January 23, 2007
In this issue:

OPEN HOUSE at Vancouver, Coast & Mountains
Media Report
FIT Schedule to Canada from UK and Ireland - Summer 2007
7 Marketing Trends to Watch in '07
Top Trends in Travel Alliance
Tourism Industry Conference - Call for Silent Auction Items
Sea to Sky Mountain Bike Trails Generate $10.3 million

Open House at Vancouver, Coast & Mountains

On February 6, Vancouver, Coast & Mountains' staff invites you to our Open House! Check out our new location, meet the staff, and enjoy some fabulous food and beverages too!

Place: Vancouver, Coast & Mountains - Suite 600, 210 West Broadway, Vancouver
Date: Tuesday, February 6
Time: Anytime between 2 pm and 6pm
Reason: It's obvious ... come for the food!

Click here to view the invitation and to RSVP.

Media Report

Vancouver, Coast & Mountains has a brand new face in the media department – we welcome with open arms - Laura Woodbridge! Laura is a recent graduate of Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario. A proud Vancouverite, Laura spent four years boasting to Ontarians about skiing and sailing in the same day back at home. With a background in hospitality and marketing communications, Laura is enthusiastic about working in media relations at Vancouver, Coast and Mountains. Her passion is for travelling and she has travelled through twenty-one countries worldwide. Still, she is always happy to return home to beautiful Vancouver, Coast & Mountains.

Media Opportunities
Story Starters turns 1 year old! It is hard to believe, but it has been a year since the release of Story Starters, a newsletter designed to give story ideas to travel media each month. Since its release, journalists have been on press visits to over 20 featured partners, and media members have inquired about dozens more. Not only is submitting a story idea to Story Starters a terrific way to get noticed by the media, it is also a great way to get included on upcoming press trip itineraries – for it lets us know what is new, fresh and different with our partners.

Read more ...

FIT Schedule to Canada from UK and Ireland - Summer 2007

Follow the link below for an up-to-date schedule of flights arriving in Canada from the UK and Ireland. There are considerably more flights than 2006, primarily due to British Airways (BA) servicing Calgary (YYC), Air Canada (AC) servicing Edmonton (YEG) and the new Globespan routes. The west has benefited more than the east with a 24% increase in capacity to Vancouver (YVR), YYC and YEG combined. Of these YVR now receives 48 flights compared to 43 in Summer 2006.

Weekly Airline Frequency UK to Canada - Summer 2007

7 Marketing Trends to Watch in '07
MediaBrains Inc.

Want to know where to invest your online marketing dollars in 2007? Here are the 7 most important trends for '07 and how to make the most of them to increase sales and grow your business in the New Year.

1. Purchasing Decisions
When asked how often they researched products online before buying, 87% of respondents to a ClickZ survey said they did. Additionally, more than 35% of all B2B decision makers spend five or more hours every week researching product and service information, according to the CMO Council. These statistics are proof that in today's business environment, a strong online presence and giving buyers easy access to your product information is not only important, it's a necessity.

Read more about Marketing Trends ...

Top Trends in Travel Alliance
by Peter Yesawich

As we enter 2007 our thoughts turn to what we can expect from the cautiously optimistic, yet still volatile, market environment in which we now operate. So here are our predictions:

1. Demand for leisure travel services will continue to outpace that for business travel services, as more business travelers attempt to use the latest technology as a surrogate for business travel whenever possible and appropriate (and to manage the escalating cost of air transportation and lodging).

Read more Top Trends ...

BC Tourism Industry Conference - Call for Silent Auction Items

The Council of Tourism Associations of BC's annual silent and live auctions are being held at the Tourism Industry Conference Feb 21 - 23, 2007 in Victoria. Your donation and support is greatly appreciated.

Click here to download the donation form, or visit www.bctourismindustryconference.ca and click on auction.

Sea to Sky Mountain Bike Trails Generate $10.3 million

VANCOUVER - Mountain bike trails in the Sea to Sky region generated $10.3 million in visitor spending this summer and there is room for further development, according to a study conducted by the Western Canada Mountain Bike Tourism Association (MBTA) in partnership with the Canadian Sport Tourism Alliance (CSTA). That figure jumps to $38 million when the Whistler Bike Park and Crankworx Mountain Bike Festival are included in the analysis.

“The study at last provides us with some credible data on the economic benefits of mountain biking,” said Jimmy Young, MBTA Director. The MBTA, in cooperation with community partners and the Ministry of Tourism, Sport and the Arts undertook a pilot study to measure the economic impact of mountain biking along the Sea to Sky Corridor – which includes Whistler, Squamish and the North Shore - between June 3 and September 17, 2006.

Read more ...