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.

Also new with Story Starters is an innovative way of sending out the newsletter. Now we are able to track how many media members are reading the newsletter, which partner websites they are clicking on, and which stories are capturing the most interest. Stay tuned in the next several months as we anticipate some tracking statistics to become available.

If you are interested in promoting yourself at a low cost (perhaps a room night or complimentary admission for a journalist) please submit your ideas for the Spring Story Starters bulletin, which was sent out by Laura last week. To access the submission form, please follow this link: http://www.vcmbc.com/page.cfm/9712.

Questions? Send an email to Laura (laura@vcmbc.com). Need an example of the final product? Follow this link: www.vcmbc.com/storystarters/issue12.htm to see a recent Story Starters issue – don’t worry about the writing, just submit the idea!

Special Media Opportunity: Calling all culinary themed products! The March issue of Story Starters is a special feature issue, highlighting everything and anything culinary. If you are a great restaurant, a culinary tour company, a winery, a farm, a hotel with a fabulous restaurant package, or simply anyone who promotes “foodie” product to travellers, send in your stories to Laura (laura@vcmbc.com) by January 25, 2007 – we’d love to hear from you!

Upcoming Media Shows:
SATW Canadian Chapter Meeting – January 15 – 24, 2007
CTC Media Dinner Seattle – January 28, 2007
TMAC (Travel Media Association of Canada) – February 16 – 19, 2007
CTC Media Dinner San Francisco – March 8, 2007
Go Media Marketplace – March 19 – 22, 2007

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.

2. Search Engine Optimization
With so much hype about search engine optimization and getting that number one spot in the search engines, everyone knows the drill: use metatags, title tags, keywords, etc. But the important thing to remember is that search engines are constantly working to make search more effective for end users. So while following proper SEO techniques matters, what is more crucial is truly understanding how buyers are searching for your product or service, and leveraging that information to ensure search engines - and ultimately buyers - find your business. To succeed, focus on the foundation: a targeted message that addresses buyers' needs and then employ SEO best practices. Other factors to consider: the best place to find relevant traffic might be on vertical search engines. Also, placing links on prominent industry websites and online directories are powerful ways to highlight your business in a place where targeted buyers are already searching for your products. You can find a list of SEO providers in the BtoB Industry Directory.

3. Online Video Ads
BtoB marketers are constantly seeking new strategies for engaging buyers in a more interactive way, and the newest trend toward accomplishing that goal is online videos. In fact, eMarketer predicts that spending on online video advertising will soar this year, increasing by an astounding 89%. As the technology becomes increasingly sophisticated, rich media companies are bringing near-TV quality to online advertising and offering marketers new opportunites. An example: Citrix worked with multi-media company 4What Interactive to build a self-running animated software demonstration, which is used as a clear and concise stand-alone sales presentation. Citrix is able to cross-promote the video through existing marketing avenues, including their website, salespeople, emails and search engines. Video has growing appeal due to marketers' ability to track leads, conduct real-time analysis and measure effectiveness.

4. Online Advertising Spending
As ad dollars continue to shift to the internet, spending for online advertising is projected to grow to about $7.7 billion in 2007, according to ClickZ. That is more than a 31% increase over 2006. Online ad spending increases have been driven by the growing ability to measure campaigns effectively. In today's market, the question isn't whether to advertise online - that's a given - but rather how to spend those dollars wisely. It's not about buying clicks cheaply, but rather about buying the right clicks. Make sure you're reaching the right people. The CPM or CPC to reach targeted buyers might be higher, but so will your return on investment. The bottom line, like so many things in life, is that quality is more important than quantity.

5. Lead Generation
The proliferation of data readily available online actually creates an opportunity for marketers to generate leads. BtoB buyers rely on the "information superhighway" to do their jobs better and find the products they need. In order to get their hands on good information, buyers are willing to divulge some personal data, such as email addresses and phone numbers - but only if what they get in return is relevant and valuable. Value could be in the form of a deal or discount, but it could also be intellectual capital such as white papers on hot industry topics or case studies showing how their peers solved a common challenge. Positioning yourself as an expert source of reliable information, providing value-adds or offering special pricing online, could open a treasure chest of lead generation opportunities.

6. Targeted Messaging
With so many choices online for BtoB buyers, and the inundation of emails in their inboxes, ensuring the messages offered to potential buyers are highly targeted is crucial. Speak directly to your audience's specific wants and needs, and don't waste their time by loading them down with unwanted information. In addition, with all the technology available for managing databases, target markets can be more tightly defined, segregated, sorted, compiled and marketed to, providing a higher return. The key here is segmentation. Divide your audience into highly targeted segments so you can send information that's focused to their particular wants and needs.

7. Management of Your Online Reputation
Remember back in high school, when you were worried about your reputation? You found out someone was spreading rumors about you, but you didn't know who it was? It's not so different in the business world today. With the popularity of blogs, message boards and other forms of user-generated content, perceptions about products and services - both good and bad - can spread around the globe at lightning speed, making it difficult for marketers to monitor what is being said. Because a great brand can take months, if not years, and millions of dollars to build, it should be the thing businesses hold most precious. If you can't control what others say online, you can influence people's opinions about your business. First "Google" your company and see what turns up in the search results. Secondly, regularly post your own opinions and responses on your website and contribute to relevant blogs and forums. Take steps to create your own blog or message board and regularly issue optimized press releases. Another avenue to consider is hiring a company that offers "brand monitoring" services, which provide intelligence about online usage and distribution. To succeed, protecting your brand and online reputation is probably the most important marketing trend for 2007.

MediaBrains Inc.
www.mediabrains.com
MediaBrains is a leader in business-to-business online advertising.

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).

2. Family travel (adults with children) will continue to grow at a faster rate than all other forms of leisure travel, as both parents and grandparents continue to look at travel as one way in which to "reunite" families in a contemporary world that is increasingly dominated by the demands of work.even if only for a few days.

3. Practically all travel suppliers will attempt to raise fares and/or rates, as demand for travel services continues to grow, capacity becomes more strained, and operating costs escalate (on both airlines and in lodging accommodations, particularly in popular destinations like New York).

4. The role of the Internet will continue to dominate the travel-planning/booking headlines, yet the incidence of Internet usage by both business and leisure travelers to plan some aspect of travel will remain flat, while the incidence of its usage to actually book reservations will continue to grow but at a significantly lower rate than we have observed during the past three years.

5. Comparison shopping of suppliers' fares and rates (and the corresponding "price transparency") will become more commonplace as consumers discover the power (and intrigue) of the nascent meta search engines such as kayak.com, qixo.com and the like.

6. The new "lifestyle" hotel brands such as NYLO, ALOFT, etc. will continue to gain both exposure and popularity among the next generation of travelers (the Millennials), as well as more mature travelers who wish to look, act and feel like Millennials.

7. The concept of "inclusive pricing" (one price for a bundle of basic services) will grow in popularity beyond destination resorts to include commercial hotels seeking to provide road warriors with good value for "just the basics" (a comfortable bed, a good working desk, breakfast, High Speed Internet access, and reward points).

8. Interest in spa-going will continue to grow as more consumers seek ways to manage the mounting stress in their lives (thereby igniting the next generation of spa development in commercial hotels).

9. The cruise industry will continue to enjoy remarkable growth (precipitated by the arrival of exciting new ships, an aging population, and general marketing prowess), thereby becoming an even more formidable competitor of destination (land-based) hotels and resorts.

10. The new .travel Internet domain will continue to grow in popularity as suppliers seek to market their products and services in a more refined online environment, and consumers seek refuge from the contamination and frustration that accompanies searches in the .com domain.

Most importantly, barring the impact of any catastrophic political, economic, social or terrorist event in the months ahead, 2007 should be another year for the record books.

Travel Alliance
www.talliance.com
Travel Alliance Sales & Marketing Services specializes in the needs of travel industry suppliers seeking highly successful marketing, sales and public relations services.

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.

The study found that mountain biking draws visitors to Sea to Sky communities and generates significant overnight stays. Overall, 20% of non-resident riders stayed overnight in Sea to Sky communities, staying an average of 4.8 nights and having an average party size of 2.8 people.

“The data supports the premise that if you build innovative trails combined with scenery and services the world will beat a path to your door,” said Rob McSkimming, VP Product Development Whistler Blackcomb.

Not surprisingly, Whistler receives the greatest benefit from mountain bike trails in the region as the Resort Municipality of Whistler funds and maintains a sanctioned trail system and is able to feature mountain biking in its tourism marketing activities. A recent draft provincial policy on mountain bike trail use on Crown land could open up further opportunities for authorized trails and the development of mountain biking tourism products in the region and other parts of the province.

“It’s great to see the Sea to Sky region experiencing such success with mountain biking,” said Tourism, Sport and the Arts Minister Stan Hagen. “I hope this study will help other interested B.C. communities strengthen their own tourism development around this activity.”

The MBTA is a grass roots stakeholder based association dedicated to growing mountain bike tourism in B.C. Stakeholders include commercial operators and resorts offering lift-accessed mountain biking as well as community-based trail groups and mountain bike clubs and local government. The MBTA would like to thank the stakeholders for their support and input as well as the more than 1,200 mountain bikers that participated in the survey.

Details of the Sea to Sky Mountain Biking Economic Impact Study can be found on the MBTA’s website at www.mbta.ca. For further information please e-mail info@mbta.ca.