Agents consult social network sites for advice

	December 19, 2007
	TravelMole reports that TripAdviser, IgoUgo and YouTube are the sites most used by business travel agents and leisure travel agents to review hotel ratings before passing on advice to travellers, according to an Amadeus poll. The study, which looks at the increasing popularity of user-generated content, found 100% of business agents compared to 87% of leisure agents turning to these resources for help. Findings also revealed that - although most agents agreed Web 2.0 and user-generated content has effected how people book travel - more than half the respondents said they did not use the sites in the course of their everyday work. Of the UK leisure agents questioned, 59.7% said they did not use the review sites when making bookings compared with 63.8% of business agents. In addition, 90% of business agents said they could see a time when self-booking tools would include user-generated content such as reviews.
	Author: TOURISM staff Organization: Canadian Tourism Commission

Regional Superpowers Forge Tourism Ties

Chinese citizens will soon be able to travel to the US on tourist visas and in groups, and US destinations will be permitted to market themselves in China (PRC). PATA Regional Director -- North America Ms Barbara Bryant welcomed the agreement, which was signed at the 18th China-US Joint Commission on Commerce and Trade in Beijing yesterday. "This presents enormous opportunities for PATA members in both destinations," she said. PATA's regional teams in North America and China are already discussing how to leverage the breakthrough for the benefit of PATA members. The MOU is good news for China's domestic tourism industry, with PATA member the China National Tourism Administration (CNTA) saying the agreement would provide strong impetus to economic, trade and cultural ties. Mr Dun Jidong, Marketing Director of PATA member China Travel Service said: "The US is an important destination with huge market potential for us." In the past five years, China has overtaken Japan to become the largest source of Asian outbound travellers.
	Author: Oliver Martin Organization: PATA

Taking Advantage of New Media Opportunities

As with many of you I'm sure, the month of December is filled with number crunching and finalizing projects and plans for the coming year. We have been busy prioritizing marketing opportunities that best serve our community and we are particularly interested in reaching the latest wave of online consumers.

In an article in TravelDailyNews (November 27, 2007), author and consultant Patricia Brusha comments that she was asked during a recent conference about how to engage the new online consumer without the worry of "losing control" of the message.

"I guess the simple answer is that there is no real control anymore as it relates to online marketing," she responds. "The consumers are really more in control than ever before in shaping your brand... (but) marketers should join the conversation and feed the message often."

Among other points she makes, having your product available for purchase online across multiple online channels, and making sure your brand message is always consistent and regularly updated, seem particularly relevant. "Test that your website is working the way that you had intended it to work - or more importantly, how your customers need it to work - to close the sale," she says. "Beyond that - you can be an innovator too by posting content online about your brand. Content such as video's, articles and images of your tourism product is easy to post to channels such as Flikr and YouTube, and can be virally distributed by both you and your customers."

Catering to Japanese Travellers

We've talked a lot recently about developing packages that cater to tour bus operators, particularly those heading to the Rockies. We know that Merritt is an ideal stop-over, but here is an interesting trend regarding the Japanese market that takes things a step further.

From the Canadian Tourism Commission:

	December 5, 2007
	For years Japan has been one of Canada's most important travel markets, bringing busloads of tourists to snap happy pics of Canada's main attractions. Compared to a decade ago, however, visitors from the Canadian Tourism Commission's (CTC's) second most important long-haul market have drastically declined. Why? This was one of the questions the CTC sought to understand with a recent consumer and travel trade study, "Restoring Canada's Growth/Yield with the Japanese Travel Market". The study found that the needs of Japanese travellers are changing. More confident than previous generations, contemporary Japanese travellers are exploring beyond and far from tour bus windows. No longer afraid to venture out alone, travellers are increasingly choosing independent or more flexible group travel. This new generation of Japanese travellers is looking to go "deeper" into a destination. This means spending time in one region, participating in more activities and getting closer to locals and their way of life. They are keen to experience all the tastes, sounds and sights a destination has to offer. Canada's iconic wilderness spaces such as the Rocky Mountains and Niagara Falls remain important components of a trip to Canada, but contemporary Japanese travellers are more adventurous, looking for higher adrenaline activities like hiking, fishing and kayaking. Equally important, "local flavour-seeking" activities like staying in a nature resort, exploring by rental car, visiting historic sites and even grocery stores were all highlighted as areas of interest by current and future Japanese travellers. This recent study led by the CTC will help tourism providers understand the changing needs of the Japanese market and how to package product for a new generation of Japanese travellers.

Internet stars shine at Canada e-Tourism Awards

November 30, 2007
	As website screenshots and online videos flashed frantically across the five story screen, an audience of Canada's top travel and tourism executives were all sitting on the edge of their seats in anticipation of the final envelope of the night: the industry Best-in-Show of the first Canadian e-Tourism Awards. On November 8th, 2007 in the OMNIMAX Theatre at Telus World of Science in Vancouver, the Canadian e-Tourism Council (a forum of over 50 marketing executives, representing travel and tourism organizations from all sectors from all over Canada) hosted the first ever Canadian e-Tourism Awards celebration. The Awards Ceremony also featured the exclusive pre-screening of the first Canadian Destination IMAX Movie "Rocky Mountain Express" to be released in 2009, with a special introduction by the film's producer and director, Stephen Low. Miss Canada International 2008, Alesia Fieldberg, presented Nahanni River Adventures with the Canadian e-Tourism Awards tourism industry Best-in-Show award for its outstanding website (www.nahanni.com), sponsored by Yahoo! Canada. Awarding the winner with the "Big Ideas Chair", Hunter Madsen, marketing director for Yahoo! Canada, praised Nahanni River Adventures as an exemplary organization that is excelling at showcasing technical innovations consistent with its brand. The United Nations' World Tourism Organization also launched the UNWTO e-Tourism Climate Change Awards at the Canadian e-Tourism Awards. It is very prestigious for Canada to be selected as the launch-pad for this important competition. The aim of the award is to identify innovative responses which raise awareness through travel and tourism web sites about changing consumption behaviour to generate more climate friendly tourism choices. Geoffrey Lipman, UNWTO Assistant Secretary General, presented the award to Canadian Mountain Holiday for its outstanding commitment to environmental excellence. Fairmont Hotels & Resorts was recognized as "Runner-Up" in a group of very strong finalists, showcasing Canada's commitment to climate change and sustainability. The first Canadian e-Tourism Awards also recognized consumer generated content in story, photo, and video, to celebrate travellers sharing their Canadian travel experiences. The Best-in-Show award, sponsored by the Canadian Tourism Commission (CTC) went to Michael Earle for his collapsing iceberg video off the coast of Labrador. He not only received the Keep-Exploring Award, presented by CTC president and CEO Michele McKenzie, but also won a unique trip for two to the Yukon and Northwest Territories, sponsored by a collaboration between Tourism Yukon, NWT Tourism, and Air North. Jens Thraenhart, chair of the Canadian e-Tourism Council and host of the Canadian e-Tourism Awards, noted that hosting the Canadian e-Tourism Awards in conjunction with the Canada-e-Connect Strategy Conference not only provided a forum to learn about consumer trends, emerging technologies, and new media channels during the strategy conference, but also, through the awards, recognized the best of the best of those which have taken a lead in leveraging online marketing and the internet to connect with consumers, and marketing Canada as a tourism destination.

Agent Wildfire Speaks at Canada e-Connect, Vancouver

Glad to have landed in Vancouver and expectedly for November, it's drizzling. Regradless, I still love VanCity - from its vistas, outdoor fanaticism and grassroots coffee culture, boutique retail and startup universe, it's one of the world's joys. Sometimes I regret not moving out here a few years ago when I was asked to lead the marketing efforts of an iconic West Coast brand, but I digress...

I'm out here on the left coast to present to the Canadian travel world at Canada e-Connect the merits of word of mouth, community building, social media, influencer, viral and buzz marketing and if there is one audience that should respond well to this message, it's travel and tourism.

Travel and hotels are the #3 and #5 ranked word of mouth categories, one of a word of mouth influencer's cardinal traits is their love of travel both near and far (they are more than twice as likely to be frequent and long haul travellers) and user generated content has taken root of the tourism world with thriving traveller rating sites like Tripadvisor (remarkably 114 reviews posted for my Hotel Fairmont Vancouver) and RealTravel in addition to consumer-enabled commenting in sites like Expedia and Travelocity.

Thanks to Jens Thraenhart, Executive Director for the Canadian Tourism Commission for pulling this inaugural conference together. I feel confident the future of Canada's travel face to the world is in safe hands given the progressive outlook, enthusiasm and professionalism Jens and his staff have put into the conference.

So why am I excited to be out here at Canada e-Connect, and why if you have any interest in the future of Canadian travel at all, you should be too:

1) a great canvas that may have been swept up by the Long Tail - Canada used to be in 2nd place gloablly in inbound travel 50 years ago with the top 5 countries representing 71% of the world's tourism, now Canada is in 11th place and the top 5 represents 32% of the pie (Deloitte) - new challengers and new options require new tactics for what still is one of the best travel destinations in the world (sorry for my homer-ism leaking out, but it's true)

2) Some very enterprising Canadian startups

- GPS TOURS Canada

- Planet Eye

- Iceberg Finder

3) A chance to hear about the user generated brilliance and quirkiness from Bugaboo This, Whistler Slush Skiing and Vancouver in the Mornng

4) Speaking on a panel with big brained Hunter Madsen from Yahoo and home country booster Paula Prociuk Blacklock from Canadian Geographic under the traditional, modern and future format that the conference has infused in its panels.

5) Equally interesting and perhaps more threateningly, being squared off in a discussion from industry challengers Jon Mamela from Fairmont and Denny Kobayashi from Tourism Yukon

6) Tips from the T-List - a profile of the best 100 posts from travel bloggers

7) My New Paradigm cohort in crime Anthony Williams is presenting Wikinomics - i've usually seen co-author and mastermind Don Tapscott present the book so this will be interesting to see the other side of the brain work and speak

8) Mobile and Travel Segment - with 85% of mobile phones to be enabled with cameras by 2010 and a tidal shift to GPS-enabled phones - the future of travel and travel communication may be seen through the lense of a cell phone, should be interesting

9) Travel Social Media and Trends - unfortuantely, I'll be leaving before then but beyond the topic, it would have been nice to see Patricia Brusha talk about her venture Chicks Away, I will however see Jeremy Gutsche from Trendhunter, a pioneering site in the world of open source trends.

10) Marketing to Americans - with a Canadian dollar now above $1.10, this has become very challenging particularly for the short to mid haul trips - Joel Peter, CMO from Tourism Toronto and Siobhan Chretien will try and crack that one. Perhaps tellingly of our future challenge, a Deloitte survey suggested Canada was viewed as "friendly, nice, unpretentious and reliable"as a person and ranked very low for being "sophisticated, witty and fashionable". I think people enjoy the former but are more willing to pay a premium for the latter.

11) A whackload of other tourism insights and goodies - CEOs, CMOs, pundits and experts, bloggers and columnists, awards and after-awards...should be a valuable time spent.