(Originally published in TOURISM)
The question is heard everywhere in this broad land of ours, and while some of our responses talk about a satisfactory – or better – season, confidence is not running high across the nation. Here is our opinion roundup from tourism industry stakeholders across Canada:
Dave Seabrook, manager at Fredericton Tourism, expresses it succinctly: “It has been a mixed bag this year. It certainly started slowly; we had poor weather. The gas prices and the exchange rate had an effect on some of our American business. (Obviously, the Americans still considering themselves at war was a factor, too.) July was poor; in August we saw some improvements, and September was very good.”
For Mélissa Corriveau, product director at Groupe Voyages Québec in Québec City, it has been another exceptional season for the third consecutive year. “All our forecasts have been reached. Because we focus on domestic motorcoach travel to Canada and the US, we did very well. We have witnessed a decline in maritime products (New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Magdelen Islands). However, our Newfoundland product remained popular. There was also increased demand for Ontario and US products because of the value of the dollar. As for Western Canada, we usually send 8 to 10 coaches, and we have maintained that.”
Corriveau says Groupe Voyages Québec has steered clear of some of the ailments that are affecting the industry: “9/11 hasn’t hurt us that badly. We target our customers well, and adapt as group markets evolve because we are seeing younger customers wanting themed, higher‑end products; we are just riding the wave.”
Strength in NL
Reached just as she was analyzing the tourism performance indicators for the Colony of Avalon south of St. John’s, Charlotte Jewczyk (manager of market development at tourism Newfoundland and Labrador) was equally optimistic: “Visitation is up 20% there, which is very good. Overall air travel volumes remain strong for the province. They are up 8%, and non‑resident air visitors for the first two quarters were estimated to be up by about 15% in Newfoundland and Labrador. This speaks mostly to the 'off‑the‑beaten‑track' exotic character. Our group travel from the US has not declined, where in other areas of Canada that has been more of a concern. We are experiencing smaller numbers but our growth patterns have been consistently building.”
Jewczyk finds that within the province, some pockets have done better than others – those that are reached through longer drive vacations. “Where there is more critical mass, the visitation and the hotels are really strong, partly because our meetings and conventions continue to grow. Indicators suggest the same trend will continue next year. Generally we have a cautiously positive feeling, knowing some of the challenges and what Canada is doing globally in that respect. We continue to build on our brand and we reinforce our unique offering; it is always a daunting challenge but we are reaping the rewards.”
At the Memramcook Learning and Vacation Resort in New Brunswick, general manager Susan LeBlanc‑Robichaud found solace in diversification. “We are open all year‑round. We have a complete health centre with massage therapists and beauticians. We have a language school under our roof, and we do weddings (over 70 this year). If we look at the tourism side, we have experienced a slight decrease over the last three years, and we are among the lucky ones. Many of us are facing potential closures.”
Her solution? Staying on top of the trends, “especially with what is happening in the US. With our resort, golf course and packages, we are somewhat sheltered, and in general our business is up. But with the campaign in Quebec aimed at getting Quebecers to stay at home, we have suffered a bit, as we’ve come to rely on Quebec and New England markets.”
At the Comfort Hotel Downtown in Toronto, sales coordinator Samantha Carefoot explains that business was sluggish in June and July with group cancellations, but they improved later on: “Once we got into the end of summer, it was absolutely amazing! It was more last minute than normal. My point of origin is mostly UK bookings and I have a large sector in the Mexican Market.”
The independent travel trend
For Celes Davar, president of Earth Rhythms in Onanole, Manitoba, it has been a good summer. “We are witnessing a trend toward people making their own travel arrangements. They are looking to put together things that are quite unique and different, travelling in small groups and finding ways to access information via internet, or through direct contact through travel distribution partners. It has been emerging for some time; we are witnessing this probably through the last two to three years.”
In Davar’s opinion, success hinges on being associated with the right travel distribution partners, wholesalers, hotels and resorts, “because you can start to cross‑sell together and make a much bigger offer of opportunities for people. I also think this notion of focusing solely on summertime is really inappropriate. Today, people travel for different reasons at different times of the year, to different places. We are really missing the bigger opportunity which is to look at how people travel from urban centres to rural locations at different times of the year. Therefore there needs to be a variety of packages, travel experiences and services offered. That is what Canada offers.”
On the agritourism side in British Columbia, Brent Warner, an industry and direct marketing specialist with the provincial government, experienced a real boom: “Our summer was huge. Our weather was absolutely unbelievable. It was of the longest summers I have ever seen. Therefore we had a lot of people out visiting and they were and going to farm events and farm stands. I don‘t think I have talked to an operator yet whose sales aren’t up by at least 30%. And it’s not over; October is one of our biggest months in agricultural tourism – fall events such as pumpkin festivals and apple events are shaping up to be fairly good.”
Jack Klassen of Victoire, Saskatchewan, owns and operates the Carlton Trail Guest Ranch. He knew this wouldn’t be an ordinary year: “It turned out to be a good summer, but a different summer; and we certainly had to retool and adjust to what was happening from a global picture. By late winter we recognized that German‑speaking Europe was simply not going to be attending in the numbers that we had previously. To fill that void, we decided to reach out into the Alberta market.”
Klassen says he targeted places like Cold Lake, Bonnyville, Lloydminster, “and that was very successful. Something that a lot of us overlooked was Germany hosting the World Cup of Soccer and that altered a lot of people’s travel plans. It is just an element we didn’t take into consideration and I don’t think tour operators took it into consideration either. When we discussed and analyzed the travel plans of Germans that did come, we noticed they came a lot later this year – in October! 100% of them told us the same story: travel plans were altered simply because of the World Cup."
Better than expected
From the RV rentals perspective, Bernie Lehman of Fraserway in Vancouver feels the summer was a little bit better than expected. “We expected a bit of a downturn compared to last year, simply because when our contract was made for 2006, the Canadian dollar was still weak, and as we went on, the Canadian dollar strengthened (compared to 2005), the World Cup of Soccer was staged in June in Europe (where our biggest market is), and we saw very high fuel prices. Despite these three major factors, we did quite well."
Lehman confides that Fraserway’s best performance was in Whitehorse. “Yukon and Alaska have worked very well. There are several factors: travellers to the north are less price‑sensitive; they are looking for the last frontier, and sometimes it is the trip of a lifetime for them. And from Europe, the good air access (two flights a week with Condor from Frankfurt to Whitehorse) certainly helped!”
On Vancouver Island, Sooke Harbour House’s, co‑owner Sinclair Philip was left a bit puzzled by performance at his and other comparable establishments; “It is kind of odd because we see so many different numbers from various people that don’t make sense when you talk to the individual business owners, and there is a lot of confusion about what is going on out there. This summer was weak. In 2003, we had an all‑time historic high, with 59% of our clientele from the US. In 2004, 55%; in 2005, 46%; and in 2006, 34% to date.
"I have talked to others at a property that is similar to ours but in a different part of the province. In 2003, they had been involved in an expansion; their American clientele was 49%. In 2004, it is 36%; in 2005, 32%; and in 2006, 30%. Other people in the industry (although publicly they are putting on a smile) are telling me they are experiencing very similar kinds of things.”
Despite not having increased his rates in three years, Philip experienced decreased volumes. “Last year we started running specials which were 20% lower than our normal rates and we have been doing that regularly since. One of the biggest changes, with fewer Americans coming, is that people not very long ago would ask you for 'your best room' for a birthday, an anniversary, a special occasion, and would frequently buy an expensive bottle of wine. Now they want the cheapest room (and that is partially because of the lack of American demand or demand in general) and they want a cheap bottle of wine!”
Despite a generally pretty decent summer – due in many cases as much to excellent weather as excellent markets – there seems to be a pervasive nervousness in Canada's tourism industry. As Sinclair Philip puts it, he believes the cumulative downturn of business over the last four years is starting to frighten some of the industry owners. “Last year, I had to speak on predicted changes over the next five years in culinary tourism and tourism in general in Canada and I thought ‘how am I going to do this?’ I don’t have a statistical or research team. I asked a number of people I knew in the tourism industry across Canada from New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and from practically every province. I phoned them and they told me across the board: ‘we are not making any changes at all. We are just battening down the hatches because we don’t know what to expect over the next 5 years.’ So we are not making any dramatic changes.”
The question is heard everywhere in this broad land of ours, and while some of our responses talk about a satisfactory – or better – season, confidence is not running high across the nation. Here is our opinion roundup from tourism industry stakeholders across Canada:
Dave Seabrook, manager at Fredericton Tourism, expresses it succinctly: “It has been a mixed bag this year. It certainly started slowly; we had poor weather. The gas prices and the exchange rate had an effect on some of our American business. (Obviously, the Americans still considering themselves at war was a factor, too.) July was poor; in August we saw some improvements, and September was very good.”
For Mélissa Corriveau, product director at Groupe Voyages Québec in Québec City, it has been another exceptional season for the third consecutive year. “All our forecasts have been reached. Because we focus on domestic motorcoach travel to Canada and the US, we did very well. We have witnessed a decline in maritime products (New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Magdelen Islands). However, our Newfoundland product remained popular. There was also increased demand for Ontario and US products because of the value of the dollar. As for Western Canada, we usually send 8 to 10 coaches, and we have maintained that.”
Corriveau says Groupe Voyages Québec has steered clear of some of the ailments that are affecting the industry: “9/11 hasn’t hurt us that badly. We target our customers well, and adapt as group markets evolve because we are seeing younger customers wanting themed, higher‑end products; we are just riding the wave.”
Strength in NL
Reached just as she was analyzing the tourism performance indicators for the Colony of Avalon south of St. John’s, Charlotte Jewczyk (manager of market development at tourism Newfoundland and Labrador) was equally optimistic: “Visitation is up 20% there, which is very good. Overall air travel volumes remain strong for the province. They are up 8%, and non‑resident air visitors for the first two quarters were estimated to be up by about 15% in Newfoundland and Labrador. This speaks mostly to the 'off‑the‑beaten‑track' exotic character. Our group travel from the US has not declined, where in other areas of Canada that has been more of a concern. We are experiencing smaller numbers but our growth patterns have been consistently building.”
Jewczyk finds that within the province, some pockets have done better than others – those that are reached through longer drive vacations. “Where there is more critical mass, the visitation and the hotels are really strong, partly because our meetings and conventions continue to grow. Indicators suggest the same trend will continue next year. Generally we have a cautiously positive feeling, knowing some of the challenges and what Canada is doing globally in that respect. We continue to build on our brand and we reinforce our unique offering; it is always a daunting challenge but we are reaping the rewards.”
At the Memramcook Learning and Vacation Resort in New Brunswick, general manager Susan LeBlanc‑Robichaud found solace in diversification. “We are open all year‑round. We have a complete health centre with massage therapists and beauticians. We have a language school under our roof, and we do weddings (over 70 this year). If we look at the tourism side, we have experienced a slight decrease over the last three years, and we are among the lucky ones. Many of us are facing potential closures.”
Her solution? Staying on top of the trends, “especially with what is happening in the US. With our resort, golf course and packages, we are somewhat sheltered, and in general our business is up. But with the campaign in Quebec aimed at getting Quebecers to stay at home, we have suffered a bit, as we’ve come to rely on Quebec and New England markets.”
At the Comfort Hotel Downtown in Toronto, sales coordinator Samantha Carefoot explains that business was sluggish in June and July with group cancellations, but they improved later on: “Once we got into the end of summer, it was absolutely amazing! It was more last minute than normal. My point of origin is mostly UK bookings and I have a large sector in the Mexican Market.”
The independent travel trend
For Celes Davar, president of Earth Rhythms in Onanole, Manitoba, it has been a good summer. “We are witnessing a trend toward people making their own travel arrangements. They are looking to put together things that are quite unique and different, travelling in small groups and finding ways to access information via internet, or through direct contact through travel distribution partners. It has been emerging for some time; we are witnessing this probably through the last two to three years.”
In Davar’s opinion, success hinges on being associated with the right travel distribution partners, wholesalers, hotels and resorts, “because you can start to cross‑sell together and make a much bigger offer of opportunities for people. I also think this notion of focusing solely on summertime is really inappropriate. Today, people travel for different reasons at different times of the year, to different places. We are really missing the bigger opportunity which is to look at how people travel from urban centres to rural locations at different times of the year. Therefore there needs to be a variety of packages, travel experiences and services offered. That is what Canada offers.”
On the agritourism side in British Columbia, Brent Warner, an industry and direct marketing specialist with the provincial government, experienced a real boom: “Our summer was huge. Our weather was absolutely unbelievable. It was of the longest summers I have ever seen. Therefore we had a lot of people out visiting and they were and going to farm events and farm stands. I don‘t think I have talked to an operator yet whose sales aren’t up by at least 30%. And it’s not over; October is one of our biggest months in agricultural tourism – fall events such as pumpkin festivals and apple events are shaping up to be fairly good.”
Jack Klassen of Victoire, Saskatchewan, owns and operates the Carlton Trail Guest Ranch. He knew this wouldn’t be an ordinary year: “It turned out to be a good summer, but a different summer; and we certainly had to retool and adjust to what was happening from a global picture. By late winter we recognized that German‑speaking Europe was simply not going to be attending in the numbers that we had previously. To fill that void, we decided to reach out into the Alberta market.”
Klassen says he targeted places like Cold Lake, Bonnyville, Lloydminster, “and that was very successful. Something that a lot of us overlooked was Germany hosting the World Cup of Soccer and that altered a lot of people’s travel plans. It is just an element we didn’t take into consideration and I don’t think tour operators took it into consideration either. When we discussed and analyzed the travel plans of Germans that did come, we noticed they came a lot later this year – in October! 100% of them told us the same story: travel plans were altered simply because of the World Cup."
Better than expected
From the RV rentals perspective, Bernie Lehman of Fraserway in Vancouver feels the summer was a little bit better than expected. “We expected a bit of a downturn compared to last year, simply because when our contract was made for 2006, the Canadian dollar was still weak, and as we went on, the Canadian dollar strengthened (compared to 2005), the World Cup of Soccer was staged in June in Europe (where our biggest market is), and we saw very high fuel prices. Despite these three major factors, we did quite well."
Lehman confides that Fraserway’s best performance was in Whitehorse. “Yukon and Alaska have worked very well. There are several factors: travellers to the north are less price‑sensitive; they are looking for the last frontier, and sometimes it is the trip of a lifetime for them. And from Europe, the good air access (two flights a week with Condor from Frankfurt to Whitehorse) certainly helped!”
On Vancouver Island, Sooke Harbour House’s, co‑owner Sinclair Philip was left a bit puzzled by performance at his and other comparable establishments; “It is kind of odd because we see so many different numbers from various people that don’t make sense when you talk to the individual business owners, and there is a lot of confusion about what is going on out there. This summer was weak. In 2003, we had an all‑time historic high, with 59% of our clientele from the US. In 2004, 55%; in 2005, 46%; and in 2006, 34% to date.
"I have talked to others at a property that is similar to ours but in a different part of the province. In 2003, they had been involved in an expansion; their American clientele was 49%. In 2004, it is 36%; in 2005, 32%; and in 2006, 30%. Other people in the industry (although publicly they are putting on a smile) are telling me they are experiencing very similar kinds of things.”
Despite not having increased his rates in three years, Philip experienced decreased volumes. “Last year we started running specials which were 20% lower than our normal rates and we have been doing that regularly since. One of the biggest changes, with fewer Americans coming, is that people not very long ago would ask you for 'your best room' for a birthday, an anniversary, a special occasion, and would frequently buy an expensive bottle of wine. Now they want the cheapest room (and that is partially because of the lack of American demand or demand in general) and they want a cheap bottle of wine!”
Despite a generally pretty decent summer – due in many cases as much to excellent weather as excellent markets – there seems to be a pervasive nervousness in Canada's tourism industry. As Sinclair Philip puts it, he believes the cumulative downturn of business over the last four years is starting to frighten some of the industry owners. “Last year, I had to speak on predicted changes over the next five years in culinary tourism and tourism in general in Canada and I thought ‘how am I going to do this?’ I don’t have a statistical or research team. I asked a number of people I knew in the tourism industry across Canada from New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and from practically every province. I phoned them and they told me across the board: ‘we are not making any changes at all. We are just battening down the hatches because we don’t know what to expect over the next 5 years.’ So we are not making any dramatic changes.”
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