In the News

The recovery in world travel that began in the final months of 2003 appears to be accelerating and there is cautious optimism within the international tourism industry that better days are ahead.

In Canada, those better days will arrive only when U.S. travellers can be lured back across the border.

In 2003, Americans made 35.5 million trips to Canada and spent $9-billion while in the country at sites ranging from the Klondike fields of the Yukon to Toronto's theatre district, according to Statistics Canada. That was 12.3 per cent less than they spent in 2002.

That downward trend will have to be reversed if the Canadian Tourism Commission's forecast of overall tourism revenue growth of 4.6 per cent a year through 2007 is to be realized.

To that end, public and private sector groups in the business of selling Canada as a destination are in the process of consultation and research aimed at "rebranding" the country in its most important foreign markets.

"Unfortunately, many of Canada's international markets, particularly the U.S., are still harbouring concerns in respect to the SARS. . .," noted a report by the Conference Board of Canada published this year by the tourism commission.

"At present, it remains unclear how long it may take to repair the damage to Canada's brand image."

Many in the business think it's time to develop a new image, not buff up the old one.

Organizations such as Tourism Toronto believe Canada's marketing approach internationally should be expanded beyond "moose, mountains and Mounties" to include the entertainment and multicultural experiences that can be found in large urban centres.

The Canadian Tourism Commission, a Crown corporation charged with marketing Canada as a desirable destination in partnership with the private tourism sector, agrees that the country's image needs a facelift.

"The brand of Canada is fading in almost all our markets," said Jean B. Chrétien, the commission's new senior vice-president of sales and marketing. "We're not projecting an image that's exciting enough. We have a great product, but we're not presenting it the right way."

For years the prominent slogan on Canada's tourism-marketing literature and the CTC's travel website has been "Discover our true nature." Although the word "nature" was meant to be a "double-entendre," Chrétien said, it was the result of a "very timid planning exercise in 2000" that didn't quite capture the gist of a more complete and inclusive vision statement developed three years earlier.

Chrétien, a former executive at Tourism Montreal who came to the CTC in March and works with new CTC president and chief executive officer Michele McKenzie, recruited from the Nova Scotia Department of Tourism and Culture, has a certain amount of sympathy for tourism officials in large urban centres who feel left out by marketing campaigns that stress Canada's great outdoors.

"But we cannot forget what we are," he said "and nature is one of our great assets. We have customers for both nature and our urban attractions. What we have to do is come up with a marketing plan that each type of tourism product can unite around -- something that captures the essence of our nation."

As far as the Tourism Industry Association of Canada is concerned, successful marketing of Canada will also need an injection of more money.

According to Randy Williams, TIAC's president and chief executive officer, Canada's mounting tourism deficit is largely the result of "woefully inadequate" public investment in marketing.

"Canada is facing fierce competition in international tourism markets and risks being left behind. In fact, some U.S. cities have larger tourism budgets than Canada."

Williams says the CTC currently receives $83-million in core funding from the federal government. But, he says, $5-million of the federal share has been clawed back in each of the past two fiscal years. TIAC wants the commission's core funding maintained, and a $25-million increase in its annual marketing budget - an amount he says will be fully matched by industry partners.

"Tourism marketing is an investment, not an expense," Williams said, pointing out that the industry employs 1.4 million people and generates $15.3-billion in tax revenue, with the federal share estimated to be $7.5-billion.

Williams claims tourism-marketing funding yields an excellent return on investment.

He cited the CTC's 2003 summer campaign in the United States, which he said generated $96.7-million in revenue on a one-time investment of $4.2-million, and its 2003 Canadian summer and fall "I Can" campaign, which generated revenue of $147.8-million on an investment of $3.1-million.