ASSOCIATION PROFILE: Canadian Tourism Commission
Interview with Michele McKenzie, President & CEO

Q: What are the main markets that CTC is pursuing?
CTC is focused on international markets and has invested in 9 key markets that will give Canada the highest return on investment. The US is the largest source of international visitors to Canada and CTC approaches the US as 2 distinct markets - leisure and meetings/conventions and incentive travel (MC&IT). The other markets consist of Mexico, Europe (UK, France, and Germany), Asia (Japan, China, and South Korea), and Australia. 

There is an expanding emphasis on MC&IT beyond the US since there are opportunities in this segment in countries other than the US. CTC will be rolling out promotions on a selective basis in the UK, Mexico, and China.
CTC has niche programs in some markets in the US where we’re marketing leisure specific programs for ski, and luxury lifestyles. The geographic focus is on city areas where we always get the highest return, including Boston, New York and Los Angeles.

Q: What marketing efforts are being undertaken?
Marketing ranges from direct to consumer to trade work. It depends on the market and how long Canada has been in that market. In China we focus on trade and media since we don’t have the opportunity to do a lot of consumer marketing. 

In the US we have a full slate of activities including some traditional advertising. We’ve done a lot of work leveraging opportunities with the Internet, social marketing, and major promotions to create a buzz, such as the newly created Canadian Pavilion at Epcot Centre at Disney World. 

Q: What can hoteliers do to complement those efforts?
We work very closely with the hotel community across Canada and the hotels have been a very active partner. When we go to trade shows, the hotel community is well represented by exhibiting in the Canadian Pavilion or by working with destination marketing organizations. One benefit hotels can get from CTC is to access our research products. We do a lot of work conducting market research. For example, a study has just been released on the Japanese market. Both the Japanese and US markets have been in decline. Japan has been an important market in the past that peaked in the mid-1990s, but it’s now in decline. CTC researched to find out if people are still travelling outbound and found they are interested in new short-haul destinations. This research is now on CTC’s website www.Canada.travel/research and hotels can use that research in their marketing. Relying on this research, the CTC is cutting a new path in Japan that’s going to expose Japanese consumers to a whole new range of products, and provide tour wholesalers with increased service and more powerful selling tools. 

CTC is working hard to refresh Canada’s tourism brand, and one of the features is that it’s an “open source brand” that the entire tourism industry can leverage. We want to bring a stronger common image of Canada to the market, and the brand elements are accessible to the industry to use directly. People have been adopting the essence of the brand very enthusiastically. We don’t want Canada to get lost in clutter. We should leverage our collective spending to a greater good. 

Hoteliers should focus on positioning BC as a 4-season destination. We need to work together to sell Canada in a more exciting and hip way. 

Q: Who are Canada’s main competitors?
Canada’s competitors really vary from country to country, and even niche to niche. America itself is our largest competitor. We compete mainly against domestic destinations there. Overseas, Japanese travellers are going to New Zealand, Hawaii, and the US mainland. In the UK, our competition is South Africa and Australia. 

Q: What is the biggest marketing challenge facing the tourism industry in Canada? 
Intense global competition is our biggest challenge. Tourism is the fastest growing industry in the world. New destinations are opening up and Canadians are travelling to more exotic locations and so is the rest of the world. We must position Canada as an exotic destination. 

Q: What is CTC doing to overcome that challenge?
We are focusing on markets with the greatest return. We are also allocating money to research new market opportunities. We are looking at what’s happening globally and what new markets are emerging. As an example, CTC did a lot of research on the Indian market to see how that market can be pursued.

Canada has a strong image as a country in the mind’s eye of an international traveller. Canada has been on the list of top 10-12 destinations. We are seen as safe and stable and people don’t think that will change so they’ll put off that trip to Canada and will visit other destinations first. We have to give them compelling reasons to come here right now. Visitors have a hard time understanding what they’ll do when they get here. That’s the reason that the marketing is now showing people doing activities to bring the experience of travelling to Canada to the forefront.

We have a huge opportunity with 2010 around the corner and can leverage media attention and work closely with partners in BC to take full advantage of that opportunity.