THE leader of Canada’s peak tourism authority is warning her country’s trade partners to be vigilant as an onslaught of big budget tourism campaigns from other nations, including Australia, vie for lucrative tourist dollars.
Canadian Tourism Commission ceo Michele McKenzie vented her apparent frustration at the tactics used by competing countries this month in the CTC’s ‘CEO Corner’.
In the column, McKenzie rips into Tourism Australia (TA) & the new tourism body for the United States, Brand USA, highlighting their use of social networking and competitions to draw attention.
“Watch out Canadians. America and Australia are coming for you,” McKenzie said in Fri’s update.
“When you least expect it they’ll show up in your home, at your office, online. They’ll tempt you with smart tweets and pretty Facebook pages, perhaps layering in the voice of an iconic singer, and an alluring contest,” she said.
Those comments refer to Brand USA’s use of Johnny Cash’s daughter for the theme song of its ad campaign (TD 24 Apr) and, it would appear, a competition used to promote Tourism Australia’s There’s Nothing Like Australia marketing campaign.
‘Canada should beware the invasion of the bodysnatchers’ was the title of McKenzie’s feature.
“I’m sorry to say, many of you may be absorbed in the process,” she told tourism partners.
“With the onset of new tourism campaigns from Brand USA and Tourism Australia, Canadians are being wooed with big money and great campaigns.”
McKenzie said the ads “may be shaking us up a bit” but the counterfactual was the promos were good for tourism.
“If you sell it, they will come; & if you don’t, they sure as heck might go elsewhere,” she warned.
A growing middle class and strong dollar saw the ‘bread and butter’ of Canada’s business – the domestic traveller – spending 36% more on travel beyond its borders now than three years ago.
“Canada scored a travel deficit of $16.3 billion in 2011. Ouch.”
The North American country was ranked 6th in terms of the world’s top tourism spenders by the World Tourism Organisation, behind Germany, the US, China, the United Kingdom and France.
“Our global competitors are well aware of this spending power and that’s why they’re coming for us,” McKenzie said.
She suggested Canada could do more “body-snatching” of its own “as long as we continue to leverage marketing dollars in lucrative markets, [by] promoting our brand through outstanding international programs.”
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