destination report Q1 2014
table of contents industry news... 3 marketing & communications... 5 digital... 7 visitcalgary.com dashboard... 9 travel trade... 11 public relations... 12 corporate communications... 13 sports & events... 14 convention sales... 15 industry relations & visitor services... 17 industry relations... 17 industry events... 18 partnership opportunities... 19 event hosting... 19 visitor services... 19 ii Q1 2014 Destination Report
highlights our mission: Inspire more people to visit Calgary for memorable experiences. our business objective: To work with our community to grow tourism revenues to $2.3 billion by 2020. We will lead with a bold Calgary brand and leverage the tourism marketing investments of the entire industry. performance measurements Room nights generated Sports and Major Events Online Travel Agencies Joint Marketing Agreements 2013 Actual 2014 Target 44,044 29,270 17,054 50,000 45,000 20,000 YTD Mar 31, 2014 8,886 n/a n/a Total incremental rooms nights generated 90,368 115,000 8,886 Number of events booked 50 47 10 Partner Referrals from website from visitor information centres 165,394 35,773 215,000 36,000 35,527 4,652 Total referrals to industry 201,167 251,000 40,179 Revenue generated for collaborative marketing support $719,363* $650,000 $269,267 Industry satisfaction 80%** 85% Q2 2014 * includes $389,000 for a flood relief campaign ** last measured in 2012 Industry News With a projected 20% growth in hotel rooms in Calgary by 2016 and room supply already up 3.4% in Q1 2014 compared to 2013, occupancy is no longer the best indicator of hotel volume. Tracking room supply and rooms sold will better reflect the changes this sector is experiencing. Rooms sold fell 1.1% overall in the first quarter, with every quadrant except the Northeast feeling the decline. Year-over-year average daily room rates continued to rise, except in the Northeast where rates held steady with last year in support of the growth in rooms sold. More than 14.3 million passengers passed through Calgary International Airport in 2013, up 4.9% from 2013 as a result of increased domestic and U.S. traffic. 2014 is off to a strong start, with Q1 domestic passenger traffic up 7.5%, transborder (U.S.) traffic up 8.9% and international traffic up 7.4%. Marketing & Communications The focus for the first quarter of 2014 was developing regional and national marketing programs that will be in market during Q2 and Q3. These activities centered on developing a new creative platform, new brand assets and engaging content. The goal of all these integrated activities (advertising, public relations, digital, trade) is to drive visitors to Calgary. Digital From January to the end of March, more than 35,527 referrals were sent from visitcalgary.com to partner websites, an increase of 11% compared to the same time last year. While there were no significant marketing campaigns during Q1, web traffic grew by 21% over last year. Mobile visitation continues to grow at a consistent rate, now accounting for almost 41% of all visitation, up from 30% in Q1 2013. Sports & Events In Q1, 10 leads were converted definite resulting in 8,886 room nights contracted. At the global SportAccord 2014 Conference, Calgary won Best Small Sports City globally and was the world s fifth ranked Ultimate Sports City. The Calgary Sport Tourism Authority (CSTA) was recognized as the 2014 Sport Tourism Organization of the Year at the Canadian Sport Tourism Alliance Prestige Awards held April 2, 2014 in Edmonton. tourismcalgary 1
Industry Relations Tourism Calgary welcomed 18 new members in the first quarter of 2014. On February 11-13 as well as February 18-20 Tourism Calgary organized and conducted 450 Calgary White Hat Award interviews in 20 different categories. Industry Events Q1 2014 Date Event Attendance Jan 28 Co-op Marketing Program Presentations 26 (Tourism Calgary Boardroom) Jan 30 Tourism Calgary Annual Open House 300 (Calgary Zoo Safari Lodge) March 6 Member Orientation Meeting 14 (Tourism Calgary Boardroom) March 27 Explorer Quotient, presented by Travel Alberta (1 of 3 Workshop Series; Tourism Calgary Boardroom) 22 Upcoming Events 2014 Member Orientation Meeting Date: May 8, 2014 Location: Tourism Calgary Boardroom 52 nd Annual Calgary White Hat Awards presented by Sysco Date: May 14, 2014 Location: Southern Alberta Jubilee Auditorium Workshop: Partnering, Packaging & Programming (presented by Travel Alberta) Date: May 22, 2014 Location: Tourism Calgary Boardroom 2 Q1 2014 Destination Report
industry news Hotel Performance STR The end of 2013 marked the start of a new era in Calgary s accommodation sector. The Northeast quadrant began absorbing the increase in capacity from the September opening of the Radisson Hotel & Conference Centre Calgary Airport East and the Acclaim Hotel Calgary Airport expansion, followed by the December opening of the Hampton Inn by Hilton Calgary Airport. With a projected 20% growth in hotel rooms in Calgary by 2016, occupancy is no longer the best indicator of hotel volume. Room supply is up 3.4% over 2013 and several more hotels are set to open later this year. Tracking room supply and rooms sold will help illuminate the changes this sector is experiencing. Rooms sold fell 1.1% in the first quarter, with every quadrant except the Northeast feeling the decline. The resilience of the Northeast quadrant can be attributed, in part, to the stable room rate and new product. Calgary Overall JAN FEB Average 2014 %Change 2014 %Change 2014 %Change 2014 %Change Difference Occupancy Rate 57.9% -3.7% 63.6% -5.2% 67.2% -4.2% 62.9% -4.4% -2.8 Rooms Sold 220,202-0.4% 218,503-1.9% 255,786-0.9% 694,491-1.1% -7,456 Room Supply 380,463 3.4% 343,644 3.4% 380,463 3.4% 1,104,570 3.4% 36,810 Daily Room Rate $156.23 0.8% $160.71 1.8% $159.43 4.2% $158.82 2.3% $3.61 RevPAR $90.42-2.9% $102.19-3.5% $106.20-1.1% $99.54-2.4% -$2.49 MAR YEAR-TO-DATE Downtown Occupancy Rate 60.8% 1.9% 64.2% -6.1% 65.5% -4.2% 63.5% -2.9% -1.9 Rooms Sold 73,292 3.6% 69,828-4.6% 78,925-2.7% 222,045-1.3% -2,962 Daily Room Rate $210.72-0.6% $223.99 3.3% $222.43 9.1% $219.05 4.0% $8.38 RevPAR $128.17 1.3% $143.71-3.0% $145.69 4.5% $139.04 1.0% $1.34 Northeast Occupancy Rate 60.2% -7.8% 66.1% -6.1% 69.9% -5.4% 65.4% -6.4% -4.4 Rooms Sold 82,638 0.2% 81,899 2.1% 95,891 2.9% 260,428 1.8% 4,505 Daily Room Rate $132.79 0.1% $134.72 0.7% $134.30 0.1% $133.96 0.3% $0.44 RevPAR $79.98-7.7% $89.03-5.5% $93.86-5.2% $87.58-6.1% -$5.69 Northwest Occupancy Rate 55.8% -3.7% 64.2% -5.1% 70.8% -4.7% 63.6% -4.5% -3.0 Rooms Sold 23,619-3.7% 24,558-5.2% 29,967-4.7% 78,144-4.6% -3,750 Daily Room Rate $113.48 6.6% $117.57 9.1% $121.66 7.2% $117.90 7.6% $8.33 RevPAR $63.30 2.7% $75.49 3.6% $86.10 2.2% $74.94 2.8% $2.01 South Occupancy Rate 48.0% -6.9% 56.0% -2.5% 58.1% -8.4% 54.0% -6.1% -3.5 Rooms Sold 38,580-7.2% 40,694-2.7% 46,695-8.7% 125,969-6.4% -8,561 Daily Room Rate $128.44 3.6% $129.29 3.7% $127.36 1.9% $128.32 3.0% $3.73 RevPAR $61.62-3.6% $72.44 1.2% $73.96-6.7% $69.24-3.3% -$2.36 % change compared to previous year at the same time; Difference shows the raw change in value (in percentage points or dollars). Source: Smith Travel Research, Inc. Republication or other re-use of this data without the express written permission of STR is strictly prohibited. Calgary Airport Authority Passenger Statistics More than 14.3 million passengers passed through Calgary International Airport in 2013, a 4.9% increase over 2012. This record number of passengers means YYC is now Canada s third largest airport, surpassing Montreal s 14.1 million passengers. Domestic passenger traffic through YYC increased by 5%, transborder (U.S.) traffic was up 7%, while international traffic was down a marginal 0.7% in 2013. In Q1 2014, domestic passenger traffic was up 7.5%, transborder (U.S.) traffic was up 8.9% and international traffic was up 7.4%. For details, see the chart on the following page. tourismcalgary 3
Calgary Airport Authority Passenger Statistics by Sector 4 Q1 2014 Destination Report
marketing & communications The first quarter of 2014 saw the building of both Q2 regional and national integrated marketing campaigns, the development of a content marketing plan and the creation of new brand assets. Highlights of the first quarter include: Spring/Summer Campaigns a new national advertising program and the annual regional summer co-op campaign were developed Content Marketing Plan two photo shoots for new brand assets took place and a content marketing plan was developed to strengthen Tourism Calgary s position and influence in the path to purchase Event Strategy SEM and digital campaign in development to support the event strategy, along with collaboration with event partners to motivate regional travel #CaptureCalgary we gathered and shared more than 5,000 user-generated photos of Calgary during a three-month period. Regional Summer Co-op Campaign Entering into its fourth year, the development of the regional summer co-op campaign primarily takes place in the first quarter. Designed to create urgency and drive traffic to Calgary from June to August by building on the key observations and research results from previous years, the 2014 campaign features a new creative platform (RIGHT HERE see below) and enhanced media mix featuring additional digital media that more strongly align with the regional traveller s path to purchase. This campaign will continue to target Free Spirits and Cultural Explorers in our regional markets of Edmonton, Regina and Saskatoon. Tourism Calgary has received partnership confirmation from 11 industry members (attractions, hotels, festivals and a farmer s market) to execute a fully integrated marketing program. The regional summer coop campaign will leverage multiple mediums (TV, public relations, events/ promotions, digital, and social media). Partners: Travel Alberta, Calgary Hotel Association, Calgary Stampede, Calaway Park, Calgary Tower, Calgary Zoo, Sheraton Cavalier Calgary Hotel, GlobalFest, the NE Quadrant, and Millarville Farmer s Market, and the TELUS Spark RIGHT HERE Creative Platform In 2013, creative testing research indicated last year s Known/Unknown platform had limitations in terms of its flexibility and scalability. As such, in collaboration with Tourism Calgary s marketing agency of record, Venture Communications, we sought to develop a new creative platform that was simple, authentic, powerful and scalable. It also needed to have longevity in order to build recognition equity in our key markets. At its core, the RIGHT HERE concept draws on the strong emotional motivation for travel that is universal among consumers. The concept and corresponding creative leads with the promise of unforgettable moments that can be experienced in Calgary. It was developed with the purpose of broadening regional and national audience perceptions of Calgary, while creating an emotional hook to create urgency to visit Calgary now. Sample RIGHT HERE copy: You never know where they ll find you the perfect moments you ll never forget. From early days on the river to late nights downtown, Calgary will show you that right here is exactly where you need to be. tourismcalgary 5
The RIGHT HERE campaign uses an open-ended framework to reveal potential travel moments through Calgary imagery. These moments are emotional, surprising and compelling, and strive to show the longlasting impact from visiting the city. RIGHT HERE Creative Platform Testing Tourism Calgary conducted ad testing April 14-16 within the key regional markets (Edmonton, Regina and Saskatoon) for the RIGHT HERE creative platform. Results will help strengthen the message, image selection and calls to action to ensure the campaign resonates as strongly as possible with the regional audiences and identifies the types of experiences, moments, and messages that will create the greatest sense of urgency for travellers to book a trip to Calgary now. Event Marketing Strategy Launched for the first time in 2013, the event strategy in 2014 will profile major events held in Calgary. Using this cluster of significant events, Tourism Calgary will seek to drive weekend visitation by profiling the vibrancy and excitement of a weekend in the city. The event strategy is supported by research suggesting that, alongside visiting family and friends, weekend getaway trips for travellers are typically triggered by events (concerts, performances, festivals, etc.). The strategy seeks to combat the misperception that Calgary has nothing new to offer while also fighting the traveller s potential belief that it will always be there and I can go anytime. The goal of the event strategy is simple: create a sense of urgency by giving travellers in the regional markets a reason to come to Calgary now. Execution of the event strategy was initiated in the first quarter in collaboration with our event partners outlining Tourism Calgary-owned channel support and asset acquisition. The development of a regional marketing campaign heavily emphasizing SEM and digital advertising will follow in the second quarter. Some of the events that will be promoted in Q2: Calgary Comic and Entertainment Expo, Cavalia Odysseo, Olympic Celebration of Excellence, Scotiabank Marathon, Spruce Meadows (North American, Masters), Sled Island, Calgary Stampede. Content Marketing Plan As a priority identified in the 2014 strategic planning sessions, Tourism Calgary launched the content marketing plan in the first quarter of this fiscal year. As part of the content marketing plan, a team of freelance writers have been contracted to generate timely, engaging and relevant consumer-facing content on an on-going basis. This group was selected based on their expertise and knowledge of Calgary, digital and social media presence, and professional writing style. Content Strategy Research To inform the implementation of a consumer-facing content strategy in 2014, Tourism Calgary conducted research with travellers in our key regional markets. The objectives of this research were to: Clarify what regional travellers are looking for in a getaway or short trip specifically, what are the motivations and benefits of these trips and how does Calgary compare to other regional destinations in delivering on these benefits; and Better understand the path to purchase for regional travellers and uncover the critical moments along this path. In February 2014, two focus groups were conducted in each of the following regional markets Edmonton, Red Deer, Regina and Saskatoon. The results from this research are informing our content strategy, in particular how content (video, posts, stories) and distribution (social media, visitcalgary.com, external travel websites) can influence visitors urgency to travel to Calgary. Collaboration with Canmore-Kananaskis Tourism At the start of this year, Tourism Calgary began actively working with Tourism Canmore-Kananaskis to achieve common goals through strategic alignment. These included leveraging the relationship between the DMOs to drive incremental business to each DMO s respective partners and target needs periods for each location. 6 Q1 2014 Destination Report
The proximity of Canmore-Kananaskis to Calgary naturally aligns with Tourism Calgary s basecamp to adventure positioning. While the contrasting environments (cosmopolitan vibrant city vs. small town nestled in the Rockies) lend themselves to complementary experiences for travellers. To capitalize on this, a content marketing approach was identified that would see shared stories developed around which itineraries could be built. The first of which was launched to leverage the 2014 Olympic buzz. The Road to Gold positioned Calgary s Canada Olympic Park and the Canmore Nordic Centre as natural bookends to an accomplished trail of sporting excellence. Consumers were then invited through each DMO s digital channels (website, social media). Toronto Initiative In 2014, Tourism Calgary will be broadening its markets nationally, expanding our focus to include attention on the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) through a major Toronto initiative in Q2. These activities align with our major partner s strategic plans such as Calgary Stampede, Travel Alberta, Banff Lake Louise Tourism, Alberta Culinary Tourism Alliance, Calgary Hotel Association and Heritage Park. Tourism Calgary and its partners have collaboratively created an integrated marketing and PR initiative targeting key media, Free Spirits and Cultural Explorers in the Toronto area. This four-staged marketing and PR initiative is intended to position Calgary as a must see vibrant city that is the ultimate basecamp to adventure. This initiative will begin to establish annual programs directed at the Toronto area with the long-term goal of building upon these programs, each year, over the next three years. This Toronto initiative is designed to: Drive awareness, spark interest and broaden Torontonians perception of Calgary Increase summer visitation and overall tourism revenues by attracting visitors from Toronto Create a pilot program that will establish a foundation for future national initiatives and campaigns in Toronto The initiative will take place in Toronto May 14 to 18. The components are: 1. Media and influencer dinner event 2. Media stunt and Toronto media tours 3. Toronto Harbourfront consumer event 4. Consumer follow-up campaign More detail and results of the Toronto initiative will be provided in the Q2 report. digital visitcalgary.com continues steady growth The first quarter of 2014 started strong with website visitation up 21% and page views up 11% from the same period in 2013. This growth can be considered particularly positive considering there were no significant marketing campaigns in market during Q1. Coupled with this, there was a 38% increase in organic traffic bringing it up to almost 70% of total site traffic which is a very healthy percentage. Mobile Growing at a consistent rate, mobile traffic continued to remain high at 41% for the first quarter, an overall increase of 11 percentage points from Q1 in 2013. Use of the mobile site in-destination (in Calgary) grew by 139% over 2013 geographically accounting for 55% of all mobile traffic. Website Referrals From January to March, visitcalgary.com referred 35,527 visitors to partner websites, an 11% increase over the first quarter of 2013. tourismcalgary 7
JackRabbit Booking Engine JackRabbit, is an online booking solution for destination and travel websites. Tourism Calgary has begun the process of removing the current online booking engine, Meridian Reservation Systems, and anticipates the implementation of JackRabbit in May 2014. Consumers will be able to use the JackRabbit search engine widget embedded on visitcalgary.com to search for attraction tickets, nightly accommodation, and hotel packages using dates and categories. Products and pricing will then be displayed on a search results page and consumers will have the option of filtering results. Once a product is chosen, the consumer will be redirected to the attraction or hotel partner s own website for final purchase and fulfillment. This online booking solution will help to increase direct leads for Tourism Calgary s partners. ecommerce Despite the increases in visitation, business performance was affected in Q1 by the transition towards an alternative ecommerce solution (JackRabbit) that is referral based in functionality. In Q1, overall sales decreased 28%, however this can be attributed to an intentional phasing out of the current booking system and background development to implement the new solution. Search Search engines were the main traffic source for the quarter at nearly 80% of all visits, the majority of which is a healthy volume of organic traffic supplemented by paid search. In terms of SEM, in the first quarter, the greatest number of searches by consumers were general tourism/visit Calgary research inquiries. However, the greatest quantity of traffic was generated by people looking for things to do in Calgary. Through review of the previous year s search campaign, there have been adjustments made to optimize the paid search marketing campaigns to better leverage budgets and capitalize on optimal and relevant key word phrases, while narrowing focus on target regions that strongly align with the overall strategic marketing plan. In addition, ad word segments have been aligned to the content plan. Social Media Tourism Calgary saw 12.5% growth in its social media channels throughout the first quarter of 2014. This amounts to a total reach of 83,000 followers on all channels, growing from Q4 by more than 3,000 followers. The highest audience growth was on Twitter at 2,886 followers. Engagement Total engagement from Q1 was 34K. The most engaged audience was on Instagram with 648% engagement growth over 2013 Q4. Throughout the quarter, 68.5% of Tourism Calgary s audience across all social platforms engaged with branded content. Facebook is the most engaged channel weekly at 10.5% audience engagement with Instagram close behind at 9.3%. #CaptureCalgary Tourism Calgary has continued to build on the success of the brand hashtag #CaptureCalgary. With this initiative, we have gathered and shared more than 5,000 user-generated photos of Calgary during a three-month period. This doubled since Q4 (which was at roughly 2,500 usergenerated images). This campaign is still very successful and something that we are continuing to build on. 8 Q1 2014 Destination Report
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travel trade In the first quarter, travel trade attended two key travel trade shows: Corroboree in Australia and NTA in Los Angeles. Activities focused on providing product knowledge and information to key tour operators and travel agents for 2014 and 2015. In summary: Attended 2 trade shows and marketplaces Hosted 4 product development trips Hired a Trade/PR Coordinator Hired a Travel Trade Manager Trade Shows Corroboree, Australia February 1-14, 2014 967 agents attended the five Corroboree events 2 Media events in Melbourne and Sydney with 100 media attending 25 appointments with Australian tour operators at the B2B appointment session Hosted 160 agents with Travel Alberta and the Calgary Stampede at the Australian Outback Spectacular show Completed training and meetings with the following companies: Infinity Holidays, Destination Canada/Jetset Norwood, APT/Travelmarvel, Holidays on Location, Seven Oceans Cruising, Infinity Rail & Cruise, Driveaway Holidays, Adventure World NTA & West Coast Sales Mission with Travel Alberta February 16-22, 2014 Attended NTA in Los Angeles completing 31 appointments with tour operators and completed a sales trip with Travel Alberta and the other DMO s from Feb 19-21, 2014. Completed training and had a meeting with Destination America, Classic Vacations, YMT and Premier World Holidays. Travel Alberta also hosted two travel agent events with the DMOs completing training with 95 agents. The group also hosted Destination America, Travelstore and Travel Impressions for an event. Campaigns or Joint Marketing Agreements during 2014 Anderson Vacations: Canada & U.S. DerTour: Germany Canadian Affair: UK Destination Canada: Australia Canada & Alaska Vacations: Australia Product Development Trips Tourism Calgary hosted four Product Development Trips (PDTs) in Q1 consisting of 48 people. Tourism Calgary received 90% in-kind support from our partners. Thank you to the following partners who supported these PDTs: The Fairmont Palliser, International Hotel Suites Calgary, Calgary Stampede, Calgary Zoo, Heritage Park Historical Village, WinSport s Canada Olympic Park, Canada s Sports Hall of Fame, Calgary Tower, CrossIron Mills and Glenbow Museum. Nanhu/Sichuan Winter Trade PDT - January 14-21, 2014 (13 Participants) CSP Winter Wonderland Korean PDT - February 6-11, 2014 (12 Participants) UK Northern Lights PDT February 21, 2014 (10 Participants) AU Infinity Holidays Winter Wonderland PDT March 21-28, 2014 (13 Participants) tourismcalgary 11
public relations Media Equivalent Value: $2,072,308 Media Impressions: 181,780,852 Tourism Calgary generated more than $2 million in media value through public relation efforts in the first quarter of 2014. Articles in the New York Times, The Guardian and Chicago Tribune contributed to the majority of value. Media Coverage The following are just a few examples of the articles focusing on Calgary as a tourism destination that ran in publications around the world from January to March 2014. Chicago Tribune (National Music Centre) Chicago Tribune Seattle Times New York Times The Guardian The Telegraph The Advertiser The SFGate JetSet Magazine Explore Magazine EnRoute Magazine Impact Magazine Jim Byers Travel Skift Online Exclaim Up! Magazine Globe and Mail Media Hosting Tourism Calgary hosted the Bachelor Canada crew in February as they came into Calgary for show auditions. Thanks to Delta Bow Valley, Market, National on 10 th and Booker s Crab Shack for supporting this broadcast crew. To support Heritage Park s 50 th Anniversary, we partnered with Heritage Park to host national media for a special park sneak peek in March. Media included: Westworld Magazine, Verge Magazine, Canadian Health & Lifestyle, Cottage Daze and Canada s History Magazine. Thank you to our great partners for their support: Heritage Park, Hotel Blackfoot, Raw Bar by Duncan Ly at Hotel Arts, National Music Centre, National on 10 th, Ambassador Limousine and Glenbow Museum. Canada s Media Marketplace Tourism Calgary attended Canada s Media Marketplace in San Francisco (March 31-April 2) to engage and pitch story ideas to various travel media journalists, editors and bloggers. More than 350 U.S.-based media outlets, editors and journalists along with industry partners were in attendance. Tourism Calgary had a full media appointment schedule of 25 for Canada s Media Marketplace. 12 Q1 2014 Destination Report
corporate communications The first quarter of 2014 was highlighted by remarkable results in international rankings for Calgary as a cosmopolitan tourism destination and world-class sport hosting city. Negotiations continued to progress between the Calgary Hotel Association and Tourism Calgary, and we are now very close to reaching an open-ended agreement that will benefit the entire Calgary tourism community. From a January 13 media release: Calgary ranking high globally as a place to visit in 2014 The New York Times, The Guardian and Vacay.ca recognize Calgary as one of the best places to visit in the world and Canada for 2014. Long known as a great place to do business and live, Calgary and Alberta have recently been recognized as one of the best places in the world to visit in 2014 by The New York Times, the United Kingdom s The Guardian and Vacay.ca, one of Canada s leading online travel resources. Traditionally recognized for the Calgary Stampede and proximity to the Rocky Mountains, Calgary is gaining recognition as a culinary, cultural and cosmopolitan destination. These lists serve as reminders and ringing endorsements from prestigious international publications that Calgary is a world-class vacation destination, said Tourism Calgary CEO, Cindy Ady. The New York Times, January 10 (online) and January 12, 2014 (print): 52 Places to Go in 2014 & How We Chose Our List of Places to Go in 2014 The travel feature appeared in The New York Times Sunday edition, which has a circulation of more than 2.3 million. At #17 Calgary is the only Canadian destination on the 2014 list and was described as an Oil boom town gets its cultural legs with reference to the city s public art, architecture and highlighting One Yellow Rabbit Performance Theatre as a beloved cultural institution. The Guardian, January 3, 2014: Holiday hotspots: where to go in 2014 One of the U.K. s leading newspapers, The Guardian, listed Alberta at #9 on their list and mentioned Calgary as the anchor city for a trip to the province, For city life try Calgary, which has gone from cowboy town to cosmopolitan cool. Vacay.ca, January 1, 2014: 20 Best Places to Travel in Canada: 2014 Beakerhead joins the Calgary Stampede to boost Calgary to #11 on this list showing our diversity of unique festivals. The article also noted Calgary s first Relais & Chateaux property, Kensington Riverside Inn, and that the city s culinary scene is one of the best in the country. Q1 Business in Calgary articles: 10 Reasons to be Excited About Tourism in Calgary in 2014 It s time to treat tourism like a spark plug Calgary s Path to Ultimate Sports City tourismcalgary 13
sports & events 2014 Best Small Sports City and #5 Ultimate Sports City Globally Belek, Turkey, April 10, 2014 At the global SportAccord Conference, a gathering of over 1,700 top executives from the sport event industry, Calgary took the Ultimate Sports City nominations by storm and was announced as the world s fifth ranked Ultimate Sports City by SportBusiness International on the event s final day. Calgary also won Best Small Sports City globally on the internationally recognized and the longest established rankings of the world s top sports hosts. The rankings have been released every two years since 2006. London retained the top spot overall. SportBusiness Ultimate Sports Cities Head Judge Rachael Church-Sanders said: "As well as finishing in fifth place overall in the 2014 SportBusiness Ultimate Sports City rankings in its first ever appearance, and winning best Small City globally, Canada's Calgary upstaged its more illustrious counterparts after the 1988 Winter Olympics host was nominated by virtue of high ranking scores in 10 categories in the Awards. The Canadian city swept the board through achieving high rankings for the categories in areas such as Hosting, Event Strategy, Security, Public Sports Interest/Tourism and Legacy. Calgary is a truly exceptional sports city that puts sport at the heart of its very being. Not only home to several world class annual sports events with considerable historic worth such as the Calgary Stampede and Spruce Meadows, and in addition to an evolving and dynamic Calgary Sports and Entertainment Corporation, Calgary has worked hard to ensure it has a robust calendar of both sports and cultural events that sit under a progressive major events umbrella, the Calgary Sport Tourism Authority. This a city that has benefited from, and strongly embraced an Olympic legacy and continues to factor legacy into all its forward planning." Calgary Sport Tourism Authority Recognized as 2014 Sport Tourism Organization of the Year Edmonton, Canada, March 26, 2014 The Calgary Sport Tourism Authority (CSTA) was recognized as the 2014 Sport Tourism Organization of the Year at the Canadian Sport Tourism Alliance Prestige Awards held April 2, 2014 in Edmonton. A Canadian model of best-practice, the CSTA is a collaboration of community leaders in sport, business, government and tourism who are mandated to provide advice, due diligence and strategic direction in evaluating and attracting major and non-major sport event opportunities to Calgary. Established in 2005, the CSTA is fully committed to developing Calgary into a globally-recognized premier host city for events and the preferred sport destination in Canada. Since 2007, the CSTA and Tourism Calgary have supported, led or endorsed bids for more than 250 national and international events, said Marco De Iaco, Tourism Calgary Vice President of Sales, Sport and Major Events. This award recognizes the many strengths of Calgary s sport community our local champions, sport organizations, volunteers and venue partners without whom we couldn t attract events and produce such significant social, grassroots sport and economic activity. 14 Q1 2014 Destination Report
convention sales Q1 Bookings Report as reported in the MCC 2014 Q1 Report The Bookings Report provides a summary of new leads, by quarter, along with quarter and full-year-todate (FYTD) comparisons with the previous year. The Bookings Report shows the new leads brought into the system in the quarter and the status of each new lead at quarter s end. Source: Meetings + Conventions Calgary, 2014 Q1 Report Total Leads: During Q1 2014, MCC forwarded 44 leads representing 35,258 potential room nights compared to 45 leads representing 63,867 potential room nights in Q1 2013. tourismcalgary 15
Q1 Leads Activity Report as reported in the MCC 2014 Q1 Report The Leads Activity Report summarizes all leads in the MCC pipeline with a status change that occurred in the quarter. Source: Meetings + Conventions Calgary, 2014 Q1 Report Definite Events: In Q1 2014, 10 events representing 19,965 room nights turned definite versus 18 events representing 4,517 definite room nights in Q1 2013. One city-wide event representing 19,000 room nights was confirmed in Q1 2014. 16 Q1 2014 Destination Report
Industry relations & visitor services industry relations New Partners Tourism Calgary welcomed 18 new member companies in the first quarter of the year: The Lake House, Avec Bistro, IQ Business Solutions, The Event Group, Cactus Club Café, Winebar Kensington, Brasserie Kensington, CHARCUT Roast House, Gaucho Brazilian Barbecue Calgary and Canmore, Irvine Tack & Western Wear, Bow Valley Ranche Restaurant, Proshow Audiovisual, Homeplace Ranch, Banff Photography, Spiritis Chamber Choir, D Arcy Ranch Golf Club and Cassis Bistro. Industry Development Hot off the press is the highly anticipated 2014-2015 Visitor Guide and Destination Planning Supplement. This full-colour magazine shares the story of amazing sights and experiences in Calgary and beyond. With 160,000 copies printed, and digital versions available online at visitcalgary.com, we thank industry partners for their advertising support. Tourism Calgary appreciates the partnership of the creative team at Where Calgary for collaborating on the imagery, editorial, production and distribution. A Member Orientation session was held on March 6 to connect industry with our marketing and promotional opportunities; 14 industry partners were in attendance. To strengthen and leverage the Canadian Tourism Commission s Explorer Quotient (EQ) segmentation tool, Lisa Lima from Travel Alberta joined our team to present a series of three workshops to build awareness of EQ and the resources available. The following sessions were promoted: March 27: Say Hello to Your Best Customer April 10: Building Experiences for Your Best Customer April 29: Marketing Experiences to Your Best Customer The Industry Relations team continues to communicate monthly with our partners via the Tourism Calgary Connection and M2M newsletters. The team also met one-on-one with more than 24 tourism partners to strengthen relations and build participation in marketing programs, including enhancement of their businesses visibility on visitcalgary.com. Upcoming Events: 2 of 3 Workshop Series Explorer Quotient EQ (presented by Travel Alberta) Building Experiences for your Best Customer Date: April 10, 2014 Location: Tourism Calgary Boardroom Lunch N Learn Workshop Celebrate Earth Day (presented by Bullfrog Power) Date: April 22, 2014 Location: Tourism Calgary Boardroom tourismcalgary 17
3 of 3 Workshop Series - Explorer Quotient EQ (presented by Travel Alberta) Marketing Experiences to Your Best Customer Date: April 29, 2014 Location: Tourism Calgary Boardroom Member Orientation Meeting Date: May 8, 2014 Location: Tourism Calgary Boardroom Workshop: Partnering, Packaging & Programming (presented by Travel Alberta) Date: May 22, 2014 Location: Tourism Calgary Boardroom industry events Annual Tourism Calgary Open House presented by Air Canada We kicked off 2014 in style on January 30, hosting more than 300 invited tourism partners and key stakeholders at the Tourism Calgary Open House. This long-standing event was held in the newly renovated Safari Lodge at the Calgary Zoo. Our cuisine partners Rush Ocean Prime, Candela, Calgary Zoo, Aňejo, Downtownfood, and newly opened Goro & Gun served up culinary delights under the shadow of a floor to ceiling hand painted Calgary skyline scene. Guests enjoyed a collection of Calgary s finest brews from Big Rock Brewery, Village Brewery, Wild Rose Brewery and Chinook Honey Mead along with a range of fabulous wines from Pacific Wines & Spirits. Presenting sponsor Air Canada generously donated two tickets to anywhere they fly within North America to one lucky guest. A selection of Calgary s iconic public art pieces, including the famed Conversation and Famous Five, were brought to life thanks to the creations of Ballyhoo Entertainment. A huge thank you to the amazing team and management at the Calgary Zoo for helping us to throw open their doors to Calgary after their flood damage hiatus at this wildly successful event. 52 nd Annual Calgary White Hat Awards presented by Sysco In February, Tourism Calgary and industry partners completed 450 Calgary White Hat Award interviews in 20 different award categories. A special thank you to all of our 120 dedicated interviewers who volunteered their time to assist the White Hat Award Committee in conducting these important tourism and hospitality interviews. From the 450 nominees a total of 60 finalists and only 20 winners will be selected by two judging panels to receive a prestigious Calgary White Hat Award. Thank you to our sponsor Deloitte for their expertise in reviewing every interview file for accuracy. Thanks also to our two fabulous interview hosting sponsors, the Calgary Zoo and The University of Calgary Meetings & Special Events for their generous donation of venue space. Join us to celebrate this year s Culinary theme at the 52 nd Annual Calgary White Hat Awards on Wednesday May 14 at the Southern Alberta Jubilee Auditorium. Tickets to the event are on sale at visitcalgary.com/calgary-white-hat-awards/event-tickets. General admission is $35; $30 per person for group purchases of seven or more tickets. 18 Q1 2014 Destination Report
partnership buy-in opportunities See your brand on the BIG SCREEN this Summer! Visitor Information Centre video screen advertising opportunities are available from as low as $500/per month. To book your space for the summer, please contact Cindy Good at cindyg@tourismcalgary.com. event hosting Hosting services are being finalized and delivered for confirmed events including Cavalia, PGA Champions Tour, Rugby National Championships, Tour of Alberta, Broomball National Championships and others. An enhanced hosting strategy was launched in the first quarter to provide unique hosting services to a range of high profile sports and major events coming to our city. visitor services The Visitor Services team has been preparing for the summer season ahead. Training initiatives include FAM tours as well as sessions on customer service, sales and marketing. A volunteer appreciation event was held in January to thank our dedicated volunteers. We appreciate their commitment and hard work on the many projects they assist with. Preparation has begun to open the Travel Alberta Visitor Information Centre operated by Tourism Calgary at the Calgary International Airport, International Arrivals. Three staff will be hired for this project to promote Calgary and the surrounding area. Distribution is underway to supply the new 2014-2015 Visitor Guide to Visitor Information Centres throughout British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan and Montana to attract visitors to Calgary this summer. Tourism Calgary s year-round Visitor Information Centre at the Calgary International Airport is undergoing a branding refresh to create a more visitor friendly and experiential environment for travel counselling. White Hat Ceremonies A total of 105 people received White Hats in 16 White Hat ceremonies held during Q1. Amazing Travel Inc. FAM Guangzhou TV Station Group Documentary of the first trip to Canada for 14 students from Guangzhou. Calgary International Airport, February 7, 2014 tourismcalgary 19