Marketing Opportunities |
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August 19, 2010 Tourism 2020 Strategy Update |
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The Ministry of Tourism, Culture and the Arts is currently undertaking the development of a long-term tourism strategy that will provide Government with clear direction for the upcoming decade. The Tourism 2020 Strategy will ensure that the vision, goals, objectives, tactics and performance measures align with critical issues and concerns facing the tourism industry. For this process to be successful, the Tourism 2020 Strategy team requires the direct input of industry stakeholders who can provide a broad perspective into the process. Progress to Date
Industry Survey The Ministry will continue to provide regularly reports on the progress of the Strategy, including an update at the upcoming BC Tourism Industry Conference in October. In the meantime, if you require additional information about Tourism 2020, please contact the project team at tourism2020@gov.bc.ca. CTC Announces New Directions to Reclaim Growth The Canadian Tourism Commission (CTC) is Canada’s national tourism marketing organization. CTC’s role is to generate wealth for Canadians by stimulating demand for Canada’s visitor economy. CTC does this through effective tourism marketing and promotions within 12 markets. The organization provides tourism marketing leadership and works with partners to support economic success for Canada. CTC is setting new directions as of today in order to reclaim growth for tourism in Canada. Where CTC leads with the Canada tourism brand, and there is an alignment of tourism partners, CTC will invest forcefully. CTC will also free up substantial funds to invest in more marketing programs within high-yield international source markets. Strategic operational changes starting today will free up $16M by 2012. This kind of additional investment internationally will contribute to the Canada tourism brand gaining strength and inspiring more travellers to visit Canada. Tourism is a competitive business. The organization is reducing overhead costs and driving out some of the complexity within the structure. It will have a more scalable operation and be better positioned to adjust and compete for tourism business. CTC continues to make the most of Federal Government Olympic funding and new Stimulus funding to boost tourism marketing. CTC has delivered real attributable demand for Canada’s tourism industry, and jobs, stemming from award winning programs such as the domestically focused “Locals Know”. These funds, and their associated programs, do come to a natural and planned sunset and CTC has already begun to adjust for that transition. However CTC overheads, complexity, and costs have, over the years, eroded other funding available for marketing programs. CTC is making changes now in order to lead Canada’s tourism industry into the next decade efficiently, competitively and within budget. The changes announced today centre on two key business shifts: The secondary shift is operational and delivers a scalable structure overall, with leaner operations at its headquarters in Vancouver as well as a change in the international footprint to a regional office model. Regional office models are widely viewed as the current best practice amongst National Tourism Marketing Organizations. The future affordability of international operations and sustainable growth will be found through centralization. This means CTC will free up funds for more marketing impact without ‘exiting’ markets. The regional approach consolidates certain services in offices in London UK for the well established markets in Europe and Australia, and in Vancouver for the emerging markets of Asia, Mexico and Brazil. The regional offices will allow CTC to achieve efficiencies and maximize program dollars. In addition, the CTC will use General Sales Agents (GSAs) in France, Germany, Australia, along with current GSAs in India and Brazil to provide travel trade sales and media relations support. All markets will be actively supported by GSAs or CTC staff. The Global Meetings Conventions and Incentive Travel (MC&IT) program will be managed from Vancouver, with staff in the US and a GSA in Europe. CTC will pursue an aggressive MC&IT program for the benefit of Canada’s industry. These business and operational shifts are strategic in attaining Canada’s target of $100B in tourism revenue by 2015, as set by Federal-Provincial-Territorial Ministers just last year. The CTC has marketing initiatives around the globe leveraging the success of the 2010 Games and the upswing in interest and demand for travel to Canada. The changes described are being introduced on a timeframe that allows for all of this activity to be completed. While a CTC physical footprint is changing in some markets, CTC will continue to deploy effective key account management programs along with rigorous return on investment evaluation criteria to work closely with travel trade and industry partners in marketing Canada. CTC will continue to keep partners engaged and informed as it moves forward. http://en-corporate.canada.travel/announcement Social Media Campaign - Pilot Project In partnership with Think! Social Media, Vancouver, Coast & Mountains recently launched a pilot Social Media Campaign. Designed to stimulate the BC resident to vacation at home this summer and fall, the campaign will focus on different experiences around the region. Each participating business is receiving customized social media promotion tactics, specific to their particular needs. Different strategies have been determined for both the participating businesses and the experiences according to target market segmentation (demographics, technographics and psychographics), season duration, timing and immediate opportunities. Through a combination of monitoring and responding to relevant “conversations”, facebook, blogger outreach and twitter we will be generating awareness of the participating experiences and encouraging consumers to book. Check out the Things to Do tab on the Vancouver, Coast & Mountains Facebook Page for at LifePoints, just one of the components of this exciting campaign. It is intended that this pilot campaign will demonstrate significant learning across a variety of strategies that can be shared by all participants. Results will be shared between all partners in the form of a report at the conclusion of the campaign. Please contact Jennifer Rhyne, Director, Communications for more information - jennifer@vcmbc.com or 604.637.9046 Vancouver Coast & Mountains is offering full
day social media workshops for accommodation and activity providers.
The intent of the course is to increase awareness and understanding
of social tools for tourism businesses. The workshop will be
conducted by Think! Social Media and has been compiled in conjunction
with, Paul Cubbon (UBC) and William Bakker (Tourism BC).
The workshops will be offered throughout October and November of this year and space will be limited. For more information please follow the appropriate links below. Social Media Workshop for ACCOMMODATION providers. Social Media Workshop for ACTIVITY providers. VANOC Study Features 2010 Winter Games Legacies The 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games have left a lasting impact on communities throughout B.C., which is detailed in a recently released report from VANOC, titled Legacies of North American Olympic Winter Games. The report features many of the community legacies 2010 Legacies Now strived to create in the years leading up to the Games. Code of Conduct for Credit & Debit Card Industry Takes Effect The Honourable Jim Flaherty, Minister of Finance, announced that the Code of Conduct for the Credit and Debit Card Industry in Canada came into effect on Monday, August 16, 2010. “ This Code will make fees and rates more transparent for business owners and for consumers who use credit and debit cards,” said Minister Flaherty. “It will promote fairness, competition and choice.” Under the Code, merchants will be:
With the passage and Royal Assent of the Jobs and Economic Growth Act on July 13, the Financial Consumer Agency of Canada has been empowered to monitor compliance with the Code. While most sections of the Code take effect today, payment card networks and acquirers have until February 17, 2011 to implement several disclosure elements of the Code to allow sufficient time for them to make the necessary changes to their systems. If necessary, payment card issuers will also have until May 17, 2011 to re-issue cards already in circulation that contravene Elements 6 and 7 of the Code, which are applicable to debit cards that have access to multiple networks. Click here for the Code of Conduct. Wild Salmon Paddle/Rally – October 20-25 A paddle for wild salmon flotilla, including Alexandra Morton, Grand Chief Stuart Phillip, Chief Bob Chamberlin, Grand Chief Saul Terry, Fin Donnelly MP and friends, will culminate in Vancouver for a march and rally in Vancouver. The goal for the paddle and rally is to protest industrial fish famrs in BC waters and stand up for wild salmon. The rally organizers want to tell the Cohen Commission and the provincial and federal governments that wild salmon come first! Visit www.salmonaresacred.com for more information. Click here for a poster promoting the paddle and rally. Chinese Tour Groups Arrive in BC As you may have heard by now, the first group of Chinese tourists to visit British Columbia following China's granting of Approved Destination Status to Canada arrived on Monday August 16th. With Approved Destination Status (ADS), Canadian tourism businesses and destination marketing organizations can actively market Canadian tourism products in China, while Chinese tour operators can organize, promote and advertise group travel packages to ours. At this time, Vancouver, Coast & Mountains will be offering a supporting role to Tourism BC/MCTA and our city partners who are actively involved in the Chinese Market. Until the market matures, the focus will be on Vancouver and Richmond for reasons that are explained below. While no one knows for certain how obtaining ADS will truly impact Canadian tourism, BC is uniquely positioned to take advantage in the immediate future. For those who are interested in the Chinese traveler, here are some facts and figures. Background*
*Source: Statistics Canada Comments from the Chinese Travel Trade* Not surprisingly, the immediate challenge that Canada faces post-ADS will be lack of awareness among Chinese travellers. According to the trade, Chinese consumers are unfamiliar with Canada’s tourism attributes and the unique offerings of the country as a travel destination. Moreover, Canada suffers from the lack of a distinct image or brand in the marketplace. Like the US, Canada is seen as being modern and having a highly developed economy. Together, Canada and the US are the epitome of the western culture and there is interest in “seeing how the other half lives.” In the beginning, this curiosity will likely be a greater driver of travel than specific attractions and tourism offerings. As a new ADS destination, the near-term potential for Canada is obviously bright. However, the challenge will be to sustain tourism past the curiosity phase. Having visited famous places is a symbol of status in China, so cities like Vancouver, Toronto, and to a lesser extent, Ottawa, are a must to make the itinerary seem desirable. Although Canada’s cities are not as impressive as those of the US, they are seen as being cleaner and more beautiful. Again, city trips alone will not work in this market, but in combination with nature, will exert a powerful draw. The Vancouver-Victoria region enjoys a fairly high profile among the Chinese Travel Trade. Vancouver is seen as the gateway to Asia. It is a popular immigration destination, and many Chinese have relatives there. As such, it is more familiar than some of the other destinations in Canada. In fact, the trade feels Vancouver is similar in many respects to cities in China, and is a place where Chinese will feel at home. Vancouver is seen as a large, modern city and a great place to live, offering good quality of life, a mild climate, lots of parks and trees, and beautiful scenery in the surrounding areas. It is also perceived to be historic and rich in culture. The predominant image of Victoria, on the other hand, is as a smaller “seaside” town – quaint, scenic and relaxing. Immediate Challenges The trade feels that the lengthy flight (at least 10 hours for a direct flight, and as high as 36 hours for a flight with transfers) could deter some potential travellers. This, coupled with Canada’s great breadth, makes for a very long trip, with considerable time spent travelling rather than sightseeing. Another frequently mentioned barrier is the short summer season in Canada, with winter perceived as being unfeasible for travel. According to the trade, many consumers will only consider Canada as an add-on to a US trip (the same way they consider New Zealand as an adjunct to an Australia trip). Positioning Canada as a stand-alone destination could be a hard-sell for those that do not have friends or relatives there. *Source: © Decima Research Inc. | decima.com | ISO 9001:2000 Certified 77 Consumer and Travel Trade Research in China – Qualitative Report For more research and statistics: http://www.tca.gov.bc.ca/research/ResearchByMarket/AsiaPacific.htm Oops … in our previous eNews we incorrectly reported visitation numbers to HelloBC.com as 5,000 visitors per month, not the actual number of 500,000 visitors per month. Also, in the same article the link for quantcast was incorrect. The correct link is www.quantcast.com. Our apologies for the mistakes!
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Your feedback is most welcome on any subject – please e-mail kevan@vcmbc.com. |
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