Travel Trade Update – Oct 7, 2009

Travel Trade, Sales Manager, Michelle Edington attended Conozca Canada, an annual tourism event held in Mexico City organized by the Canadian Tourism Commission. 27 Mexican operators and 28 media participated in the business-to-business portion of the show. The Canada seminars and marketplace event was attended by over 250 travel agents.

 

Although the new visa requirements and procedures have created a challenge for Mexican operators and agents who sell Canada, the overall tone of the event was extremely positive. Sellers in attendance demonstrated strong support and appreciation of the current situation and buyers were optimistic that Canada will continue to be a key destination for Mexico.

 

From one-on-one meetings with tour operators, Tourism Victoria develops a leads list to help generate business for our members.

To access these leads please go to

 the Membership Resources section of the website under Tradeshow Leads. For more information please contact Travel Trade Sales Manager, Michelle Edington.

M&IT Update – Sept 24, 2009

On September 9, 2009, Tourism Victoria’s Kelly Pitt, Sales Manager, M&IT attended Live Canada 2009 in San Francisco, California. This event was held simultaneously in San Francisco, Chicago, New York, Washington DC, Dallas and Minneapolis. Live Canada is an event designed to replaced the Canadian Tourism Commission’s traditional showcase receptions/marketplaces. The highly interactive and experiential multi-city event included a game show competition, held in Washington, DC and hosted by Canadian Colin Mochrie, connected all cities simultaneously. 112 clients from the San Francisco and LA areas attended this event. For more information visit Live Canada’s website.

 

Sales Update – Meetings & Incentive Travel – Aug 12, 2009

Kelly Pitt, Sales Manager, M&IT and Heather McGillivray, Director of Sales recently attended the MPI-World Education Congress, a four-day conference comprised of educational sessions and a 2-day tradeshow component. Tourism Victoria joined the Canadian Tourism Commission booth along with Tourism Vancouver, Tourism Whistler and other Canadian destinations. Tourism Victoria was able to connect with potential clients, even with a decrease in attendance -approximately 2,800 delegates (5,000 in 2008). This conference will be held in Vancouver in 2010, providing pre/post and other sponsorship opportunities to Victoria.

Kelly Pitt also recently attended Trailblazers in Toronto. The selected buyers at this unique educational marketplace are senior employees of North America’s most qualified incentive and meeting planning companies and have the ability to influence site selection with corporate clients. Tourism Victoria had 25 client appointments and met with 18 incentive buyers during this three day networking event. All 25 clients requested additional information on Victoria; five clients very interested in visiting Victoria on a Familiarization Tour or Site Inspection and one client has a possible lead for Victoria.

Tourism Industry – Jul 1, 2009

Wondering about the current state of the tourism industry? We’ve put together a few interesting links to help satisfy your curiosity. Follow the links for local and provincial information about the tourism industry.
 
Chemistry Consulting – Victoria Tourism Bulletin 
 
Tourism British Columbia – Provincial Tourism Indicators 
  
Stats Canada - latest tourism related release  
 
Canadian Tourism Commission – most recent CTC publications

Sales Update – Jun 3, 2009

The Sales Team has been busy, here’s a re-cap of what the Travel Trade and M&IT departments have been up to:

Travel Trade

Travel Trade Sales Managers, Doug Treleaven and Michelle Edington, and Director of Sales, Heather McGillivray attended Rendez-vous Canada 2009 in Calgary, Alberta.
 
Rendez-vous is Canada’s premier international tourism marketplace, bringing together international buyers and Canadian sellers in a series of scheduled appointments over a four day period. Tourism Victoria had pre-scheduled appointments with 100 international tour operators and Canadian Tourism Commission representatives. Due to the economic downturn 30% less buyers attended this year’s event, but the delegates in attendance were qualified buyers and there to do business. From one-on-one meetings with tour operators, Tourism Victoria develops a leads list to help generate business for our members. To access these leads please click here.

M&IT

On May 25, 2009 to May 29, Sales Manager, Kelly Pitt conducted a series of sales calls in Ottawa and Toronto, ON, meeting with representatives from organizations such as The Royal College of Physician and Surgeons of Canada, The Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada, Wynford Motivation Works, The Canadian Public Relations Society, Financial Planners Standards Council and the Canadian Education & Research Institute of Counseling.  The meeting planners were very optimistic about the future of their meetings and although most were staying close to home this year, many were looking at destinations further a field for their future meetings. Kelly will be following up with the clients that had openings and would consider Victoria for programs/conferences in 2011 and beyond.

For more information please contact Kelly Pitt.

Canada Specialist Programs – May 20, 2009

The Canadian Tourism Commission’s (CTC) objective is to educate travel agents to become a specialist on Canadian tourism products and regions and to motivate members to communicate and market their knowledge actively to their customers.
One tool to create a solid understanding of Canadian product is to provide Canada Specialist members with a first hand experience of the destination.  To optimize the Canada Specialist Program (CSP) and to enhance the knowledge of the Canada Specialists, the CTC invites you to provide CSP industry rates.
Possible Canada Specialist rates are reduced rates on: flights, accommodation, car rental, motor-home rental, attraction passes, discount booklets, city tours, activities etc. Anything that you can do to make this list more extensive would be much appreciated!   If you are interested in taking part in this and would like to offer CSP rates please contact Heather Oughtred, Familiarization Specialist, Travel Trade and she will forward you the information and instructions.

M&IT Spring ECO-FAM a Success! – May 6, 2009

On April 30th, 2009 Tourism Victoria’s Meeting and Incentive Travel Department welcomed nine Meeting Planners and two Canadian Tourism Commission representatives from Northern and Southern California for a three-day familiarization (FAM) trip. Thanks to the contribution of partners and suppliers, we were able to showcase Victoria and give our clients a taste of what our destination has to offer for meeting and incentive travel.

Click here to check out our photos of the FAM. Here’s just a small sample of the comments we’ve received:
 
“I just want to let you know that the Victoria Eco-FAM was, for me, a really fabulous trip. The scheduling was brilliant and everything felt smooth and well managed. I learned a tremendous amount and am eager to pitch Victoria as a future destination. Thank you so much for the opportunity to learn about your area in such an enjoyable way.”
 
“What an amazing fam, everyone did such a great job of incorporating the ECO and GREEN theme. But they don’t just talk about it…they practice it in earnest…really great to see (and taste!).”

Green Your Business Toolkit – Apr 22, 2009

The recently the Canadian Tourism Commission and Tourism Industry Association of Canada teamed up to create a Green You Business toolkit. We have featured it in previous editions of Tourism Victoria’s Membership Matters eNewsletter, but in honour of Earth Day, here it is again!

Click here for the toolkit developed to deliver practical steps you can begin implementing today to help promote sustainable tourism practices.

Tourism Industry – Apr 8, 2009

Wondering about the current state of the tourism industry? We’ve put together a few interesting links to help satisfy your curiosity.

Chemistry Consulting – Victoria Tourism Bulletin  A reference sheet comprising of key tourism statistics for Victoria, including: occupancy, room rates, airport, ferries and the conference centre.

Tourism British Columbia – Provincial Tourism Indicators A reference sheet comprising key tourism statistics, including: customs entries data, provincial and regional room revenue, US exchange rates, commercial restaurant receipts, provincial and regional occupancy and average daily room rates, visitor information centres, regional airports, ferries, and conference centres.

Stats Canada Stats Canada most recent tourism release - Characteristics of international travellers.

Canadian Tourism Commission A link to the CTC’s most recent publications, including: Canada’s International Travel Account Q2, June 2008 Tourism Snapshot and many more.

Travel Trade Leads – Apr 8, 2009

Recently, Travel Trade Sales Manager Michelle Edington attended Spotlight Canada in London, United Kingdom. Spotlight Canada marketplace is organized by the Canadian Tourism Commission and brings together Canadian suppliers and buyers from the United Kingdom and Scandinavia in a business exchange with a format of pre-scheduled appointments and networking events.  Michelle conducted meetings with 24 tour operators as well as 7 travel media representatives. Even though operators mentioned that business to Canada was down overall, Western Canada bookings looked better. 
 
From one-on-one meetings with tour operators, Tourism Victoria develops a leads list to help generate business for our members.
To access these leads please go to the Membership Resources section of the website under Tradeshow Leads. For more information please contact Michelle Edington.