US and neighbor Canada looking to lure lucrative leisure travelers

Both the US and Canada finally have a national strategy for bringing in more tourists…finally, and “sort of” because of their newness and so far, at least, unproven efforts.

Canada announced its inaugural Federal Tourism Strategy this month, which was called a ”momentous and historic occasion for tourism development” in that country by Tony Pollard, president of the Hotel Association of Canada. He also called the organization’s founding “unprecedented.”

The move comes after years of meetings with tourism leaders.

“The strategy was developed to help position Canada's tourism sector for long-term growth and global competitiveness and focuses on improving coordination among the numerous federal partners that support the visitor economy,” writes Travel Press.

The strategy provides for government initiatives that will coordinate about 15 federal departments and agencies.

“It sets out some 30 initial measures in four priority areas: increasing awareness of Canada as a premier tourist destination, facilitating access and travel to Canada, encouraging the development of extraordinary tourism experiences, and fostering an adequate supply of skills and labor,” says Travel Press.

Various reports said Canadian travel leaders were in a buoyant mood over the development.

Meanwhile, the US, after joining most of the developed world in getting its first national tourism office, was taking baby steps towards selling North America to foreign tourists.

The Corporation for Travel Promotion (CTP) created last year by the federal government, hired a new CEO amid plans to detail its initial marketing campaign next month at the World Travel Market in London. The group is also expected to announce a brand for the US as a travel destination.

The goal is to stem the decline of America’s share of the international travel market.

Since 2000, the global travel market has grown by more than 60 million travelers, but 2.4 million fewer international travelers visited the US in 2009 than in 2000. That has cost the US economy an estimated 441,000 jobs over that period and $509 billion in total spending, according to research conducted for the US Travel Association by Oxford Economics.

"Every sector of the economy will benefit in the form of more heads in beds, more passengers on planes and trains, more international attendees at meetings and more customers at local businesses across the country," CTC chief executive Jim Evans said of his organization's anticipated marketing efforts.

Oxford Economics predicts that effective travel promotion could attract 1.6 million new international visitors to the US annually. It could also generate US$4 billion in additional international consumer spending.

"The CTP will be particularly beneficial to the vast array of destinations and businesses that can't afford to market themselves to international destinations," Evans adds.

The CTP is funded in part by $10 of a $14 fee the federal government collects from visitors originating from countries that participate in the US visa-waiver program. These visitors from participating countries do not need to obtain US visas before arriving here.

The CTP hopes to create an initial annual budget of $150 million with funds supplemented by the government.

"Marketing activities will include everything from a fully integrated global advertising campaign to marketing partnerships, participation at trade shows and on sales missions, promotion and incentive campaigns, social media strategies, and a robust public relations push," Evans said.

By David Wilkening