive relative to other destinations. A strong dollar will also allow Canadians to travel more abroad impacting the growing travel deficit.

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Peter Yesawich gave a very intersting and helpful update from the Ypartnership sureveys (travel habits-intentions of Americans and Canadians) . Some key points: we are currently in a very price sensitive era. Even the affluent are price sensitive (though 66% of affluent, high-end travellers are still shopping for value not price). Yesawich mentioned the importance and proliferation of meta search engines, a topic that is somewhat outdated, since sites like Kayak are maturing and a significant sector of eTourism is moving towards travel inspiration and trip planning (that's not to say that price comparison shopping is going away anytime soon - or ever).

Canada trails Europe by a wide margin when it comes to places Americans would like to go to.

Intergenerational travel is growing, e.g. grandparents taking the grandkids on a Holiday.

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Mr Chris Rodriguez, Chair of VisitBritain gave an eloquent presentation about tourism marketing, DMO's (Destination Marketing Organizations) and DMMO's (Destination Marketing and Management Organizations - see comments). Mr. Rodrigues made several good points that may not be new, but are worth remembering. A destination must first make sure that it's attractive to the locals before trying to attract international visitors. Making the best better is not easy. DMO's and, more importantly DMMO's need to focus on common goals, cooperation and a strong understanding of partnership. For DMMO's to work well, leadership is key.

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Michelle McKenzie and Robin Garrett gave good presentations about converting brand equity into sales. Ms. McKenzie provided an overview and update of the LocalsKnow campaign, which had over 4,000 spots uploaded and over 800 deals. If I recall correctly, I think she said there were over two million page views and over 400,000 visits to the site during the summer campaign. I would have liked to learn, though, how much money the whole campaign cost and how much money in bookings was generated?

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Ms Garrett spoke about Ontario's accomplishments during the past year and the success of the There's No Place Like This campaign (made special mention of Justin Hines' appearance on the campaign). She also talked about Ontario's international marketing. Basically Ontario is aligned with the CTC when it comes to international markets.

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Speaking of markets, both Ontario and the CTC are working to open up the Indian and Brazil markets in addition to the other overseas countries they already market to. I made a comment at the session with TIAC's president Randy Williams and TIAO's president Bill Allen that the imposition of visa restrictions on Mexican visitors is a red flag vis a vis emerging markets and how much they can grow. Ontario and the CTC can do a great job of marketing Canada to Indians and Brazilians creating demand for travel to Canada, but visa processing is the responsibility of Immigration and Citizenship Canada (and CBSA). Indians and Brazilians who want to come to Canada must apply for a visitor's visa. There's a limit of how many visas can be processed at any given time.

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I personally believe that there are still many international opportunities for Canada in countries where Canada does not require a visa, including the United States. I would look at Italy and Spain in particular. Spain is the only European country that's showing any growth in inbound tourism to Canada this year (and one of only two countries overall).

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Jaime Horwitz MBA

Co-Chair Canada-e-Connect eTourism Strategy Conference Montreal 2010

Back to basics. Meet (or exceed) your customers/guests expectations.

A cool website can be a great marketing tool, but it can also create expectations. And marketers must make sure that those expectations are met (or exceeded). A recent travel experience reminded me of how important it is for businesses (tourism or otherwise) to manage customers' expectations. Last weekend I spent three days in beautiful Huron County in Western Ontario. My wife found the place where we stayed on the Web, but I had seen advertisements of Benmiller Inn before. The Benmiller Inn website indicates that the inn has been awarded a Four Diamond Award and that it belongs to Ontario's Finest Inns. The site and its content creates expectations in the mind of the consumer, and so it did in our minds. But when we got to our room the expectatons were not met. And our $200 dinner at the Inn's restaurant was a disappointment (except for the Carpaccio). My point here is not to criticize the Benmiller Inn, but rather to bring up the issue of creating and managing expectations. I must say here, that the Benmiller Inn was responsive to our comments. Kathy, at the front desk was very understanding in listening to our observations and conveyed them to the Innkeeper. The next day she came and found us and told us that they wanted to upgrade us to a larger room, which we accepted. The room was much better and looked more like the rooms pictured on the website.

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In the past, when customers' expectations were not met by a business (or product or brand), people had very few, if any, avenues to express their disappointment or complaints. But today, as most of us know now, people can Twitter, blog, write on their Facebook wall or their friend's walls. They can write reviews on Tripadvisor and many other sites. Today a complaint can go viral and it can definitely affect the bottom line. So don't forget the basics. Your website should NOT be better than your core offering (in this case the Inn itself). Don't over promise because you will generate expectations you won't meet.

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The Benmiller Inn is a very good Inn in the very small town of Benmiller, Ontario. Some people may not like that it's right next to the road, but once you are in the Inn proper this should not be an issue. The few staff we encountered were very friendly and attentive (except our dinner waitress who seemed somewhat aloof). The first room we stayed at was fine but the air conditioning was not working and it was a bit run down - it did not look the rooms pictured in the website. The second room/suite they upgraded us to was excellent, though we did not spend much time in it. The elegant restaurant has a cozy atmosphere. When we had dinner on a Thursday evening there weren't many customers there (maybe two other tables), but we were looking forward to the meal. Our expectations were high based on the Inn's website. We were not expecting La Pinsonnière, but we were expecting a very good high-end meal. We did not have it. The first steak I ordered was overcooked, my wife's scallops were dry and our daughter's cornish hen was just OK (according to her, I did not try it). We only had two glasses of wine total and the bill came to $200 plus gratuity. Not a very expensive meal (La Pinsonnière can easily be double that), but not inexpensive either. The issue was not the money, but the expectations. The next day we had lunch at the Corner Cafe in Blyth, a local diner in that charming Ontario town. Being a diner kind of place The sandwiches were great and the fries excellent our expectations were very low (sandwiches cost about $4). But we thoroughly enjoyed our lunch. Our expectations were exceeded. (I had a Denver, my wife had a Club and our daughter had chicken). So given, these two experiences, we have decided that next time we're in the area, we'll eat at the Corner Cafe and not at the Inn.

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In conclusion, with all the talk about digital marketing and edistribution, Twitter, blogging, Social Media, Mobile marketing, etc., etc., we may forget that the first order of business is to remember what our core offering is and to deliver accordingly. What is the core competency of the business? What is the business', brand's promise? Get back to basics and be mindful of what kind of expectations you are creating in the mind of your prospective guests/customers.

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Jaime Horwitz MBA

I'm in Mexico City on a short business trip.

Not used to my former hometown. It is just too big and with more than 20 million people living in the Greater Mexico City Metropolitan Area a bit crowded. However, it is always great to see old friends and get together for dinner. Mexico City does have excellent restaurants. Two days ago I had dinner at Brasileiríssimo Polanco, an authentic Brazilian restaurant where the concept is "all you can eat." Las night a couple of friends took me to a fantastic Argentinian Steak & Fish house called Puerto Madero (after the place of the same name in Argentina). Fabulous steaks and great ambiance.

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Looking at the view from my hotel (41st floor of the Presidente InterContinental Hotel) it is not hard to see why millions of Mexico City residents may want to visit Canada given its reputation for clean air and pristine natural settings and safe and orderly cities. While Mexico City is a fascinating place to visit, people here yearn many a time to get away to places where they can feel freer and more relaxed, away from chaotic traffic and hazy, smoggy days. Unfortunately, there is another issue attracting Mexicans to a country like Canada. Safety. There are plans for a huge demonstration/walk next weekend to protest against the lack of safety in the country. All levels of government have signed a security accord and have promised results in 100 days. Mexicans are watching.

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Tomorrow I will be back in Toronto, not a perfect city by any means, but still one of the best in the world to live in and to visit.

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Jaime

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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Finding your way at ITB Berlin as a first timer (bit of humour)

This will be my last comment about ITB or rather my closing thought on the experience visiting ITB Berlin for the first time. Previous posts have described the experience attending the PhoCusWright Bloggers Summit as well as my impressions on the Canada Pavilion (post before this one). ITB Berlin, being the largest travel trade and consumer show in the world, is difficult to navigate - my new blogger friend Guido Van Den Elshout (Happy Hotelier) describes his experience: "Finding your way inside the Berlin Messe is even more cumbersome if you are a first time visitor. It has 26 or more different numbered halls while various halls are subdivided. They are draped around a square with the Messe Tower. Some halls are interconnected. Some are not. Their system of road signs is simply horrible. There is no clear map. In that respect WTM at London Excel, maybe not as huge as ITB, is much more compact and has several strategically located information points where you can tie exhibitors’ names, boot numbers and boot locations together." Case in point:

Cheers,

Jaime Horwitz

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Creativity is the Secret - My submission to the upcoming new Tips from the T-List (travel bloggers) update

My friend Jens Thraenhart of the Tourism Inernet Marketing Blog and fellow travel blogger of the T-List (a virtual network of travel and tourism bloggers and consultants) asked me to submit an article offering my Tourism Marketing Secret. Out of the many submissions, the best will be presented at the PhoCusWright Bloggers Summit at ITB in Berlin (March 5 to 9).

Here's the article I submitted (this version is slightly different and includes some images and a video):

Creativity and Tourism

In my opinion and in my experience Creativity is THE marketing secret. Wikipedia defines creativity as “Creativity (or "creativeness") is a mental process involving the generation of new ideas or concepts, or new associations between existing ideas or concepts.” My former marketing professor, now one of my Facebook friends, and author of the book DigiMarketing: The Essential guide to New Media & Digital Marketing once defined creativity as (I’m paraphrasing) “putting things together that normally don’t go together”. A contemporary example of this concept is the mobile phone that combines music and telephony. The iPod products are examples of creativity at its best in the area of consumer products.
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While both definitions are helpful, I define Creativity as “a new way of looking at something (a product, a destination, a piece of music) and presenting it or expressing it in an unexpected and/or innovative way. At the core of creativity is the verb to create from the latin root crescere meaning to grow. Therefore Creativity is also the process, the intellectual tool, by which something new is created.” A painter like Picasso, perhaps the most creative artist in history, could look at bicycle's handlebars and a saddle and turn them into a bull’s head. An artist like Warhol looked at consumer products like Campbell’s cans of soup and turned them into (very valuable) works of art.
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When it comes to tourism, clearly creativity matters and it will matter more in the future as competition for travelers’ share of time and wallet intensifies. The most successful tourism businesses of the future will be those that are the most creative. Richard Florida became famous for his belief that the most successful cities in the world are and will be the creative cities. From a tourism perspective, it is also the most creative cities the ones that attract the most tourists. Whether it’s New York, Bilbao, Barcelona, Paris or Las Vegas (creativity does not necessarily mean ‘high-brow’) when it comes to urban experiences, the more creative a city, the more visitors it will attract. (Toronto is trying hard. I love the Ontario College of Ar & Design's "building in the air". The ROM Crystal gallery is a good step forward as is the Gehry designed AGO renovation even though the new AGO will not be nearly as bold and creative as The Guggenheim in Bilbao or the Walt Disney Concert Hall in La. Creative cities attract creative residents and creativity thus retro feeds itself. Many hoteliers and restaurateurs have tapped the creativity in themselves or in others they hire to better compete in the marketplace. A restaurant that only focuses on food these days is at a disadvantage. Joso’s restaurant in Toronto, for example, has not only thrived because of it’s marvelous Mediterranean cuisine, but also because it’s a unique art gallery within the restaurnant (or vice versa).
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Another great example of creativity at its best in tourism is the Museum 21C Hotel in Louisville, Kentucky. This property is a hotel within a museum (or a museum within a hotel). Comfortable, clean rooms with great showers and “designer” toiletries are the minimum standard for today’s hotels (most mid and high-end ones at any rate). After that what makes a hotel different? The 21C goes way beyond the usual: iPods with a wide variety of music for guests' listening pleasure, award winning design and décor, poster art, 42" HDTV flat screen televisions, WiFi, 500 thread count Egyptian cotton sheets imported from Italy crowning the exquisite bedding, silver mint julep cups, gourmet coffee makers, mini-bar refrigerators, Malin + Goetz bath amenities, and nightly turn down and Concierge services.
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What makes a hotel more attractive to prospective guests and, more importantly, what makes guests want to return to that hotel is the key success factor and creativity is the solution. The 21C Hotel does a fantastic job at wowing guests with its art collections and exhibits from living artists. The amenities are first class and the service is welcoming, professional and friendly.
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But don’t think that in order to be creative you need the resources of a 21C or a W Hotel. I know a small family owned suites hotel in Morelia, Mexico, that came up with a creative and artistic way to differentiate itself from the competition. Every apartment suite (and these are simple, clean, spacious apartments) in Suites Galería is decorated in the style of a famous Mexican painter. This simple yet creative idea gives the apartments a flavour and ambience that makes them more attractive than other accommodations in their class.
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Then there’s the sno limo, a Canadian innovation for non-skiers. Someone had the creative idea to come up with a comfortable sleigh/lounge-chair on skis that allows non-skiers to enjoy the slopes and magnificent vistas of Canadian ski resorts (available also in Japan).

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In my business (Canada en Español) I rely on creativity to attract more visitors to my websites and those of my customers/clients/partners in order to generate business. Constrained by limited resources I cannot afford to hire expensive designers and/or software programmers. I need to rely on creative content, creative SEO techniques as well as affordable SEM on occasion. By far the most important element of the above is creative content. This can take many forms. As Steve Wright (of Radar DDB), correctly pointed out during his presentation at the first Canada-e-Connect conference (Nov 2007), people are not thinking about travel all the time. They are going about their lives.

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My websites’ focus is Canada in Spanish (www.canadaenespanol.ca), but not just travel to and within Canada. I know that my audience is interested in many aspects of the country, thus articles about Canadian hockey or Canadian politics or Canadian business attract Hispanic readers who may not necessarily be thinking about a vacation in Canada at the time, but once they’re on my site they may navigate to the tourism section. Another example, of creativity as I use it is to feature non-stereotypical “tourist attractions” in my content. For example, in my recently launched community Canadamigos.com (www.canadamigos.com) I featured a video about me and my wife buying food for New Year’s Eve dinner at Toronto’s St Lawrence market. I knew this would be of interest because I know my audience (potential travelers to Canada) and their culture. Showing them the market and relating what I saw to their culture or country (e.g. the fantastic Spanish cheeses one can find there) is a creative way of introducing them to Toronto as oppose to doing a video of the CN Tower.

Here's the video and a couple of Canadamigos comments:
Encuentra más videos como este en Canadamigos Network

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“Sabes? En el 2007 viaje de vacaciones a Canada...y es una làstima que en los recorridos no incluyan cosas como lo que muestras en este video! Me parece que seria atractivo que asi fuera...Gracias por mostrarlo” (“You know? In 2007 I went on vacaction to Canada…and it is too bad that the city tours don’t include things like these you show on your video! I think it would be good if they did…thanks for showing this”)
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“Excelente video Jaime, en unas dos semanas estare por alla de vacaciones y me asegurare de visitar este mercado, el poder apreciar tu video me provoca un deseo irresistible de conocerlo. Gracias.” (“Excellent video Jaime, in a couple of weeks I will be there for vacation and I will make sure to visit this market. Being able to appreciate your video gives me an incredible urge to see it”)
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In conclusion, my “secret” marketing tip is to use creativity whenever possible and in accordance to your tourism business objectives. Creativity calls for taking risks. If you are not willing to take risks you’re risking making your business (destination) vulnerable to the competition and putting it in danger of sinking into a sea of mediocrity whose bottom is called oblivion. This applies equally to small businesses, DMO’s and governments. Whether it’s a hotel like the 21C, a DMO like Australian tourism (“Where the bloody hell are you?”) or a city like Bilbao (Guggenheim Museum) the leaders in tourism will be those who make the best use of creativity.

Jaime Horwitz MBA

www.cactusrock.com

www.canadaenespanol.ca

www.canadamigos.com

Canadian Tourism. The Little Pleasures of Toronto. What little pleasures do you know in your area?

We all know about the big pleasures, the "hits," the icons. In my Canada en Español website there is a page with the "Top (more than ten) Canadian things to do (or things Canadians must do at least once in a lifetime)." These include going to a Calgary Stampede, attending a Juste Pour Rire Festival in Montréal, skating the Rideau Canal, visiting polar bears in Churchill, Manitoba, driving around Cape Breton Island, going to the Yukon Quest in Whitehorse, and many others. But what about the small pleasures of a destination? Those hidden gems that may not be spectacular, but nonetheless can make a vacation more memorable. I am thinking of things like a smoked meat sandwich at Schwartz in Montréal or a quiet moment of rest in Stanley Park, the Halifax Public Gardens or Mont Royal in Montréal.

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This past Saturday afternoon I had to take my daughter to downtown Toronto for one of her many extra curricular activities. This particular lessons are held in a studio 4 minutes away from the Distillery District in Toronto. Once I dropped her off and made sure everything was fine, I made my way to the DD and walked to the locally famous Café Balzac. This coffee shop occupies one of the spaces in this 19th century distillery - turned arts and entertainment spot - that is also growing into the hub of a nice neighbourhood as well. The interior of Café Balzac is warm and cozy with its exposed brick and beautiful paintings and its comfortable loft area. But the best part of Café Balzac is its coffee. I ordered a double latte and a couple of croissants. Going up the stairs to the loft area I was happy to find a place to sit down and enjoy my coffee and re-read the Tips from the T-List (travel and tourism bloggers) while my daughter was taking her class. Nowadays one can learn about many of these lesser known holiday pleasures from many blogs out there in the blogosphere (I will write a related post for the Hispanic traveller in my BlogdeCanada.com).

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I spent about an hour at the Café Balzac and loved it. The latte was superb and the croissants were quite good. Nothing spectacular, just one of those little pleasures.

saludos,

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Jaime

www.canadamigos.com/

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What is the Long Tail of Tourism and what does it mean to Canadian destinations and busineses, particularly small businesses. The Long Post.

Lately, there's been a lot of blogging and talking about the Long Tail and Long Tail economics and what this means for tourism. I was a bit mystified by the concept when I first heard about it during the Canada-e-Connect conference last November (And I'm sure I will hear more about it at the PhocusWright Bloggers Summit in Berlin next march). I wondered, if this was just another business buzz word? Does it relate to a person's travelling history and relationship to a particular trip? Does it refer to the "long tail" of a traveling continuum that begins with the dream (of going somewhere) followed by the research, the planning, the actual trip and the sharing of memories (good or bad) and recommendations (or criticisms)? I decided to go to the source of the phrase and see what it may mean to the tourism business, particularly small businesses like B&B's, restaurants and attractions.

The term Long Tail appears to have been coined by Chris Anderson, editor in chief of Wired Magazine, in his essay called The Long Tail (now a book: The Long Tail: How Endless Choice is Creating Unlimited Demand). Mr. Anderson focused his article on the world of entertainment and its products, be it DVD's, CD's, films or TV programs. The term refers to markets that until now where difficult to reach because of the limitations of the physical world (e.g. record stores, book stores, video rental outfits, etc.), a world that has traditionally been driven by hits. Basically, the assertion is that before the Internet as a channel of distribution, entertainment products where limited by distribution challenges and costs, therefore only products with mass appeal had a chance and consumers would gravitate naturally to the hit record, the hit TV show or the hit film. With the advent of the Internet this has changed. He starts his essay with the example of a book that was almost out of print, but that could still be found on Amazon. This book was recommended on the site to people who were buying another book with a similar topic and the result was the the almost out-of-print-book started selling very well. The book had been a miss when it first came out and now it was becoming a hit because of a recommendation of Amazon and the endorsement of buyers who purchased the old book. ("the emerging digital entertainment economy is going to be radically different from today's mass market. If the 20th- century entertainment industry was about hits, the 21st will be equally about misses.")

But how is this Long Tail concept applied to tourism? One way of looking at it is from the long tail of the travel experience which does indeed have a long tail. This long tail can manifest itself in personal conversations with friends reminiscing about good and bad travel experiences. It manifests itself online in traveler reviews, recommendations and rants (as in Tripadvisor), shared travel stories (as in consumer destination blogs like The Bay of Fundy blog) and audiovisual pieces (as in YouTube videos or Play Montréal podcasts). The travel experience can come up in conversation (online or offline) years after it took place. The stronger the experience the longer it will stay in the mind of the traveler. This aspect of the long tail, if we wish to call it that, is the one that seems easiest for businesses and DMO's to address, i.e. encouraging the conversation and/or even being part of it (as HelloBC.com does in its blogs area). These memories could be the equivalent of old out-of-print books that Chris mentions in his essay, albeit, in this case people don't buy memories, but are rather influenced by them.

Another way of looking at the Long Tail from a travel and tourism perspective is in the area of niche markets, whether we are talking about an activity (snowboarding, fly fishing, ice-climbing, shopping for Inuit art, etc.) or a place (e.g. cottage country, a vegan restaurant, a dim sum establishment, etc.). I equate this with the out-of-print book or obscure band's CD that is discovered or rediscovered by a niche audience who can now have access to it because of the Web. Niche tourism products or services (or markets or population segments) can drive business to larger destinations. Chris' Long Tail essay dealt mostly with the long tail as it applies to physical products that can be purchased online (or rather digital products in the case of eBooks or music downloads). Chris rightly points out that even though there is certainly a place for mass markets driven by hits (hit records, blockbuster movies and bestsellers), there are also big markets in the misses - or niches (provided the cost of distribution/acquisition is accessible). The opportunity I see here is in tourism marketing: opportunity for large DMO's to take advantage of niche and unique experiences that will drive travelers (and creat buzz, of course) to their destination and opportunity for small tourism businesses to access online communities that are attracted to their kind of offer.

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The challenges of distribution. Travel products and services are obviously not like MP3 music downloads, ebooks or even books on print and CD's that can easily be shipped. Destinations are not out-of-print books that can be reprinted in limited numbers. The Long Tail of travel thus, has its own characteristics (experiences being perhaps easier to grasp). Airlines for example cannot establish niche routes just because there is a niche market of tavelers interested in flying to a small town, unless the "niche" is large enough so that the airline can make money. I have seen this upclose over the last few years observing how the Mexican state of Campeche has had a lot of difficulty convincing an airline to increase and improve its service from Mexico City to Campeche City (let alone direct flights from Toronto).

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Small tourism businesses that want to attract visitors may benefit from the long tail as long as they can be found online (SEO, SEM), can make it easy for their potential guests to understand what they offer (good navigation, relevant info, images) and make it easy to book or purchase the service (using low cost booking services like Rezgo, for example). I have learned over the past few years that many small tourism businesses (and some not so small) are still behind in understanding how to use Internet technologies to improve their visibility and sales in the marketplace, let alone getting involved in the new Tourism 2.0 space, e.g. blogging and social media. At the present time it's the large entities that dominate whatever the current travel long tail is. It's companies like Orbitz, Travelocity, Expedia, Tripadvisor, Virtual Tourist and even Google (Google Maps) that take advantage of this "long tail," phenomenon (be it experiences, recommendations, reviews, and product as in Tripadvisor or selling niche products to extend the travel transaction like Expedia does by selling activities after you select your hotel). Recently I was contacted by a small resort in Alberta interested in the inbound Hispanic markets, but they are not sure whether it's a good market for them and how to address it. This is an example of a business that could benefit from the long tail addressing a niche of travelers online. But how to do it at a low cost, i.e. without spending thousands of dollars in sales trips to other countries or investing in potential partnerships with larger entitities like receptive operators and wholesalers?

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Vicky Brock of the Tourism Research Blog posed the following question on an interesting post called Long tail or critical mass? Is niche enough for tourism in online social networks? :

“Is a potential visitor, and the tourism businesses trying to engage with that potential visitor, likely to be served better by a long tail of niche travel communities and social networks, or by two or three “full service” players whose very scale means they have achieved the critical mass to serve niche interests?”

I think it may be the case that some businesses might be better served by the large "full service" players and some by the niche travel communities. But given the nature of the Web, I think that tourism businesses should explore and make use of all available tools, i.e. if they can make a profitable deal with a large player to be included in the mix, they should go ahead and do that, but they should also explore social networks where they can have exposure to potential customers predisposed to purchase their product. As Vicky Brock points out: "And what of individual small business? Fiscal and time constraints mean that participation in existing communities is likely to be more practical for most businesses than opting for social network development. But where does a business choose to invest its time in its two-way conversations with potential customers?"

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In the case of the Alberta resort, for example, if it's not cost-effective for them to be listed on sites like Expedia, they should explore social networks that could expose them to potential guests. For example, I have been working on a Social Network for Hispanics and Canadians, called Canadamigos, where the common interest is friendship and travel centered mostly on Canada. There is a group on the site for Adventure Tourism. This resort could become a member of the network (for a fee) and thus be exposed to Hispanic (and Canadian) travelers that might be looking for a place like theirs. Canadamigos is an example of a social network that fits into the concept of the long tail when it comes to sharing experiences, tips, recommendations, etc. It still has some way to go on the supplier side in order to complete the circle and make the site "tourism abundant" to use a term from Edu William's The Abundance in Tourism (Tips from the T-List) More on Canadamigos on future posts.

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Last July, Philip Caines, a fellow Tourism blogger, listed PhoCusWright's predictions about the Long Tail in his blog Tourism Tide:

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Prediction 1: The Long Tail era will drive a new economy.

Prediction 2: The Long Tail facilitators – content providers, software suppliers and ASPs – are in pivotal positions. Prediction

3: Technology and standards will evolve. Prediction

4: The democratization of supply will open up new marketing and packaging opportunities. Prediction

5: The success of the Long Tail in travel is directly proportional to the quality of search - making metasearch, geographically-oriented search and vertical search key enablers.The potential for tour operators and software developers to great greater access to the end consumer is growing every day, you can only imagine what types if niches will be catered to.

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In conclusion, this "long tail" concept, while not perfect, is influencing tourism marketers everywhere. The use of social media is becoming more important, but many businesses are not sure how they can take advantage of the phenomenon yet. My recommendation for the small tourism business out there is to explore ways in which they can insert themselves in the "online conversations" taking place, whether it be by blogging themselves, joining a relevant social network or advertise in either of these. Advertising and marketing are not going away. Rather marketers must look at how the marketing mix (price, product, promotion, place/distribution, people and profit) fits into all this.

saludos,

Jaime Horwitz

www.canadamigos.com

www.canadaenespanol.ca

www.blogdecanada.com

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Canadian Tourism : Missed Opportunities? What's Wrong? Are we shooting ourselves in the foot?

A note in today's Globe and Mail dissappoints me as a Canadian Tourism professional and infuriates me as a Canadian citizen and passionate domestic traveller. "Quebec City's 400th Anniversary - Birthday bash turning into a big-time bust," reads the headline on page A4. Apparently the tales of woe of the 400th Anniversary continue unabated. The head of the organizing committee was demoted after conflict of interest allegations surfaced recently.

The fantastic show on New Year's Eve/Day has been criticized for not provinding "adequate transportation, proper crowd control" and the lack of "promised giant screens for everyone to take the show." Well, leave it to the media to be critical. I was able to catch some of the show on television and from what I saw, I wished I had been there. Having said that though, I think the great opportunity for Canadian Tourism that the 400th Anniversary could have been - is not.

In my previous posting I touched on our regional and historical jealousies and grievances, which it seems to me have everything to do with the fact that the powers that be (be it the PM or Premier Charest or whoever) did not invite the Queen to the celebrations. This is unfortunate, although understandable. However, everyone agrees that the Queen's invitation would have given the celebrations (and most importantly Quebec City) worldwide publicity. I am not ignorant of 1759 and I understand political sensitivities regarding separatism, but "come on", if you have the chance to put your province in the world stage in a positive light... (Mexico was not only conquered by Spain, but its indigenous people were exploited and even tortured and murdered by the Spaniards and their Inquisition during the 16th and 17th centuries, but today Mexicans and Spaniards have one of the strongest and loving relationships in the world, and I am curious to find out if the King of Spain will be invited to Mexico's Bicentennial celebrations in 2010).

Now, according to the G&M article it's been reported that the Pope has declined an invitation to attend the International Eucharistic Congress in Quebec City - another blow to the year's events.

And for the icing on this bitter cake, what is supposed to be one of the major events of the celebrations, The Urban Opera, a spectacular arts extravaganza in Quebec City on July 4, 5 and 6 with more than 1,000 performers and multimedia shows, may be cancelled (the Globe's article indicated it may be cancelled today). This one, not only bothers me as a promoter of Canada (and make no mistake, my Canada includes Quebec), but also as a Canadian passionate about traveling in Canada. My family and I chose the July 4th weekend to celebrate Quebec City's 400th precisely because I convinced them that that weekend would be incredible because of the Urban Opera. If it's cancelled, we will have to revisit our plans and knowing my wife and daughter we may decide to cancel the vacation in Quebec altogether (naah, we'll still go, I'm just upset right now).

So what's next? Celine Dion cancels free concert in August?

Just when I was thinking of making Quebec's 400th the centerpiece of my Canada promotion to Hispanic markets in 2008! Je suis vraiment triste! O Canada, O Quebec!

Jaime
www.quebecenespanol.com

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Ice Skating in Mexico City with highs of 18 and 20 Celsius.

The Mexico City skating rinks (there are three in total, the Zócalo rink being the largest) were opened this past weekend and so far it looks like they will be a hit. Canada was present at the grand opening celebrations with two skaters (see previous post) doing figure skating demos. I wonder if we could organize a Canada Day at the rink. Maybe it's in the works (or maybe it's not possible). I plan to visit the rink and skate it before it closes by the end of February (update: the rink was closed early in mid-january).

Scenes from the Mexico City Rink this past weekend.

Scenes from the Grand Opening

Greetings,
Jaime

Canadian skaters Chris Mabee and Joey Russell to participate in the Grand Opening of Mexico City's Gigantic Skating Rink

While it won't be an all Canadian cast (I wish), excellent Canadian skaters Chris Mabee and Joey Russell will be skating as part of the Grand Opening celebrations for the Mexico City ice skating rink, the largest of its kind in the world. The city is putting on a show with skaters from the US, Canada, Russia and Mexico (yes, Mexico has some high-level skaters who train in the US, like Ana Cecilia Cantú Félix, a 21 year old, who has competed in World Figure Skating Championships). Mexico City's mayor Marcelo Ebrard has indicated that he intends to make the rink an annual tradition in Mexico City. If so, Canadian Tourism marketers should get their minds together to build relationships with the Mexico City government in order to make Canada part of the tradition and in so doing get mileage out of the media attention the rink generates. It's a great opportunity, not only to market Canada, but also to build on Canada's image as a friendly nation.

Cheers,
Jaime
(photo Yazmin Ortega Cortés - La Jornada newspaper)

What's with "Keep Discovering?" - sound familiar?

Nope, 'keep discovering" is not a new branding tagline for a Canadian destination. It's part of an Emirates (airlines) campaign. Maybe it's completely irrelevant and of no consequence whatever - or maybe it's an example of how, with so many similar taglines from an ever increasing number of destinations around, destination marketers are having a hard time positioning their "brands," as distinct in the mind of the prospective visitor. I was reminded of this after reading Steve Wright's blog entry: What's the deal with Americans ripping off our tourism slogans? where he points out not similarities or familiar phrases but out right copycats.

Food for thought,

Jaime

The notion of not wanting to be known for Mountains, Moose and Mounties takes on a new meaning.

We all know by now what happened to Mr. Robert Dziekanski at Vancouver's International Airport. A quick scan/search of web pages and blog posts reveals that it's all over the net and all over the world (search in English, Spanish, French, etc., and you will get numerous results commenting or reporting on the incident - example "Polish Man Tasered to Death in Olympic City"). The famous video was posted on YouTube 4 days ago and it has had over 47,000 views already. I will not use this forum to express my personal outrage at this (I do remember some not very welcoming contacts with customs/immigration officers when I was not a citizen of this country and came as a visitor to see my sister in Vancouver many years ago -while my Mother was outside waiting for me- thank God I was fluent in English).

Suffice it to say that I am very dissappointed with RCMP conduct. On the one hand they allow single officers without backup to go check out possible dangerous situations (in the North) with tragic consequences, and on the other they send 4 officers to subdue an unarmed man in an airport (where he has obviously arrived after going through airport security elsewehere). I thought of posting the video here but you can go to YouTube and see it there (it's quite disturbing).

The purpose of this post is to pose the question? When the conversation in and out of cyberspace is loud and negative about Canada, how does it affect the tourism industry? How would PR experts address this particular incident? Should we try to be part of this conversation? Whether the officers' conduct was justifiable or not, the world is getting the impression that it wasn't. The fact that this incident happened at the airport that is getting ready to welcome the world in 2010 (recalling that many of those visitors probably do not speak English) is ironic, but should add to the concern over this matter. My opinion, and it's just my opinion, is that the Canadian tourism industry (TIAC?) should add its voice and express concern about the processes and procedures regarding foreign visitors' entry into Canada. Furthermore, the industry should call for Minister Day (as have others) to sincerely apologize to Mr. Dziekanski's family (even while this incident is under investigation) and for Prime Miniser Harper to address the Polish people (here and in Poland) in some way (if not to apologize) to reassure them that this kind of incident will not happen again.

My heart goes out to Mrs. Zofia Cisowski, Robert's Mother.

Regards,

Jaime

Have you or your Webmaster mashed up your website? Or perhaps you are Wikiing with your peers?

Web 2.0, Tourism 2.0, Wikiing, Mashups - where does it end? Well, it ends where you want it to end. You could find something new on the Web every day. It appears as if every day someone comes up with something new that promises to increase your traffic, make your site more sticky or give your customers more control over your brand. Just don't forget your core business and, more importantly, how it's used or consumed by customers. And, while it may be convenient and professional to think of our customers as customers or guests or clients or travelers or tourists, it may be helpful to think of them as people and really try to put yourself in their shoes (or hire a mystery guest/customer you can trust). In my recent trip to Quebec City (see below) I had two not very friendly experiences with cabbies when I was by myself and another one when I was with my wife. Fortunately, we also had one very good experience with another cabbie so all was not lost in that arena (but how can destinations make sure cabs and cabbies are presentable and welcoming for tourists?) Some time ago, the now defunct TV show Venture had the great idea of inviting CEO's to go to the floor and do jobs "on the ground," so to speak. I remember watching the then (don't know if he's still is) CEO of Delta Hotels, who went through the experience and as a result made important changes in his organization for the benefit of his employees and his guests. The Web can be a very powerful tool for your business and your destination, but no website will ever serve you a wonderful capuccino (a real one) or cover you at night at your hotel when all you want to do is have a good warm sleep. As for Mashups and Wikis, check out these two sites for ideas: Wikispaces and Google Mania Maps

Cheers,

Jaime

Data, Data, Data - what to do with all of it - Ontario Tourism Marketing Summit

Today was a day chock full of data at the Ontario Tourism Marketing Summit. Several presentations dealt with the market segmentation, target markets, who (mostly in the US) may be interested in visiting Ontario. But, for my money, the award for best and most educational presentation of the day goes to Rod Harris, President & CEO of Tourism British Columbia. His presentation was a primer on marketing applied to a tourism destination. One of his main points (also a recurring theme of the Summit) is that currently there's been a shift of power from producers to consumers. Not necessarily news. However, the way his organization is approaching the challenges of marketing BC to consumers is very interesting. In the past, DMO's would use lures (some still are), such as brochures, inserts, mass media, etc. to attract visitors. Destination marketing has been moving away from these kinds of lures and 1800 services to a Web enabled, Web 2.0 model that is still developing. In the case of BC, Rod explain to us how their strategy looks on a curve, he called Attrition Curve that goes from generating awareness of the destination with consumers, through consideration, intent, purchase and the thre R's (relive, recommend, revisit). From a tactical point of view this is achieved by using current tools (most Web based) from Social Networks, SEO/SEM, User Generated Content (UGC) all the way to consumer blogs, not forgetting that it is also necessary to use more conventional campaigns as well as continuing to work with the trade.

The other very interesting and quite entertaining presentation was given by Don Tapscott, co-author of Wikinomics, which also focused on the changes ocurring in the value chains of products and services, i.e., the Wikiing of the economy something that is coming out of the convergence of Web 2.0, the Net Generation (youth), the Social Revolution and the Economic Revolution. Wikiing, as I call it, refers to the power of mass collaboration and self orginization that is taking place because of the Web's capabilities and people and companies taking advantage of it.

Ciao from Ottawa,

Jaime

Social Media and SEO are no substitute for Advertising and PR

How do people find out about your destination or tourism business? How did your guests come to your particular hotel or B&B? How did your customers learn about your attraction? Was it through your website? Through a brochure? Or through a relationship with a tour operator/travel agent? Did your guest searched on the Internet for your destination? And if so, how did they know what to search for in the first place?

The more specific you can be about answering these questions the more you will be able to compete in the crowded global tourism market. When it comes to basics the fact is potential customers will never come to you if they don’t know you exist in the first place. While website optimization and Social Media initiatives are becoming increasingly important for tourism destinations and businesses, advertising and PR are still the best way to get known. It may be online advertising, but it is still (paid) advertising.

Search engine optimization and incursions into social media are no substitutes for advertising. Online advertising investment in the US in recent years has been growing substantially but it is still only about 6.5% of ad expenditures (TV and Print account for over 80% - source: TNS). Online advertising grew 17% from 2005 to 2006, by far the largest increase in the ad world (followed by Spanish TV and Spanish Press advertising with 13.9% and 8.5% respectively). As convergence continues to happen (the combination of video, print and interactive content delivered via many devices) it will be harder to separate the media, but what is clear is that the market still believes in advertising.

In order to first inform the consumer that something or somewhere exists, organizations need to advertise. Furthermore, good advertising may still be the best way to brand a product or service. You can optimize your website for search engines all you want, but if people are not searching for your product or destination, they will never come across it. For example, say you want to promote your destination in Spain because you’ve heard that it’s an up and coming market and Spaniards have a high standard of living and are affluent enough to travel to Canada. But other than Canada as a peaceful country, most Spaniards don’t know much about it as a tourism destination and it’s not in most peoples’ radars. You just launched a blog about your destination in Spanish and you found someone who can keep it going in that language. The problem is Spaniards are not searching for blogs in Spanish about Canada. How can you get them to visit the blog? Advertising. Blogs, Social Media and Search engines are great when people participate, but for them to do this they have to be interested in the topic (i.e. the destination) and if they don’t know anything about you or even that you exist, how will they?

Jaime

Lately it's been Toronto, Toronto, Toronto. I'm covering the Toronto International Film Festival.

For the past several days, I have been immersed in cinema. The movies are an obsession in certain parts of the Hispanic world. Hispanics love movies and movie stars, sometimes with a passion surpassed only by soccer. And so it is, that I find myself covering the Toronto International Film Festival for my Blog de Canadá blog. Attending the Festival is one of the best ways to enjoy Toronto. The ambience during the festival is second to none in any city in Northamerica: people strolling along Toronto's Millionaire's Mile and along Yorkville's sidestreets, buskers providing free entertainment on the corners, and perhpas the occassional movie star sighting. A poll commissioned by the Toronto Star and Montréal's La Presse found that the Canadian event most covered by international media is the Toronto International Film Festival by a very long margin with 25% of the mentions. No word on whether Hipanic media was scanned, but my own research seems to point in the right direction. The TIFF gives Toronto worldwide caché and appeal so kudos and thanks should go to the orginal founders: William Marshall, Henk Van der Kolk and Dusty Cohl for their contributon to Toronto (and Canada's tourism).

Cheers,

Jaime

Toronto en Español

Captivated by Cirque du Soleil's Wonderful Kooza! Lessons for tourism? Strive for wonder.

Once again I have been totally amazed by Cirque du Soleil. One of the various definitions of Wonder from the people at Merriam Webster is "rapt attention or astonishment at something awesomely mysterious or new to one's experience ." "Rapturous" is defined by the Random House College Dictionary as "full of, feeling or manifesting ecstatic joy or delight." And it is this "rapturous wonder" that I experience when I go to a Cirque du Soleil show. Of course, one must be in the mood to be amazed and one must suspend disbelief as in the theatre or films. But given this convention between audience and artists the experience created by Cirque du Soleil is unique (perhaps in the world). After the show I came back to reality and thought about what a great example of creativity (books have been written about Cirque's creativity). Can we learn something here? Cirque is a concept that incorporates many an art, from painting to arquitecture to music to theatre and dance. At its core you have athletes performing death defing feats and using their bodies in ways one can't imagine possible. But that is just a core - then the whole thing is dressed in wonder. Can your tourism business come up with creative ways to bring a sense of wonder to your product or service? For example, Indigo hotels have created a concept that incorporates color in their hotels with sleek design. It differentiates their properties from others and while one may say this does not consitute wonder, it's a step above just a simple room with a bed. Strive for wonder. Your guests will appreciate it and they will want to come back again.

Cheers,
Jaime

http://www.cactusrock.com/

Just when I thought I had seen enough beauty, I arrive in Tofino.

I have a new kind of slogan for Canada (or my Canada if you will). Canada: Beautiful. If Spain is passion, Mexico is beach, Italy is art, the US is big and flashy - then Canada is beautiful. Some may think this is sort of clicheish, but I don't care. Canada is so vast, so rich, so amazing that we will never be able to encapsulate it in one word or one phrase. Perhaps from this point of view, the "Keep Exploring" brand makes a lot of sense. And as people keep exploring this place we call Canada they will inevitably discover more beauty. Why am I saying this now? Well, those of you from BC will understand right away. I am in Tofino, BC a veritable Canadian Paradise. I am here with my family for a very short period of time (my mistake), but in the few hours we've been here, I have discovered two very important things - 1) not enough time to do everything we would like to do and 2) the food is awesome (or at least the crab I had for dinner was). Since I am supposed to be with my wife at the moment (there's only so much blogging your spouse will take - although she's happily reading a book nearby - here at the Middle Beach Resort) - I will stop now - but promise to write about the experience and some traveler insights - By the way Tofino is named after an 18th Century Spanish explorer and cartographer, Vicente Tofiño from Cadiz, South of Spain - perhaps an auspicious sign for Hispanic inbound tourism to Canada.

Saludos,


Jaime

And speaking of Exploring. Campbell River and the Wonderful Discovery Islands - something new to tell Hispanic Travelers about. Wow!

Looking for Wow Places and Experiences. Staying several days on Vancouver Island to spend time with the family and explore different places to create content for my future ColombiaBritanica.com website, I have had a great time, even without the perfect weather we had in Vancouver a few days ago. Weather wise, it has been very strange, but in a very good way. It's been cloudy and rainy (except for today, which was spectacular when I went on a whale watching tour to Campbell River), but every time we stopped to take pictures or visit a spot (like Little Qualicom Falls), it stopped raining. I have been touring Courtenay (where my wife's Mother lives), Comox, Qualicom, Parksville, Coombs and Campbell River. My favourite so far is Campbell River. A couple of days ago I went with my wife and daughter to have lunch at the Painter's Lodge resort (actually April Point across the water ) and have a look around Campbell River. It was cloudy and rainy, but the sky did clear a bit - enough for us to take some pictures and some video. Today, I went back to Campbell River by myself to go on a whale watching tour with Aboriginal Journeys on a Zodiac. I found them through the Web and local publications. Because of the weather, I made a last minute booking (the trips at Painter's Lodge were sold out) but it worked out alright. I made it to the marina on time and got a great seat next to the Zodiac's Captain (a friendly guy by the name of Elvis - yup, like the singer). It did not take long to make contact with some Orcas, something I personally like very much (I really like marine mammals and big cats for some reason). The weather today was spectacular - many great images for my upcomong site, but also a feeling of discovery. I know this area of Canada is not easily accessible and it's not for mass tourism - but it is an amazing spot - another Wow region of Canada to promote to those Hispanic travellers, who want to get away from their big cities - be it Santiago, Buenos Aires, Caracas, Bogota, Madrid or Mexico City - and experience nature like only Canada can provide. I look forward to seeing more of this incredible Province starting with Tofino and Ucluelet tomorrow and Tuesday.

I Love Canada!

Jaime

www.colombiabritanica.com

www.vancouverenespanol.com