Jasper tourism operators came out in record numbers last Wednesday (Feb. 3) to listen to updated 2010 tourism marketing strategies by Travel Alberta at Jasper Park Lodge.

Travel Alberta CEO Bruce Okabe shared Travel Alberta’s China-Alberta marketing strategy with 56 Jasper area tourism operators while Travel Alberta vice-president of Marketing Jon Mamela discussed the province’s tourism marketing agency’s plan to get the fewer number of travelers to spend more while in Alberta, as well as the increase in flights to Alberta from the US.

Travel Alberta has seen a 19 per cent increase in flights from Los Angeles to Alberta, which is good news for Alberta tourism, however 30 per cent of overseas flights and air traffic from the US are still coming through Vancouver and Toronto.

“We’re concentrating a lot in terms of how we can get those people to stay a little longer and to experience Alberta while they are going through the gateways of those two cities,” said Okabe.

They are also concentrating on a couple of direct flights from the U.S. to Alberta, he said, including a direct flight from Houston to Edmonton. Okabe said they are actively discussing strategies with the Edmonton airport and Tourism Edmonton in terms of how to keep that plane full. He said it’s not a problem in the summer, but they need to find ways to keep it full throughout the winter.

Another international flight direct to Edmonton that will be starting again in the summer is the Frankfurt – Edmonton flight.

For long-term sustainability, Okabe said the key isn’t which city in Alberta travelers land in, but that they provide opportunities for a circle route.

“They land in Calgary, they make Edmonton part of their itinerary, they go to Jasper. So the strength comes not just in a direct flight going into a particular city, the strength of sustainable opportunity is to close the loop between the two cities and between the two cities and the two ski destinations whether it’s Banff or Jasper,” he said.

Travel Alberta is also continuing to put emphasis on their Stay campaign, encouraging the regional travelers to stay in Alberta for their vacation.

Mamela said they are moving into their third year of the campaign and that the ‘staycation’ trend is still up. The Stay campaign runs within Alberta, Saskatchewan and into Manitoba.

He said Jasper is promoted on two fronts. “Jasper is part of the Rocky Mountain experience altogether. It’s a valuable component,” he said. “And the Jasper experience happens with both the Canadian Tourism Campaign, as well as with what we’ve got, an Alberta specific campaign. So in international markets, Jasper has, with other areas, double exposure to participate in driving awareness and business to the Jasper experience.”

Of the revenue created through tourism in the region, 65 per cent of Western Canada is generated by the Western Canadian population – a collective between BC, Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba – while 35 per cent is international. Of that 65 per cent, 80 per cent is from Alberta, 11 per cent BC, and three per cent from both Manitoba and Saskatchewan.

Jasper was one of 21 stops throughout the province that Travel Alberta is making to promote their summer strategies and program. While stopping in Banff, Lake Louise, Fort McMurray, Red Deer and other cities, Travel Alberta spokesman Don Boynton said the engagement with the province’s tourism operators, like the ones in attendance on Wednesday, are hugely important to the economy of the province, because they are the ones selling tourism products, not Travel Alberta.

The Canadian Rockies is one of six regions in the province that Travel Alberta has divided up. It runs from north of Grand Cache to Canmore, and makes up for 25 per cent of the province’s total tourism revenue.