The US Market and Canadian Tourism

Tweets from the Tourism Summit:

EventsWest

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

Pierrebellerose

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

AkBeattie

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

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

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

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

Jaime

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Jaime

CTC launches LocalsKnow.ca and SecretDici.ca to help Canadians promote our country

The Canadian Tourism Commission has launched LocalsKnow.ca and SecretDici.ca asking Canadians to upload pictures of their favourite spots (because locals know where the best spots are, of course), that perhaps are not as well known as iconic Canadian attractions . The sites look very good with Canada Brand colours and layout and the pictures are quite good, for the most part (the CTC approves the photos before they're posted). Being very new, there aren't many spots up yet. As of this writing the English site had a bit less than 80 spots and the French version only 15 (all CTC uploads), but I think once the public gets a hold of it, it should be a hit. But it's not all roses. There are some issues with the site that a little tweaking can fix. You have to register to be able to upload photos, but once you register, there's no "sign in" link on the site. When you go to upload a new spot, then you sign in (or register, if you're new to the site). For every spot you upload, you get an entry to a contest to win one million Aeroplan miles - that's a lot of flying. But again, every time you upload a photo you have to re-enter your name and Aeroplan number. Not a big deal, but it'd be better if you only had to do it once. And finally, you can't seem to go back to your spots if you want to edit something. I was uploading one and before I could finish the description, I don't know what key I must have pressed in haste, but I think the photo was submitted (again, because I don't have an account like setup I can't go over the photos I uploaded - maybe this will be a future iteration of the site - to turn it into a full social media website a la Concierge.com)

-

If you live in Canada, go to the site of your choice, LocalsKnow.ca or SecretDici.ca and show us your favourite spot.

-

Jaime

Tourism Industry Applauds $800 Million in Tourism and Travel Investments Announced in Budget 2009

I am very happy to post the following press release from Kevin Desjardins, Director, Communications for the Tourism Industry Association of Canada. It is a good day for tourism in Canada, given the challenges we face this year.-
Ottawa, January 27, 2009 - The Tourism Industry Association of Canada welcomed the announcement in today's federal budget of a number of key funding initiatives worth more than $800 million to help support the competitiveness of Canada's tourism and travel sector.
-
"The government's new investments in Canada's tourism sector announced in today's federal budget will provide stimulus to the industry in these challenging economic times, and will help address several longstanding competitiveness issues facing our industry," said TIAC President and CEO Randy Williams.

-
Among the funding initiatives for the tourism sector announced in the federal budget were:

• $40 million over two years to the Canadian Tourism Commission ($20 million for domestic marketing and $20 million for emerging markets)
• $100 million for marquee festivals and events over two years
• $150 million for Canada's national parks system over two years ($75 million for visitor facilities and $75 million for national historic sites)
• $25 million to create new hiking trails across the country
• $407 million for improvements to passenger rail service in the Montreal to Toronto corridor operated by VIA Rail

Additional funding of projects which will assist in the development of vital tourism infrastructure

• $24 million over two years for cruise ship tourism
• $60 million over two years for local and community cultural and heritage institutions (i.e. theatres and museums)
• $140 million over five years for Northern Economic Development, a substantial portion of which will be directed towards tourism projects

"These investments will help to improve product animation - or the way we deliver experiences - of some of Canada's most important tourism destinations, and will provide both international and domestic travellers with even more compelling and urgent reasons to visit Canada," continued Williams. "Moreover, the additional marketing dollars allocated to the CTC will allow the country's national destination marketing organization to promote these new and improved tourism products to potential visitors from traditional and emerging economies of the world."

TIAC has always regarded government as an essential shareholder in Canada's tourism industry, and the investments announced today clearly demonstrate that the government understands the sector's profound effect on the economy at large; an important export industry employing Canadians in every community. TIAC, on behalf of its members across the country, is pleased to see that the government has addressed many of the issues which were raised by the industry in the Association's June 2008 report, The Report on Canada's Tourism Competitiveness.

On the day of this important announcement, TIAC would like to wholeheartedly salute the work of the Minister of State for Small Business and Tourism, the Hon. Diane Ablonczy in helping to secure this funding. Ms. Ablonczy has been an attentive and conscientious advocate for the tourism sector at the cabinet table over the past two years. TIAC also acknowledges the efforts of Industry Minister Tony Clement and Finance Minister Jim Flaherty, who have both demonstrated a knowledge of and commitment to Canada's tourism sector. The global tourism industry is intensely competitive, with more and more countries inviting increasingly discerning travellers to visit and spend their foreign currency in their communities.

Day 2 Canada-e-Connect

The morning sessions on Social Media Marketing and eTourism Strategy and DMO's were very well received and with a full house. Brand Management in the era of 2.0 had very specific examples of how a DMO is tracking what's being said about it in cyberspace, plus some very relevant points. Google's Ted Souder presentation and Q&A session at lunch was certainly a highlight in my opinion. As was Terry O'Reilly's session at the end of the conference remindng everyone that key to all our marketing efforts is the IDEA. Surprise people with BIG IDEAS in your marketing and advertising, whether the vehicle is online, mobile or traditional media.

Jim Brody of TripAdvisor moderates the panel on Brand Management in the era of Web 2.0

Above and below the very impressive brand tracking (conversation tracking) tool developed by Montreal Tourisme Montréal and their supplier Hue Web. It blew my mind (where do they get these wonderful toys?) Simplement Formidable.

Master raconteur, founder Pirate Radio and TV, creator of the radio and podcast show The Age of Persuasion, and Canadian Marketing Legend Terry O'Reilly closing Canada-e-Connect with the very appropriate topic: "Ideas Move Mountains."

Jaime

(more pictures and my overview of the conference coming soon).

Diane Clarkson, expert eTravel Analyst at Jupiter/Forrester to speak at Canada-e-Connect

I first came across Diane Clarkson on the web. I stumbled upon her blog posts on the Jupiter Research Blog (now a Forrester company) sometime ago and began following her via my Google Reader. After I was approached to Chair the Advisory Committee for Canada-e-Connect 2009, she was one of the first people I thought that could bring something of value and interest to the conference. I am very pleased that TIAC was able to confirm Diane Clarkson as one of our speakers. "As a travel analyst at JupiterResearch, Diane Clarkson focuses on travel consumer behavior and industry trends. Her research focuses on online leisure and business travel, with a particular interest in travel consumers research and booking behavior." Jupiter Diane's research "has looked at many different trends, including the role of social media, the growth and evolution of online travel providers and at the specific opportunities brought by travelers' access to mobile devices. Diane's most recent research has identified how the current economic environment is forcing online travel advertisers to redevelop their marketing and advertising strategies."

-

Before I had the pleasure of meeting Diane on a conference call for the event, I did not know that she is actually Canadian, now based in San Francisco. I think this fact makes her an even more interesting speaker for our Canada-e-Connect audience because she has an intimate knowledge of Canadian and American business cultures. Don't miss Diane's Luncheon Address: "Making Travelers Feel Valued in the Web 2.0 Era" at Canada-e-Connect 2009 on Thursday Jan 22, 2009. Register now before the conference is sold out.

-
see you in Toronto
-
Jaime Horwitz MBA
Chair Canada-e-Connect 2009
www.canadaeconnect.travel

How versed are you in eDistribution? Canada-e-Connect's panel on eDistribution

Canada-e-Connect's edistribution panel will include, Tom Griffin, CEO of TravelScream, Sean Shannon, Managing Director, Expedia Canada Corp, part of Expedia Inc., the largest OTA (online travel agency) in the world which happens to own TripAdvisor, the largest travellers' reviews website; and Andrew Van Luchene, President & CEO, JackRabbit Systems, a relative newcomer in the eDistribution space. Andrew was a lead inventor at Walker Digital, the think tank that created Priceline.com, where he filed over 150 patent applications. Andrew also helped to launch RetailDNA, Priceline Perfect Yardsale, and Priceline for Gasoline. Moderated by Patricia Brusha, one of the principals at A Couple of Chicks e-Marketing, this panel session promises to bring an update of what has been happening in the eDistribution space. Companies like Expedia are starting to look like media companies selling ad space to complement their travel transactions revenue. New innovators like JackRabbit (I previously mentioned TravelScream) are taking travel deals from their clients and partners and making them travel via widgets, RSS and other technologies. Expedia has also entered this portable aspect of eDistribution - notice the travel offers on this blog (from an RSS of Expedia deals).

-

Where is your hotel, tourism attraction or destination in the eDistribution world? Are your deals travelling in the blogosphere? Is your hotel promotion bookable via a widget and available for distribution on a multitude of web properties and possible mobile platforms?

-

Don't miss Canada-e-Connect's eDistribution panel. Thursday Jan 22, 2009 11:30 AM. Register at www.canadaeconnect.travel

October Events Transforming Canadian Tourism

Two events in October are linked to the building Canada’s future global position as a leading sustainable “Eco Destination”. One is the publication of the second issue of EcoTourism Canada Magazine, published by Vern Telford, Professor Emeritus at Georgian College in Barrie; and secondly, The Ecotourism & Sustainable Tourism Conference in Vancouver October 27-29.

EcoTourism Magazine Canada features Canadian Ecology Centre, the Bear Whisperer, a new Eco Lodge on James Bay, a new environmental language “Eco-Eigo”, and Whistler—a destination determined to be a world leader in sustainability. A major feature of the Second Edition is the printing using Warren’s Waterless Printing.

Featured in the new issue are details on the Ecotourism & Sustainable Tourism Conference in Vancouver October 27-29 hosted by The British Columbia Ministry of Tourism, Culture and the Arts, and The International Ecotourism Society located in Washington D.C. EcoTourism Canada Magazine is an official sponsor of the 2008 conference.

Stay tuned for updates…………Ron Taylor