May 30, 2008
In this issue:

RTLF and Relationship with Tourism BC
Honouring the Fraser River and its Peoples
Could There Be Good News For The U.S. Market?
How Will They Spend It?
Foreign Convention & Tour Incentive Program (FCTIP)
Welcome New Partners!
Cool New Tool From Google Analytics
Consumer Show Update

RTLF and Relationship with Tourism BC

Still haven’t signed up for Vancouver, Coast & Mountains’ upcoming Regional Tourism Leaders Forum? Here are 5 great reasons to sign up TODAY!

#5. Networking Opportunities – the RTLF is a great opportunity for you to mix and mingle with your fellow tourism partners. Networking allows you to meet new people, build mutually beneficial business relationships, develop and share ideas, and raise the profile of your business.

#4. Informative Speaker Sessions – the future of tourism in BC, e-marketing, how to package your tourism business, and more! At the RTLF you’ll hear informative speakers discuss these topics and have the chance to have your questions answered.

#3. Prizes! We have fabulous prizes to be won – valued at over $13,600 – and all net proceeds are to be donated to the Gordie Croil Foundation (who called Tsawwassen home).

#2. Voice Your Opinion – the RTLF is your opportunity to have your opinion heard at VCM’s Annual General Meeting.

#1. The Race is On! – This year’s post-conference networking event will be held at F440 Racing Challenge. So, challenge your favourite Board of Directors member to a race, and hit the track!
 
And if those 5 reasons are not enough?

A formal communications plan is under development to announce the new relationship between TBC and the regions. You are encouraged to come to our Regional Tourism Leaders Forum on June 11 & 12 to learn more from Rod Harris at the opening lunch on Wednesday, with more detail in the sessions on Thursday morning.

This is a significant evolution of destination marketing for the region and the province, with important benefits for our business and community partners. RTLF is your first chance to understand the relevance to you, so we would urge you to register today.

To register now go to www.vcmbc.com/9646. For more information on the RTLF visit www.vcmbc.com/tourismforum.

Can’t make it to this year’s RTLF? Marketing partners in good standing who would like to vote at the Annual General Meeting can exercise their right of proxy by filling out the proxy form here.

Honouring the Fraser River and its Peoples

As British Columbia celebrates its 150th anniversary, there are many events scheduled throughout our region and the province, but a major event brings a fresh, new look at the Fraser River. Our First Nations communities have 10,000 years of history on the lands and the river, yet Simon Fraser explored the river just 200 years ago.

On June 26, Hell's Gate will pay special tribute to Simon's journey with the unveiling of a commemorative wall. They would love to invite you to share in the new Simon's Wall unveiling, which will be held at Hell's Gate Airtram on the actual date that Simon Fraser risked life and limb "venturing through the gates of Hell" 200 years ago. Click on this evite and feel free to forward it on to your colleagues in your organization – the more the merrier.

Throughout the year, many stories will be told through events supported by the New Pathways to Gold Society (check out www.newpathwaystogold.ca).

On August 24th, the Rivermania festival begins, starting the journey from Huble Homestead north of Prince George, and ending on BC Rivers Day September 28th in Steveston. Residents and visitors have a unique opportunity to ride the river in single day or multi-day segments, join in incredible First Nations traditions and community celebrations. Check back often over the next few weeks to www.bcrivermania.com to keep up to date on packages and events. Come, ride the river and have fun!

Could There Be Good News For The U.S. Market?

A U.S. Marketing Summit was held recently in Vancouver by the Ypartnership/Intervistas (www.ypartnership.com), lead by its Chairman & CEO, Peter Yesawich.

Extracting relevant information from the renowned Ypartnership/Yankelovich Travel Monitor for 2008, one growth sector was identified for travel with children, including multi-generational and multi-family. "Togethering" is a current buzz word, related to families, but also to friends travelling together in small groups. See Magical Gatherings from Disney as a practical example, http://disneyworld.disney.go.com/wdw/special/magicalgatherings/landing?id=MagicalGatheringLandingPage&bhcp=1

Given the current economic conditions in the U.S., the relevance of brand marketing has decreased with primary focus now on price-point, time-sensitive offers.

Interestingly too, Yesawich notes that, although 60% use the internet exclusively for airlines and hotels, it is declining in favour of travel agents. We're pleased to hear that news as it supports the continuation of our Great Getaways program which provides price-point offers for travel agents.

Final message "Value is King" .... not cheap, but even the luxury market is looking for increased values and is not afraid to spend less on travel by moving from legacy air carriers towards lower airfare options..

Source: www.ypartnership.com

How Will They Spend It?

As of the 2nd of May the U.S. Treasury began distributing economic stimulus payments to more than 130 million individuals. These payments of up to $600 for individuals and up to $1,200 for adults who file jointly (depending on the income they reported on their 2007 tax return, and adjusted for the number of qualifying children in the household) will continue through late summer. So how will they spend this largesse from Washington? Perhaps more importantly for the readers of this newsletter, are they likely to spend any of it on travel services? These answers are provided below.

According to the results of the April (2008) travelhorizons™ survey (n=2,233) , one out of six (16%) rebate recipients is planning to spend some portion of the funds on an overnight or day trip for leisure purposes. Fully ten percent plan to use some portion of the rebate to take an overnight trip, while 6% plan to use some portion of the funds to enjoy a day trip. Almost half of those who plan an overnight or day trip intend to use some portion of the rebate to pay for lodging accommodations, and one out of four plans to apply some portion of the rebate to the purchase of an airline ticket. These intentions, and others, are summarized below:

Intended Use of Tax Rebate
Activity	% of All Respondents Who Intend To Use Rebate For Overnight Or Day Trip (16%)
Stay in hotel, motel or bed and breakfast	46%
Take a trip by air	25%
Visit a theme park	11%
Stay in a timeshare resort	5%
Take an international trip	3%
Source: April, 2008 travelhorizons™ survey

And if these intentions come to fruition, the recipients who plan to spend some portion of their rebate on overnight and/or day trips will pump an estimated $12 billion into the U.S. economy. Now, that’s a stimulus!

Among adults not planning to use their tax rebate to take an overnight or day trip, the most frequently mentioned uses were:

1. Put in savings account, mutual fund or otherwise invest (29%);
2. Spend on home necessities such as food, utility bills, etc. (24%);
3. Pay down a credit card balance (23%);
4. Pay down debt other than a credit card balance (18%);
5. Spend on dining out or other forms of entertainment (6%).
6. Only 4% indicated they would use the rebate to make a home mortgage payment and/or home or apartment rental payment.

For more information on travelhorizons™ please visit the Publications section of www.ypartnership.com.

Source: www.ypartnership.com

Foreign Convention & Tour Incentive Program (FCTIP)

For businesses that are working in the international markets, this program is the successor to the GST visitor rebate program. Still highly contentious and included in the Tourism Industry Association of Canada's advocacy program, it is in force now. For more information, see http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/E/pub/gp/rc4160/README.html and also refer to GST bulletins GI 026, GI 032, GI 033 and GI 044.

References for additional information can be found on the website.

Welcome New Partners!

The team at VCM would like to welcome all our new partners to our organization and to introduce you to all of our amazing current partners. Vancouver, Coast & Mountains represents a large portion of British Columbia, covering Metro Vancouver, Mighty Fraser Country, Sea to Sky Country and the Sunshine Coast. We have partners who operate hotels, tour companies and even catering services; but we bring all our Tourism Partners together to help build awareness of the tourism opportunities for visitors to this region.

Here is just a little reminder of all the benefits we have for our partners:

• Complimentary business listing on VCM’s website Partner Directory
• Access and approved use of VCM’s recognized brand, ‘All things are possible!’
• Tour operator and media leads when applicable
• Representation at trade, consumer and media shows
• VCM e-newsletter
• Access to VCM research
• Invitation to participate in cooperative marketing programs

Our Tourism Partners receive a listing on our online partner directory, www.vcmbc.com/page.cfm/9686 and receive information about our organization and the industry. Also we offer the opportunity to participate in our advertising initiatives both in print and online. For a current look of our marketing programs please visit www.vcmbc.com/page.cfm/5505.

Welcome to our new Tourism Partners from the months of March, April and May!

Furry Creek Bed & Breakfast – Furry Creek, www.bbcanada.com/8866.html
Charlie’s Chocolate Factory Ltd. – Burnaby, www.charliechocolatefactory.com
Bed & Breakfast Beside Lighthouse Park – West Vancouver, www.lighthouseretreat.com
Whistler Mountain House – Whistler, www.whistlermountainhouse.com
Bayside Campground & RV Park – Sechelt, www.baysidecampground.com
Grand Manor Guest House and Apartments – North Vancouver, www.grandmanor.net
Nestledown B&B – Halfmoon Bay, www.nestledown.ca
High Street B&B – White Rock, www.highstreetbb.com
Oceanside Resort & Motel – Powell River, www.oceansidepark.com
A Vancouver Traveller Bed and Breakfast – Vancouver, www.vancouvertravellerbb.com
Mountain Acres B&B – Abbotsford, www.bbcanada.com/3361.html
Nuages Bed and English Breakfast – Powell River, www.nuagesbandb.ca
Nita Lake Lodge – Whistler, www.nitalakelodge.com
L’Hermitage – Vancouver, www.lhermitagevancouver.com
Boutique Hotels and Resorts of BC – Vancouver, www.bhrbc.com
Lake City Inn and Suites – Burnaby, www.lakecityinnandsuites.com
Beachcomber B&B and Guestsuite – White Rock, www.beachcomberwhiterock.com
Gower Point Guest House – Gibsons, www.gowerpointguesthouse.com
Brew Creek Lodge – Whistler, www.brewcreeklodge.com
Bellevue House Bed and Breakfast – White Rock, www.bellevuehouse.ca
Clair’s Bed and Breakfast in Ladner Village – Ladner, www.clairsinnladner.com
The Corkscrew Inn – Vancouver, www.corkscrewinn.com
Windsor House and Bed and Breakfast – Vancouver, www.dougwin.com
Cambie Lodge Bed and Breakfast – Vancouver, www.cambielodge.com
Cedar House Guest Home – Richmond, www.cedarhouses.com
Between Friends Bed and Breakfast and Travel Apartments – Vancouver, http://www.betweenfriends-vancouver.com/
Castle Fun Park – Abbotsford, www.castlefunpark.com
Vancouver’s North Shore Tourism Association – North Vancouver, www.vancouversnorthshore.com
Vedder River Inn – Chilliwack, www.vedderriverinn.com
ArtStarts in School – Vancouver, www.artstarts.com
BC Buggy Ltd. – Hope, www.bcbuggy.com
VentureWeb Design – Squamish, www.ventureweb.net

For information regarding any of our marketing programs, please visit our website at www.vcmbc.com/page.cfm/5505, or if you have any other questions, please contact Kelly Miller, Partner Service Coordinator at 604-484-5366 or kellym@vcmbc.com.

Cool New Tool From Google Analytics

As the Vancouver, Coast & Mountains region takes one last deep breath before the start of our busy summer season, we have been revving our website engines to bring travel information to all visitors. As part of our e-marketing efforts, we are always continuing to improve the content, information and search-ability of www.vcmbc.com by reviewing our Google Analytics Reports, Adwords Pay Per Click Reports and all of our other website data tools.

We don’t know about you, but we always seem to find new and interesting parts to Google Analytics. During one of our early morning reviews, we started to dive a little further into Traffic Sources and Visitors. Here we discovered that not only can you tell your referring sites, search engines and geographic data of visitors, but you can actually discover what type of Operating Systems visitors are using (example: Windows or Macintosh).

The Operating System Analysis Tool is great to see which systems are being used to see your site, so you can actually test to make sure that each system is properly receiving all the correct data from your webpage. If you have ever viewed your site on a PC and then switched to MAC, on occasion you may notice that lines and images jump or that your site may not even show all of its images. By knowing which systems are being used the most, you can determine if your site is functioning correctly in your most ranked operating system. (PS – our top operating systems were: Windows, Macintosh, Linux, iPhone and iPod).

Since the last web data report which went out in the March 25th eNews, www.vcmbc.com has seen an increase in our number of visitors, page views and also the average number of pages being viewed. Of course we are thoroughly excited about this, and we want to see this increase further. Here is just a snippet of our stats:

• Visits: 60,880 (47,609 of which are Canadian)
• Absolute Unique Visitors: 54,397
• Page Views: 136,480
• New Visits: 85.61%

As mentioned above, our numbers do change daily and we are still continuing to work on the optimization of our pages to ensure they and our partners are easily found on search engines such as Google and Yahoo. If you have any questions about your own Google Analytics, or would like to learn more about your own listing’s stats, please don’t hesitate to contact Kelly Miller at 604-484-5366 or kellym@vcmbc.com.

Consumer Show Update

Wow, what a season! With Consumer Shows winding down now (except for the upcoming Calgary Stampede) we thought we would give our partners a little recap of what the outcomes have been for the past few months of Consumer Shows. If you have any questions about any of these shows, please contact Rebecca at rebecca@vcmbc.com. Keep your eye out for reduced rates on booth space at next year's Consumer Shows. Remember, buying booth space through VCM is always cheaper than buying direct from the show!

Calgary Women’s Show
Liesbeth & Doleen attended the Calgary Women’s Show on April 26-27, 2008. Approximately 13,000 women attended this show at the Round Up Centre. Most were young woman between the age of 25 and 45. Liesbeth & Doleen received many specific questions about the region and were able to do a lot of trip planning.

Northwest Women’s Show
Laura found that there was quite a bit of personal interaction and good trip planning with consumers at the Northwest Women’s Show. The show was held in Seattle at the Quest Event Center from March 28 - 30th. There were very few other travel booths at the show and the VCM booth location had consistent traffic.

Edmonton Women’s Show
Kelly attended the Edmonton Women’s Show on April 12-13, 2008. The attendees were mostly female, ages 18-60. Attendance was down slightly due to construction around the show site, but it was still a good show. The only thing missing? A notable celebrity/chef/key speaker to create more of an attendance draw.

Vancouver Int'l Auto Show 2008
Doleen, Rebecca, Jen, Liesbeth, Kevan, Frances, Kelly, and Jason all attended the Vancouver International Auto show. This year’s booth at the show focused on Rivermania and included partnership with Northern BC and Cariboo Chilcotin Coast regions. The attendance for the show was about 109,568, with mostly male attendees. The show was a great way to promote the Rivermania festival, which is happening this August and September.

Southern California Golf Show
Kevan attended the Southern California Golf Show in Long Beach California from February 29 to March 2nd. While the show was slightly slower than last year, the attendance was estimated at 6,000 with 70% male; 30% female. About 50% of attendees were retired, and 50% were between the ages of 30 – 45. Sunday was best day for trip planning and promoting of golf in the region as it was the busiest day.

Calgary Stampede
In July VCM will be attending the always busy, 2008 Calgary Stampede. Vancouver, Coast & Mountains, Northern BC, Cariboo Chilcotin Coast, Tourism Vancouver Island and BC Ferries will be partnering together to have a greater impact at the show.