GoMedia Canada in Toronto - where is the CTC going? Musings on Canadian Tourism

I did not attend all of Go Media Canada's sessions or meetings. After all, the event is focused on international (traditional) media. But that is changing. This year Go Media reached out to important bloggers and influencers like Kim Mance of Go Galavanting and founder of TBEX. And furthermore Go Media also had the open marketplace for local media (to which I was invited). I must clarify that while Canada en Español could be considered "local media," my digital media properties have always been designed to inform and entertain foreign audiences. 90% + of Canada en Español's online visitors live outside of Canada.

I only attended three things at Go Media, the Tourism Toronto reception at the magnificent Royal Conservatory of Music (great job Andrew and Company), the Go Media Open Marketplace for local media, and the Ontario Tourism Marketing Partnership's Taste of Ontario at the Distillery District (Boiler Room Restaurant) - good party (where I had a great conversation with Mexican media folks). As many other events that TIAC organizes or manager, I must say that my experience was very good. At the open marketplace I did have an opportunity to speak to a few media relations professionals from destinations I have never been too and that I would like to cover in the future. I spoke to Jillian of Travel Manitoba about Churchill and the Hudson's Bay; spoke to Jenny and Anastasia of the new Jasper Tourism organization; had a brief chat with Amber from Tourism Vancouver (not that I need to visit there, I know Van quite well, but it was nice to say hello); and Miles and Ellen of the Thompson Okanagan Tourism Association. This last destination - Thompson Okanagan is an area that I am sure will be of much interest to my audiences. I think it will be one of the hottest destination in Canada in the very near future (and it's not doing badly at all at the moment).

I also had a very good chat with Elyse Mailhot, Travel Media Relations Manager at the CTC. It was interesting to hear about the change in direction the CTC is taking, moving away from advertising and focusing more on social media, not necessarily as a creator of content and initiator of conversations, but rather as an enabler and facilitator. This direction is partly the result of having to deal with insufficient funding going forward that precludes the organization from investments in advertising. Some people might think that advertising does not work any longer. That's not true. What doesn't work any longer is bad, lazy, complacent cookie-cutter advertising. Advertising today is merging with entertainment, infotainment, gaming and other tools. And most importantly, advertising today must be honest. The days of "there's a sucker born everyday" are gone.

I am a big supporter of a strong CTC, and I hope that the Tourism Association of Canada does a better job of lobbying the government to support a strong, well funded Canadian Tourism Commission - for one thing we should impose a Travel Promotion Fee on international visitors like many other countries do (including the US), with which we can fund the CTC. Having said that, I also propose stronger ties between the private tourism sector and the CTC. One of the issues I have with the CTC is that because of its bureaucratic nature it is sometimes too slow to act and because of its governmental ties it is risk averse when it comes to advertising and communications. As Kim Mance said at Canada-e-Connect 2010 in Montreal last January when I asked her "what should Canada do to raise its profile in the US (and in the world for that matter)?" "Make more noise."

Jaime Horwitz Rodriguez

Past Chair Canada-e-Connect eTourism Stratgy

Cactus Rock New Media Ltd.

The Canadá en Español Network

Better times coming? June saw good growth in inbound tourism to Canada

Statcan's Advance Travel Information Bulletin for June 2010 had good news for Canadian tourism. Visits from the United States were up 5.6% from June of last year, Europe was up 3.7%, Asia was up a stunning 33.5%. Even the beaten up Mexican inbound market did better with a drop of 38,3% compared to June 2009, but far from the disastrous drops of last year when it was down 60% in some months. It appears that Mexicans are getting used to the fact that they need visas to visit Canada and the anger of the sudden imposition of visa restrictions has subsided. Visits from South Americans were also significantly up in June 2010 with a 22.9% increase over 2009. Finally, inbound tourism from Australia and New Zealand also showed great progress with 17.9% and 21.3% growth respectively.

Let's hope that this is the beginning of a trend :-)

Jaime

Past Chair Canada-e-Connect eTourism Strategy Conference

Commitment - attributed to Goethe's Faust via Anster

Worth keeping in mind:

"Until one is committed, there is hesitancy, the chance to draw back-- Concerning all acts of initiative (and creation), there is one elementary truth that ignorance of which kills countless ideas and splendid plans: that the moment one definitely commits oneself, then Providence moves too. All sorts of things occur to help one that would never otherwise have occurred. A whole stream of events issues from the decision, raising in one's favor all manner of unforeseen incidents and meetings and material assistance, which no man could have dreamed would have come his way. Whatever you can do, or dream you can do, begin it. Boldness has genius, power, and magic in it. Begin it now."

"Then indecision brings its own delays, And days are lost lamenting over lost days. Are you in earnest? Seize this very minute; What you can do, or dream you can do, begin it; Boldness has genius, power and magic in it"

source: The Goethe Society of North America

The CTC pulling back on account of cutbacks and stimulus funding drying out.

If you are a member of the Tourism Industry Association of Canada, you must have received an email from its president, David Goldstein, on July 19 regarding the restructuring of the Canadian Tourism Commission. The email basically describes what the CTC announced on July 16 (although I could not find a release or an article about it on the CTC's website). The main points about the CTC's restructuring in David's email are the following:

• Ceasing to invest in direct-to-consumer advertising in the United States, and ceding the way to other Canadian destinations which are already invested in this area.
• Centralization of resources to ensure the affordability of CTC’s international operations. This includes using the London office as the regional hub for the traditional markets of U.K., France, Germany and Australia, and supplementing in-market efforts with the assistance of General Sales Agents.
• Making use of resources at the CTC Vancouver Headquarters as the regional office for new and emerging tourism markets (Korea, China, India and Brazil), as well as for markets in transition (Japan and Mexico).

Basically the CTC will not partner in consumer advertising in the US with the provinces, territories and cities and it will need to do more (or try to stay the course) with less regarding our international markets - it is not clear to me whether the CTC will be closing its offices in Japan and Mexico.

David's message goes on to remind us that "According to the UNWTO, Canada dropped from 7th to 15th in terms of international tourist arrivals between 2002 and 2009. TIAC believes that Canada is losing competitive ground in the global tourism marketplace. If Canada is to compete in the global tourism market, and make the most of the opportunities in one of the fastest growing sectors in the world, we will need a strong marketing voice."

Given these changes, What do you think the result will be in the next couple of years? We will probably see a continuing decline from US visitors (considering that America's economy is still weak). But this decline might not be across the board. I expect to see more inter-provincial and inter and intra city partnerships targeting the US, e.g. Ontario/Quebec, Toronto/Montreal, BC/Alberta, all Atlantic provinces together, Vancouver and Whistler, Calgary and the Rockies, etc. I think that the right partnerships with the right creative campaigns will be able to see very positive results. Nevertheless, the loss of the CTC's support will have an impact and it will be missed.

As for international markets, it remains to be seen how the CTC will manage its core territories with less resources. The private sector will have to step up to the plate and find ways to market Canada despite the lack of tax payers support. The US did it for years, although it is ironic that last year it passed its Travel Promotion Act S. 1023, that when implemented (not sure if this has been done or will be in the near future), it will generate over one hundred million dollars for tourism promotion. I have advocated for a similar measure in Canada since I heard of the American TPA. Canada, as many other countries already do, should implement a $10 to $15 tourism promotion fee on international tourists and use all the proceeds to fund the Canadian Tourism Commission in a consistent and predictable manner.

Jaime

Lake Country, Muskoka, Ontario, Canada

Canada has over 2,000,000 lakes. And while Alberta has some of the most spectacular lakes, most are glacial and thus not swimsble. The area North of Toronto known as Muskoka has some of the most swimsble and tranquil lakes in Canada, also great for canoeing and water skiing (in the summer, of course).



-- Post From My iPhone

Port Carling, Ontario, Canada

Port Carling is a quaint tiny town in Muskoka, Ontario where Lake Muskoka (or as I like to call it, Lake Rich) and Lake Joseph (or as I like to call it, Lake Richer) meet. Many well heeled Torontonians and more than a few famous people have cottages in one these two lakes. You never know who you might run into in Port Carling.



-- Post From My iPhone

From the great women at the YummyMummyClub - watch this video, get inspired!

We've talked about generating conversational capital in the past. This is an example of an event that creates great conversational capital, but also is a great example of how to use social media and the physical world to inspire people. "Social Media for Social Good." Enjoy (grab a facial tissue first).

J

Canada should bid for the World Cup of Soccer - Top Ten Reasons

The World Cup of Soccer is the largest single sport event in the world. It is truly the only World Competition in which most nations of the world participate. The globally televised event billions of us enjoy every four years is only the finals, the top 32 of the 280 nations whose Federations are members of FIFA. Canada can and should bid to host a World Cup as soon as possible.

Top ten reasons Why Canada should bid for a World Cup:

1. A very high ROE (Return on Exposure)
2. Canada successfully hosted the U20 World Cup where many of the stars who played in South Africa 2010 got their World Cup start
3. Canada has successfully staged 3 Olympic Games
4. Canada is one of the most successful multi-cultural countries in the world
5. A large number of Canada's ethnic communities are soccer crazy
6. Canada's access to a multi-cultural, multi-lingual work force makes it an ideal country to host the Cup
7. With all the love and respect to our national obsession with Hockey, there are more Canadian kids registered in soccer programs than in hockey programs
8. While there's no way to tell where Canada's economy will be in 2018, 2022 and 2026, currently we have one of the most stable economies in the world (bids for 2018 and 2022 may be closed already, but we could go for 2022 and/or 2026 and/or 2030)
9. Because it's the "Beautiful Game" for a "Beautiful Country"
10. It's the only way in the foreseeable future that Canada's National team can participate in a World Cup (host nation gets automatic pass in the top 32)

Cheers, And Viva España!

Jaime

The Laurentians - a fantastic region North of Montreal

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The Laurentians - Les Laurentides Québec

I just finished running a promotional campaign for my friends at Tourisme Laurentides in the Canadá en Español Network. The campaign reminded me of what a fantastic region this area of Quebec North of Montreal is. I have been to Mont-Tremblant a few times and have seen just a few of the pretty towns in the Laurentians. I hope to visit the P'tit Train du Nord park this year and do some relaxed biking along the old train route. I also want to try the famous Bistro a Champlain restaurant with it's 35,000 bottle wine cellar! So many places, so little time. Ah, but if my friends from TL invite me? :-)

Jaime

Joyeux Fête du Canada - Happy Canada Day

My daughter Maddy's rendition of O Canada for all of you :-)

What is Canada Day?

Canada Day in Ottawa

Happy Canada Day everyone!

Jaime