Congratulations to RMV!

Congratulations are in order for Rocky Mountaineer Vacations for receiving the “Employees First Award” last week. Rocky Mountaineer Vacations (RMV), owners and operators of the world-Acclaimed Rocky Mountaineer train has won the 2006 "Employees First Award" at this year's B.C. Tourism Industry Conference in Penticton. Hundreds of industry members attended the 7th annual B.C. Tourism Awards ceremony, which was held on February 16, 2006. RMV Executives were on hand to accept the award on behalf of the Vancouver based company. This latest accolade follows Rocky Mountaineer Vacations' recent win of the prestigious 2005 World Travel Award as, "World's Leading Travel Experience By Train." Way to go RMV!

Update From a Recent US Passport Meeting

Shawna Deagle recently attended an update meeting on the US Passport issue. The new passport policy was designed to keep terrorists from exploiting the relative ease of travel in North America. The policy is in place and the next steps for Homeland Security along with the Secretary of State will be to submit a proposed rule to be released in a publication sometime in March/April, at that time the public will have 60 days to comment on the proposed rule. Homeland Security is committed to the dates for passport requirements - The rule's first phase will go into effect Dec. 31, 2005, requiring all U.S. citizens traveling by air or sea to or from the Caribbean, as well as Central and South America, to have passports. The next phase, which will apply these rules to all air and sea travel to or from Mexico and Canada, will begin a year later. The last phase, which will affect the most people by far, will take effect on Dec. 31, 2007, and will apply the requirement to all air, sea and land border crossings with Mexico and Canada.

Details on the "Pass System Card" will be released soon, this pass will allow US residents to apply for a card that has the same information as a passport, but also has a frequency chip that will be used for the future. This card will be less than half the price of a passport and will be valid for 10 years. As for the how long it will take to receive the pass after someone applies has not been determined. They also have yet to determine if Nexus could be an alternate to this card. Please feel free to contact Shawna Deagle at shawna@vcmbc.com for more information on this meeting.

From the Travel Media Association of Canada (TMAC) Annual Conference in Calgary this past weekend…

Jennifer Huitema joins Lana Kingston from Tourism Vancouver Island and Carla Mont from Tourism British Columbia, getting up close and personal with authentic cowboys!

Attention all Restaurants- Are you group friendly?

Vancouver, Coast & Mountains needs your help in building a database of restaurants that can accommodate the group travel market. More and more tour planners and professional tour group operators are requesting lists of venues that are equipped to meet the needs of this market. Examples of those requesting information include Student & Youth Travel, Social, Military, Religious, and Fraternal travel groups.

The designation as a “group friendly” restaurant requires the ability to accommodate group tours with up to 50 people, willingness to provide the tour planner an abbreviated menu for guests to select from, ample motor coach parking, and other services.

If you are a restaurant or a restaurant in a hotel or attraction and would like to promote yourself to the group tour market, please send your contact information to Jason Knibbs - Sales Manager, Tour & Travel, jason@vcmbc.com or 604.484.5363

Trade Report

Addison Travel Shows
Jan 31 - Edmonton. AB & Feb 1 - Calgary, AB

On your behalf, Vancouver, Coast & Mountains attended the annual Addison Travel Shows in Edmonton & Calgary. Aimed at the professional travel agent, Addison Travel Trade Shows are an effective way to meet face to face with hundreds of travel agents and promote what's new and what's hot in our Region. In all, over 400 travel agents attended each show with the Vancouver, Coast & Mountains booth receiving visitation from roughly a third of all attendees. The main sales piece used was the Great Getaways Travel Agents Guide with the VC&M Travel Guide provided for those looking to learn more about the Region.

The next Addison Travel Shows, Vancouver, Coast & Mountains will be participating is in Quebec and Ontario this month, followed by Manitoba & Saskatchewan in March.

American Bus Association (ABA) Annual Marketplace
Feb 2 – 8th - Nashville, TN

Nashville may be known as the music city, but for a week in February, it was home to the biggest, most productive ABA Marketplace to date. At the 2006 Marketplace, there were more delegates than ever before – 3,000 to be exact. And of those delegates, there were more than 600 tour operators, with 350 of them appointment-taking “buyers”. That’s the most any Marketplace has ever had.

There were 600 DMO delegates from more than 500 organizations; 600 lodging delegates from 500 companies; and almost 800 attraction delegates from more than 600 companies. The increases didn’t stop there – there was a 16 percent increase in western US tour operator participation over Marketplace 2005 (who normally only attend the National Tour Association Annual Convention)and a 15 percent increase in tour operator participation from Marketplace 2005.

The ABA annual marketplace traditionally differs from the NTA convention by attracting “smaller” tour operators who are much more receptive to new ideas, areas to explore and itinerary suggestions. The overall feeling was one of optimism and positive feedback about our Region. The vast majority of Vancouver, Coast & Mountains appointments yielded much interest for all areas of the region for 2007 and beyond. Vancouver, Coast & Mountains representatives will be following up with each contact, providing the information requested during the appointments and assisting with any itinerary planning.

The next ABA marketplace will be February 2007 in Grapevine, TX.

For more information about Vancouver, Coast & Mountains' Trade Program please contact Jason Knibbs - Sales Manager, Tour & Travel, jason@vcmbc.com or 604.484.5363

Consumer Show Report

February’s show season marked the launch of Vancouver, Coast & Mountains stunning new booth. As consumers strolled by, staff witnessed an array of responses; some stopped dead in their tracks, some stood with mouths hanging open, some even stroked the panels of the satellite towers, and most of all, they raved about the new look. So, keep your eyes open for a glimpse of the newest Vancouver, Coast & Mountains presentation at a consumer show near you!

LA Times Travel Show
On the weekend of January 28 – 29, 2006, 13,000 consumers and 700 travel agents attended this show, with the average age around 35 years old. The show was bustling and busy, with many asking the obvious questions about rules surrounding passport and traveling documents to Canada. Doleen Dean attended this show, alongside 2 of our marketing partners, and there was much interest in Vancouver and Whistler, along with day trips and pre and post cruise tours.

Seattle Travel Show
Kristi Wilson and Leanne Von Hollen attended this show, during the weekend of January 28 – 29, 2006. The estimated attendance was around 10,000 consumers, but we are waiting on the exact number for 2006 from the show organizers. It was a fair show, and may have been better if we’d been situated one aisle over – booth location was a bit of a disadvantage. There was some great FIT trip planning, as most attendees were already familiar with our destination.

Quartzite RV Show
Overall, the show was excellent. There were terrific trip planning opportunities, a high interest in driving from Vancouver to Alaska, as well as questions about RV parking during a cruise. A large part of the audience is planning to go to Alaska this summer and stopping on the way up or down in our region. People had big concerns and were confused about the passport issue. A high percentage is not willing to pay too much to get their passport. Doleen Dean and Alexa Tammerle attended this show (January 21 – 29, 2006), and estimate the attendance to be around 150,000+ for over 8 days.

Le Salon des Generations, Gatineau
Kevan Ridway attended this show February 3 – 5, 2006, targeting French Canadian seniors. We had extensive media coverage throughout the show, program and local Ottawa and Gatineau media because of our role in a prize draw. At no cost to us, it includes CAA Quebec, Westjet and Voyage Canada en Francais and features "Vancouver, Cote et Montagnes". This brought many to our booth, but a small percentage that are serious about coming this year. We think that we are on everyone's wish list to come at some time in their life! Our booth partner, Voyage Canada en Francais, has group potential from five groups, so we will follow up to see if these mature into reality.

Vancouver Travel & Vacation Show
Occurring last weekend, February 17 – 19, 2006, this show was attended by Doleen Dean, Alexa Tammerle, Rebecca Vossepoel, Elena Yanken, Kristi Wilson, Kevan Ridgway, Mary Ann Bell, and Shawna Deagle. The show didn’t seem to be as busy as previous years, but still well visited. We had a dominant part in the show with 9 marketing partners alongside us. Our new 10 x 20 booth display and satellites were the biggest hit at the show, inspiring lots of “oohs” and “ahhs” over the stunning photography and design.

Classifieds at Vancouver, Coast & Mountains?

We often receive requests from our partners who are looking for ways to get their news out to a wide tourism audience, whether you have a special job posting, a hot ticket price for your event, furniture from a hotel renovation, etc. Enter Classifieds at VCM! This newest feature of eNews is available to anyone at anytime, for the low price of $20. What do you get for $20? One month of coverage in Vancouver, Coast & Mountains eNews (sent out to over 3000 tourism partners twice a month) in our new Classifieds at VCM section of the newsletter. So, if you have something to sell, promote, or even old linens to give away…let us know about it! Send your classifieds as a PDF file to Jennifer@vcmbc.com.