In an effort to bring the province’s tourism industry up to $10.3 billion by 2020, Travel Alberta is turning its sights to the digital world and the international traveller.
In a presentation at the Fairmont Jasper Park Lodge, June 17, Travel Alberta’s Cameron Spence spoke to local tourism operators about the marketing organization’s strategy for the next three years.
“The future of destination tourism marketing is really digital,” he told the crowd of about 20 people. “Customers are absorbing information through digital channels and you need to make sure you have a lot of content available to them.
“We’re very lucky because the Alberta tourism experience is very robust; there’s a lot of stories, there’s a lot of images, there’s a lot of excitement. So, our team grabs and shares that content around.”
Cameron suggested that local businesses and organizations engage with Travel Alberta through the hashtag #explorealberta, in order to gain from the organization’s large social media presence.
By doing that, said Cameron, Travel Alberta is able to aggregate photos and content, promoting all of Alberta’s destinations and attractions.
As well as focusing on its digital output, the organization is also looking to the international market.
“I feel like I’m preaching to the converted when I talk about this,” said Cameron with a smile, “because ... the Canadian Rockies depends on getting back those international travellers and that higher spend per trip, compared to the domestic travellers.”
According to Cameron, regional travellers represent 86 per cent of the province’s visitation and 65 per cent of tourism revenue.
International travellers, on the other hand, represent four per cent of visitation and more than 17 per cent of revenue.
The province needs that kind of big spending, he said. But there’s a challenge that comes along with marketing to the international market—you have to have products on the ground and ready for purchase.
To ensure those products are available to international travellers, Travel Alberta is working to increase the number of tour operators who offer adventures in Alberta.
Cameron noted that only five per cent of the journies offered by Jonview Canada, a leading Canadian receptive tour company, take place in Alberta, compared to 52 per cent in British Columbia.
“So the objective is to increase the number of tourism products that we have within the Jonview system and also within other receptive tour operators,” said Cameron.
“In the long term what we really need to do as an industry together is [to figure out] how we get more authentic experiences on the shelves with traditional travel distribution systems, tour operators and receptive tour operators. That’s really a priority for us moving into this year and next year and beyond.”
Travel Alberta’s goals for the next few years are all outlined in Alberta’s Tourism Framework—a document that outlines how the organization plans to collaborate with Alberta Tourism, Parks and Recreation and other government ministries in order to reach its target of $10.3 billion by 2020.
That target is a 32 per cent increase from $7.8 billion in 2013.
Nicole Veerman
[email protected]
