Jasper Tourism and Commerce elects new executive

There was unsettling news about Canada’s largest tourist market for the 60 members of  Jasper Tourism and Commerce who turned out for the annual general meeting Tuesday and elected a new executive slate.

Bert Journault’s successor as president, Todd Noble was acclaimed, as were vice-president Steven Waters, executive secretary Gloria Keyes Brady and Vanessa Hugie, executive treasurer. 

“We’re in really challenging times,” guest speaker Paul Nursey of the Canadian Tourism Commission, said as he provided an overview of Canada’s place in the global tourism market, and the  countries where the CTC focuses its marketing efforts.

Canada’s share of the international market is being eroded by the rising fuel prices, diminishing airline capacity, and inexpensive or exotic destinations like Vietnam and the Antarctic, and the perception that this is an expensive place to visit, Nursey said.

“We need to change perceptions about Canada,” said Nursey, who cited surveys that show travelers see the country as geography, not a destination, and don’t think of it as a place for fine dining or cultural experiences.

“It is not a ‘now’ destination; it is seen as safe, a place people can visit when they are old,” he said.

“We need to bring people into the picture, and show that this is a country with vibrant cities at the edge of nature, where there are opportunities for personal travel by rail, road and water,” he said.

Water, especially is gaining greater importance with environmentally-conscious travelers. “Green is important, and blue will be the new green.”

Canada’s position in the United States, traditionally this country’s strongest  market, “is really bad – it’s challenging and deteriorating,” Nursey said, citing the focus on the presidential race, and deteriorating economic conditions.

In some hard-hit areas of the U.S., Nursey said travel marketers are promoting “staycations, telling people to take a holiday at home. Those who can afford to travel are looking at more exotic destinations. The business that was there 10 years ago might not come back.”

Canada also faces a challenge Japan, another traditionally strong market, where travelers are turning away from the exhausting and heavily packaged seven-day endurance tours that rush them across the country.

The United Kingdom continues to perform well; France is improving, along with South Korea, and Australia; Germany is stable and Canada’s share of the Mexican market is spreading from the wealthy travelers who abandon new ski equipment in their hotel rooms, to the growing middle class.

The Chinese market shows strong improvement, but will not grow greatly until Canada receives the favoured nation status which is denied every time the country shelters another political dissident, Nursey said.