ITB Report. Prepared by Dana Schoahs AtBC Travel Trade Marketing Date: March 20, 2012

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1 ITB Report Prepared by Dana Schoahs AtBC Travel Trade Marketing Date: March 20, 2012 Overview of ITB Berlin Under the leadership of the Canadian Tourism Commission (CTC), 48 Canadian sellers attended ITB Berlin, the world's largest tourism trade show. The show provides an excellent opportunity to promote diverse Canadian experiences and destinations to the German and European travel trade, travel media and consumers. To learn more about the show, visit ITB Facts ITB is the world s leading travel trade show with more than 108,000 trade visitors and over 10,000 exhibitors from 180 countries The show first took place in 1966 In the exhibition area, trade visitors as well as public visitors have the chance to explore the international travel industry's entire product spectrum The structure of the exhibition halls is divided into geographic aspects as well as into current market segments This year, the Canada booth had 48 exhibitors, more than in previous years Show Schedule Trade Visitors: March 10:00 a.m. 6:00 p.m. Trade Visitors and General Public: March 10:00 a.m. 6:00 p.m. Page 1

2 AtBC s Role at ITB AtBC attended ITB in Berlin, Germany from March 7 to 11, 2012 to promote Aboriginal tourism and its Stakeholders products and experiences. This was AtBC s first attendance at ITB. During the tradeshow, AtBC conducted scheduled meetings with the German and European travel trade including tour operators, travel agents and travel media partners. In addition to the scheduled meetings, AtBC provided promotional materials to invite them to explore more on AtBC s website. AtBC s Objectives for ITB Conduct successful meetings with the travel trade that generate leads and interest for Stakeholders products and experiences Increase web traffic to AtBC s website from the German / European markets Increase subscribers to AtBC s e-newsletter from the German / European markets Tactics Pre-scheduled meetings with important travel trade partners; conducted meetings Provided a cultural, First Nations experience that allowed visitors to get a glimpse of what we have to offer in BC provided by George Taylor (AtBC Board Director) Provided brochures and USB drives with Stakeholders information and images Developed and printed postcards in German and distributed them to the travel trade and consumers to encourage e-news subscribers and website visits to our German landing page for a review of the postcard, please see attached PDF. Developed landing page in German George Taylor performs at a Client Event, hosted by SK Touristik - a German Tour Operator. Page 2

3 German Market Updates Germany continues to be the economic powerhouse of the European Union Germans continue to be the World Travel Champions 316,000 arrivals from Germany to Canada in 2011, which is a decrease of 4.9% from 2010 Outlook for summer 2012 is moderately optimistic at this stage Germans have spent 60.7 billion Euros for travel to foreign countries in 2011 There are 2,500 Tour Operators and 10,400 Travel Agencies in Germany Research Online, Purchase Offline share of bookings through travel agencies will likely decrease from 73% in 2009 to 57% in % of all German Facebook users are fans of a brand; 15% follow more than 20 fan pages More than 21,000 are fans of Canada Keep Exploring (CTC brand) 16% of all travel decisions are influenced by social media Tourism websites are the main influencers with 56% Online vs. Offline: despite the internet / social media hype travel agents continue to survive for the upcoming summer season, offline bookings are growing faster (16%) than online bookings (14%) An evening networking event hosted by the Calgary Stampede. Page 3

4 Summary of Meetings AtBC was represented by Dana Schoahs (Travel Trade Marketing) and George Taylor (AtBC Board Director). George s role was to provide an authentic component for people to experience Aboriginal culture firsthand. George was dressed in his regalia and engaged with our meeting partners through story-telling, drumming and singing. George s presence, talents and easy-going personality was key to the success of AtBC s participation at ITB. In addition Dana Schoahs leveraged her relationships and knowledge of the international travel trade partners as well as her specific connections to the German travel trade. ITB was a great success for AtBC and enabled us to put our organization and Stakeholders on the map with the larger Receptive Tour Operators and German / European Tour Operators. AtBC conducted 47 meetings over 3 days with qualified travel trade partners. Please review the attached excel sheet for detailed meeting notes. The interest for Aboriginal tourism experiences from the German market and other European markets is high and there seems to be a romanticized awareness that doesn t exist in other markets. Germans are fascinated by First Nations culture largely due to a series of novels, written in the 1800's featuring characters named Winnetou and Old Shatterhand. The novels were written by Karl May (a German author) and focus on the friendship between an Indian (Winnetou) and a British soldier (Old Shatterhand). The perception about First Nations culture in North America was formed for many Europeans predominantly Germans, Austrians and Dutch - through the stories of Winnetou. For more information go to: Some tour operators, albeit small, specialize in First Nations culture and solely promote this type of experience to their clients (for details, please see attached meeting report). Group Tour Operators are especially interested in Aboriginal experiences. Some Group Tour Operators mentioned that their clients feedback after the tours requests for more First Nations inclusions along the route. Some Tour Operators have agreed to distribute our remaining German postcards to their clientele to spark interest in booking a cultural experience while travelling through BC. Page 4

5 Highlights 1. Receptive Tour Operators Most major Receptive Tour Operators were present at the Canada Booth including: o Discover Holidays o JAC Travel o Canadian Travel Partners o Brewster o Rocky Mountaineer o Canadian Tours International. The popularity of our booth was obvious and all Receptives (listed above) noticed the interest in Aboriginal experiences by the German/European markets. This obvious interest and demand for Aboriginal experiences by Europeans sparked additional interest from the Receptives. We conducted meetings with the Receptives at the show and agreed to meet prior to their 2013 product planning in order to assist them with their itineraries and where to best include First Nations products. 2. Group Tour Operators We met with a few specialized, high-end tour operators (e.g. Windrose, Airtours and Studiosus) whose interest is to connect their clients with local cultures and people. The products our Stakeholders offer are a great fit for these Group Tour Operators. Rocky Mountaineer, for example, will be inviting some of these specialized German Group Tour Operators on a familiarization (fam) tour in September 2012 and will be working with AtBC to include experiences during their fam discoveries. Page 5

6 3. Canada Reception The Canadian Tourism Commission hosted over 450 ITB delegates at a Canada Reception close to the Brandenburg Gate. The Reception involved a fashion show in partnership with Korhani Home to present the Canadian Collection, creatively influenced by Canada s landscape, culture and people. George Taylor was dressed in regalia at the reception and was officially recognized during the opening speech by Mr. Limberg from the CTC. Next Steps ITB was a great success for AtBC and enabled us to put our organization and Stakeholders on the map with the larger Receptive Tour Operators and German / European Tour Operators. We recommend participating again next year to continue AtBC s commitment to this market. Following 2013, AtBC should participate every other year. Dana Schoahs will complete her meeting follow-ups with all partners, as well as schedule meetings with the Receptive Tour Operators for early May. Page 6