May/June 2010
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North American Leisure
AMERICAS LEISURE TRAVEL UPDATE – MAY 2010 Now that we’ve turned the corner into warmer temperatures, people will start to think about there travel plans for the various long weekends and summer holidays. We have also noticed a marked change in our tour operator clients and their optimism for this summer. At the recent Rendez-vous Canada Marketplace in Winnipeg, tour operators report being up 20-40% in bookings thus far year to date over 2009. Great news! I will be working on updating the Edmonton info on Student and Youth Travel in preparation for the SYTA Marketplace at the end off August. If you have product that is suitable for the student/youth market and would like it to be included in the information distributed to the tour operators, please send your updates to Michelle Jameson at mjameson@edmonton.com before July 15, 2010. Another niche I am working on gathering Edmonton product for is Pet-Friendly Travel – this is one of the fast growing segments of FIT travel. If you have experiences/product that is pet-friendly, please forward to Michelle as well. Below is an update on what we’ve been working on since the last One Voice Newsletter; Anderson Vacations Travel Agent Appreciation Events, April 7-9 For a spring training initiative directed towards Ontario based travel agents, Edmonton Tourism along with other Alberta industry partners participated in the Anderson Vacations Agent Appreciation Nights in Toronto, Mississauga, Kingston and Ottawa. This was an ideal opportunity to promote Edmonton product and FIT itineraries to the eastern travel trade because Anderson Vacations is the tour operator carries an extensive variety of product for the Edmonton capital region. Edmonton Tourism participated in the training last year and based on that success, we felt it was important to continue the momentum that was created by other marketing and consumer trade show activities. Long Beach Grand Prix, April 16-18 Travel Alberta has a contractor, Hugh Wakeman, based in Southern California, his role is to work primarily on the Anaheim Ducks/Honda Centre Partnership but also to seek out opportunities to promote awareness of Alberta tourism product in the SoCal market. Edmonton Tourism has directly participated in several programs (i.e. Carl’s Jr. contesting) and other opportunities have been forwarded directly to our industry partners such as Northland’s and West Edmonton Mall. In late March, Hugh brought forward the opportunity to partner with AAA Southern California to a contest promotion to the Honda Indy Edmonton at the Long Beach Grand Prix in the AAA booth which could be found in the Lifestyle Expo at the event. This was an excellent opportunity for Edmonton Tourism on a variety of levels;
Christie Makowichuk from Edmonton Tourism travelled to Long Beach to be in the booth for the entire Lifestyle Expo during the Grand Prix. Hugh assisted with the set up of the booth and getting the Edmonton and Alberta literature shipments to the booth. For a portion of Friday and Sunday afternoon, AAA Travel Agents from the local Long Beach office assisted in the booth and help to sell travel to Alberta/Edmonton Indy to the race fans. Rendez-Vous Canada, May 8-12 RVC is the most important marketplace in the Leisure Travel calendar at Edmonton Tourism. International buyers from designated key markets travel to Canada to meet for one-on-one pre-scheduled appointments with suppliers that can be attractions, hotels and DMO’s. This year’s Marketplace was held in Winnipeg and Edmonton Tourism had strong representation at the show with a double booth on the marketplace floor and two sets of appointments. This particular marketplace was probably the best in the last five years with tour operators positive about this year’s bookings and open to new tourism product and ideas for future years. Edmonton will be the host city for Rendez-vous 2012! Takin’ Care of Business, May 11 In the past, Edmonton Tourism has partnered in with WEM and Fantasyland Hotel to sponsor the Takin Care of Business event on the Free Night at RVC. With Edmonton having been chosen to be the host destination for the 2012 Rendezvous Canada Marketplace, this event was a perfect transition to have Edmonton Tourism take over the event and incorporate some Festival City performers! The event already has the reputation of being known as the “Edmonton event”. In the two years leading up to 2012 we are looking for events to elevated the awareness of Edmonton and create some excitement about the Edmonton conference amongst the tour operator buyers. Souljah Fyah, a local Edmonton reggae band travelled to Winnipeg to open the event and was a hit with the crowd! It didn’t take long for the venue to fill with approximately 700 people, making it another huge success. Edmonton Tourism will look to continue the sponsorship in 2011 in Quebec City.
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