The federal government is changing its longstanding practice of largely leaving it up to provincial tourism marketing organizations to market the country to Americans, federal Tourism Minister Maxime Bernier told a Vancouver audience April 1.
“The Canadian Tourism Commission (CTC) will reinvest in the U.S. market after a lot of consultation with the industry,” Bernier said at the Vancouver Convention Centre. “We know the importance of investing in the U.S.”
He later explained that the strong U.S. dollar also played a role in the decision.
Incrementally over the past half-decade, budget cuts have pushed the CTC to largely drop the U.S. as a focus and instead target international markets outside North America with marketing dollars. Its rationale was that provincial tourism marketing organizations, such as Destination BC, were better equipped to target their specific region of Canada.
The strategy shift comes as the CTC adjusts to having a new CEO, David Goldstein.
Bernier also used his press conference to reveal a batch of bullish tourism statistics for 2014.
Total revenue generated by the sector, for example, rose to about $88.5 billion.
The rise can be partly pinned to the CTC’s previous international marketing focus given that overnight trips from overseas markets increased by more than 9% year-over-year in 2014.
“This industry is largely outpacing Canada’s own gross domestic product (GDP),” Bernier said.
“If I were an entrepreneur, I would invest in Canada’s tourism industry.”
Canadawide, year-over-year visitor growth was:
•28.8% from China;
•19.3% from India; and
•14.8% from Japan.
B.C. Tourism Minister Naomi Yamamoto hailed the federal tourism policy shift.
Her numbers for overseas visitors to B.C. in 2014 were similar to the federal numbers.
For example, year-over-year visitor growth to B.C. was:
•26.2% from China;
•20.7% from India;
•12.2% from Japan; and
•3% from the U.S.
“We’re very pleased that the CTC will be reinvesting in the U.S. market,” Yamamoto said.
“The 3% [rise in visitation from the U.S.] doesn’t sound like a lot compared to the other percentages but, look at the numbers. That 3% is 100,000 more visitors who came to B.C. last year versus the year before.”
The 26.2% rise in Chinese visitors only contributed half of that number, she added.
“I tell people who are from the U.S. and considering coming to Canada, ‘You can spend four days here and get the fifth day free [because of the Canadian dollar being worth US$0.80].’”
