Canada, which, while still one of the top destinations outside the United States for Americans, is aiming to boost the numbers of U.S. tourists going north. As the U.S. has tightened security along the border, the number of tourists visiting the land of mountains, Mounties and midnight sun has dwindled. The new effort, via DDB Toronto for the Canadian Tourism Commission (CTC), focuses on Canada as a place offering such a plethora of cultures, topography, and urban and wilderness activities that one can personalize one's exploration there. The campaign, in fact, uses the tagline "Keep Exploring." The effort suggests that in Canada one can swim with Beluga whales in Manitoba; take a spa treatment via helicopter ride to a five-star outpost; indulge in epicurean delights in Vancouver or Quebec, or canoe the Yukon River with Inuits, touting our northern neighbor as a "hands-on experience." Ads began running recently in magazines, newspapers, commuter rail stations and fitness centers in so-called feeder markets like Boston, New York and Los Angeles. Greg Klassen, vice president/marketing for the Vancouver-based CTC, says that although the campaign launched this year, the tagline is a little over a year old. "We have been marketing in the U.S. for 75 years, mostly focusing on southern Canada as a tourist destination," he says. Klassen adds that although worldwide, the tourism industry is one of the fastest-growing, Canada's share is getting smaller. "Our share has been declining over the last couple of years, and that's a concern." U.S. citizens produce the largest share by far of Canada's tourism revenue. "This is the world's largest undefended border, and there are a lot of people who used to come to Canada for lunch, and that access is no longer as easy as it used to be," says Klassen. He says U.S. citizens constitute 58% of Canada's tourism revenue and 70% of the total number of visits to the country; the U.K. is number two, and Japan, though its numbers are declining, is also a source of tourism dollars. Klassen says another issue is the sheer volume of tourism marketing messages aimed at Americans. "U.S. citizens are prolific travelers, and they are choosing other destinations instead of coming here. And on the flip side, more and more Americans are hunkering down and staying home. So you have adventure travelers at one end and people traveling only domestically on the other." He says the campaign highlights what he calls a perception among U.S. citizens that Canada is naturally prolific, with a vast wilderness. "They are saying Canada is like the U.S. used to be 25 years ago--unspoiled--so they like the idea of coming to a place that has natural environment but also with sophisticated cities. What we need to do is give them ideas behind a plethora of things to see and do. In the past, we have under-promised and over-delivered."
Tourism is off to a slow start for 2007, while gas prices are soaring. That has the vacation industry nervous about summer--and they're hoping Floridians will opt to stay close to home. Facing record gas prices and a looming hurricane season, Florida's tourism industry hopes to tamp down Floridians' wanderlust this summer and encourage them to vacation in the Sunshine State. With the 2007 tourism season already off to a slow start, the state's tourism boosters worry that storm jitters and high fuel costs will discourage Americans from taking extended trips to Florida. But they see Floridians as much more receptive to Florida getaways: They'll be less susceptible to hurricane-season paranoia and face fewer fill-ups on the way to vacation. This summer people "are going to go on vacation, but they're going to stay close to home," said Dale Brill, marketing chief for Visit Florida, the state's tourism agency. "That's one of the reasons we're looking at our own Florida market." The tax-funded agency is spending $1.2 million on an in-state television campaign this summer centered on the theme "Passions in Your Own Backyard." Now in its second year, the Floridian vacation campaign is paired with a Web site, floridians.visitflorida.com, that lets users plot Florida trips by the number of hours they want to drive within the state. Two statistics offered a discouraging picture for tourism promoters. Visit Florida said overnight visitors statewide dropped 0.9% in the first quarter over 2006. The visitor numbers gave 2007 its slowest start for tourism since 2004, when a record spate of hurricanes wreaked havoc with Florida's tourism industry. Also, retail gas prices last week jumped to a new record: $3.19 a gallon nationwide, up 30 cents from a year ago. In South Florida, Miami-Dade stations also posted a new record of $3.15 for a gallon of regular unleaded, up 27 cents from a year ago. Broward stations hadn't yet matched the $3.06 high-water mark posted in August 2006, with the average gallon of gas costing $3.04 last weekend, according to AAA's daily fuel report. It's not clear how much gas prices will really affect travel. A recent survey by AAA predicted a 1.4% increase in travel this summer nationwide, with only 11% of those polled saying they plan to curtail vacations because of gas prices. Still, gas prices are expected to peak in August, after dropping off slightly through July, according to analysis by the Energy Information Administration. Almost all of Miami-Dade County's 2.5% tourism growth last year came from the 32% gain in visitors driving to the destination. Gas prices are "a concern for us all," says Rolando Aedo, head of marketing for the Greater Miami tourism bureau. The Greater Miami Convention & Visitors Bureau has tripled its efforts to reach Florida vacationers by running ads in more than 30 newspapers statewide in the coming months. The Broward tourism bureau boosted its summer advertising budget by about 10% and will continue the "Summer of Discovery" campaign it launched last year to target Florida vacationers. Nicki Grossman, Broward's tourism chief, compares the effort to a post-9/11 campaign to combat flying fears by encouraging more vacationers to drive to the Fort Lauderdale area. "This time, some of our traditional drive traffic may hesitate," she said. "If they do, we want to make sure the people who are closer--who can get here on a tank of gas--will have a reason to come."
While it's too soon to say how many summer travelers will come because of its "Pure Michigan" ad campaign, Travel Michigan says the effort has had a big impact on traffic to its Web site. In April, Michigan ranked first of 50 states in terms of Internet hits for tourism, says George Zimmermann, the group's vice president. The campaign, which broke last year in Chicago, Cleveland and Indianapolis, has been expanded to include Cincinnati, Milwaukee and Ontario, as well as Michigan. Out-of-state spending is $8.7 million, while the Michigan media buy is $1.5 million. Reaching out to more surrounding areas is part of an evolving marketing strategy, Zimmermann says. Historically, Michigan residents have been the state's biggest travel fans. But, faced with economic struggles linked to the auto industry, there's been an increasing awareness that Michigan needs to attract tourists from neighboring states--all of which have their own lovely lakes and fairways to tempt tourists. "Back in the salad days, Michigan counted on most of its tourism from in-state travelers," says Zimmermann. "But as the local economy weakened, people have become more and more aware that reaching out to surrounding states for tourism is important." Last year, visitors spent $17.5 billion, generating $971 million in state taxes, and accounting for 193,000 jobs statewide. About 70% of that revenue came from in-state visitors. In fact, Zimmermann says the campaign has produced a steady stream of e-mails from former and current residents, saying the spots "make me feel proud to be from Michigan." That tradition of enjoying Michigan's natural beauty, whether it's the pristine Upper Peninsula, Mackinaw Island, inland lakes or Lake Michigan beaches, "is a tremendous asset." The ads promote the state's golf, lake, hiking and beach vacations, and are narrated by Michigan native and television personality Tim Allen. All carry the tagline, "Pure Michigan--Your trip begins at michigan.org." New executions will soon feature urban destinations. So far, Zimmermann says, the ads are generating interest. Following the launch of the ad promoting Michigan golf vacations, for example, Michigan ranked No. 1 out of 50 states in web visits in April, according to Hitwise. But, thanks to skyrocketing gas prices, it's hard to predict how many will actually book a trip. Because Michigan boasts more fresh-water coastline than any other state, leisure boating is typically a big draw, as is RV travel, and both will be out of reach of many families this year. "We'll definitely see downward pressure on those types of trips," he says. Even with the best creative, he says, it's tough to predict "how many travelers we'll gain because of gas prices, and how many we might lose. We'll have to wait and see what kind of return on investment we've gotten at the end of the summer, in terms of hotel occupancy rates." In tourism, Zimmermann says, "there are some things you can control, like great branding. This work, from McCann-Erickson, is the best creative I've ever been associated with. But with other things-like gas prices and the weather-you just have to take your chances."
One of the little luxuries of staying in a hotel--the late-night snack from the hotel mini-bar--has proven to be a major point of contention between hotels and their guests, with 25% of travelers surveyed by TripAdvisor reporting disputes with hotels over a mini-bar charge. TripAdvisor surveyed 1,600 travelers worldwide on their thoughts and experiences with hotel mini-bars and fridges, finding that the biggest issue travelers had with their in-room iceboxes is price. Ninety-four percent of all travelers surveyed said they would be more inclined to patronize their mini-bars if prices were more reasonable; 33% said they steered clear of the mini-bar altogether. "Travelers are scared of hotel mini-bars because of sky-high prices," says Michele Perry, director of communications for TripAdvisor, in a release. "By lowering prices and double-checking bill charges, hotels could provide a mini-bar service that travelers would embrace." Fifty-one percent of survey respondents said convenience was the primary reason for using the mini-bar. Forty-five percent of travelers reported paying two to three times more than normal for a can of soda from the mini-bar. Avoiding the mini-bar would certainly reduce a traveler's risk of getting into a dispute with the hotel over an incorrect mini-bar charge. Thirty-four percent of travelers surveyed said they felt they had been inaccurately charged for something in the mini-bar or fridge. Sixteen percent of survey respondents reported being billed for moving the contents of the mini-bar around, or for adding contents to the mini-bar. In most cases, guests use the mini-bar as fridge to cool their own snacks, but 20% of guests will eat something from the mini-bar and then go out and buy a cheaper replacement from somewhere else. The survey found that men were more likely (25%) to replace an item to avoid a charge than women (17%). When indulging a snack attack, travelers' favorite choice are nuts, selected by 17% of survey respondents, followed by chocolate bars, Peanut M&Ms, Pringles and Toblerone bars. Fifty-two percent of respondents chose bottled water to drink from the mini-bar, followed by soda, beer, wine and liquor. Travelers said they would like to see healthier snack options available, including fruit and sandwiches. They said they'd like to see less of more trendy items, like energy drinks and bottled oxygen, and old staples like beef jerky.
Wondering why all that Memorial Day bunting cheered you up over the weekend? Retailers know--a new study from Unity Marketing says that, for many Americans, seasonal decorations are a kind of budget Prozac. The typical U.S. household spent just under $20 buying seasonal and holiday decorations last year and trotting them out at the appropriate time seems to be a soothing bit of ritual--whether it's Fourth of July flags or Christmas lawn ornaments. "Decorations are a perfect example of things we buy that we don't need, yet we desire them because they add immeasurably to our enjoyment of holiday and family celebrations," writes Pam Danziger, president of Unity and author of Shopping: Why We Love It and How Retailers Can Create the Ultimate Customer Experience. "Since boosting our mood is their primary function, decorations are really a low-cost, non-prescription alternative to anti-depressants." While Christmas accounts for the largest share of the total decorations market, some 48% overall, the fastest-growing holidays for decorating the home are:
"Sal Con Los Solecitos," a Univision 41 (WXTV) campaign to get young children off their seats and out of the house this summer kicked off Memorial Day weekend with a public appearance by sportscaster Salvador (Sal) Cruz and Los Solecitos, the yellow-costumed children's music quartet, at the Unisphere in Queens on Friday. "Sal Con Los Solecitos" is Spanish both for "Go out with the Solecitos" and "Sal with the Solecitos." Sal Cruz, sportscaster for weekend news programs on Univision 41, is host of the series of weekly Friday public get-togethers with Los Solecitos, which will run through the Labor Day weekend. Los Solecitos, developed by Univision 41 as animated characters based on the quarter, have been a staple for three years. Each morning, animated Solecitos wake up children in a station break. Each evening, Los Solecitos tell children that it is time to go to bed with a musical message. Throughout the day Los Solecitos encourage kids to exercise with animated "exercise moments" set to music. The station says it realized the popularity of Los Solecitos when it was flooded with calls complaining that the program had been pre-empted due to special programming. Parents said their young children would not go to bed without the musical sendoff, says Univision41. Soon after their debut on WXTV, the station began to get requests from the public for appearances by the yellow-costumed quartet. As many as 2,000 children have shown up for appearances by Los Solecitos on behalf of WXTV. For decades, English-speaking New York TV viewers have been treated to the phrase, "It's 10 p.m. Do you know where your children are?" Now, Spanish-speaking viewers have their own TV tradition.
While travelers will face peak season pricing this summer, year-over-year increases are not expected to be as dramatic as 2006, when airfares alone rose about 10%, according to Expedia.com's quarterly "Expedia Travel Trendwatch." In addition, despite rising airline ticket prices, 60% of U.S. adults plan to fly as much this summer as they did last summer. The same survey reveals that 86% of U.S. adults who plan to vacation this summer are somewhat to very likely to consider an "off-the-beaten-path" destination. Finally, busy work schedules may be pushing employed adults to consider mixing business and leisure travel. Key travel trends and tips reported in the current issue include: It's getting crowded out there, but prices are holding firm. Despite some of the nation's largest airlines experiencing record loads this spring, year-over-year increases are not expected to be as dramatic as in 2006, when airfares alone rose 10%. Popular destinations like New York City, Hawaii, Washington, D.C., Boston, Orlando and Vancouver are seeing ticket price reductions of 4 to 7%, likely due to capacity increases. On the flip side, Miami, New Orleans and Toronto are seeing increases of 5 to 8%, likely due to increased demand. Internationally, Paris, Amsterdam and Athens are trending higher, with increases of 5% to 10%. High-volume hubs like London and Frankfurt are seeing decreases of 11% and 9%, respectively, as airlines have lowered fares to make these locations more attractive given the unfavorable exchange rate for American travelers. Travelers are heading off the beaten path to beat peak-season crowds. According to an Expedia.com survey, 86% of U.S. adults who plan to vacation this summer are somewhat to very likely to consider an off-the-beaten-path destination, and 10% of all summer vacationers are already planning to travel to one. Business travel is not just for business anymore. The same survey found that 83% of business travelers(4) would be somewhat to very likely to extend a business trip by a few days for leisure purposes. In fact, 27% said they would be very likely to do so. In addition, 57% said they plan to invite a friend or family member to join them on a future business trip.