ACOA & Tourism
Atlantic Canada's Tourism Economy $4.2 billion in revenues $700 million in tax revenues 9,276 Atlantic Canadian businesses 58,193 FTE jobs for Atlantic Canadians (versus 2% nationally) Source: Provincial Departments of Tourism / Provincial Statistical Reviews 2
New Brunswick's Tourism Economy $1.3 billion in economic activity $145 million in tax revenues 2,984 New Brunswick tourism businesses 32,700 jobs for New Brunswick residents 8.4% of New Brunswick's labour force (versus 2% nationally) 3
Tourism Outlook Domestic Arrivals Can NL NS NB PE 2014 + 2.2% + 1.0% + 1.2% + 1.4% + 1.9% 2015 + 2.6% + 2.1% + 1.7% + 1.5% + 2.3% U.S. Arrivals Can NL NS NB PE 2014 + 1.3% + 2.1% + 1.4% + 0.8% + 0.9% 2015 + 20.% + 3.1% + 2.5% + 1.8% + 1.6% Overseas Arrivals Can NL NS NB PE 2014 + 3.2% + 1.6% + 2.9% + 3.3% + 3.5% 2015 + 3.7% + 2.2% + 3.4% + 3.7% + 3.7% Source: Conference Board of Canada 4
ACOA's Role in Tourism Business establishment, expansion & modernization Entrepreneurship & business skills development Building tourism capacity at the community & SME levels Strategic marketing initiatives Policy, advocacy & coordination 5
ACOA s Tourism Delivery System ACOA Regional Offices Enterprise Cape Breton Tourism Atlantic deliver tourism policies & programs that are province specific, address unique provincial needs & priorities. delivers tourism policies & programs that are pan Atlantic in scope & address broader, regional priorities. 6
Tourism Atlantic - Creation Provide a greater strategic coordination of ACOA's tourism investments Fill regional gaps in market research, product development & marketing Enable a pro-active approach to: Growing export revenues Enhancing the region's product offer Promoting sustainability Provide policy & program advice to ACOA's regional offices 7
Tourism Atlantic Programming (Examples) Atlantic Canada Tourism Partnership Atlantic Canada Cruise Association L'Acadie Atlantic Canada Trails Tourism Best Practices Gros Morne Institute for Sustainable Tourism Strategic Tourism Expansion Program Accelerated Market Readiness Tourism Information & Communication Technology 8
Strategic Marketing Partnerships
Atlantic Canada Tourism Partnership Delivers research driven & fully integrated marketing campaigns into international markets ACTP was originally established in 1991 seven consecutive agreements Current project: $19.95 M ACOA - 50% or $9.98 M 4 Atlantic Provinces - 33% or $6.58 M 4 TIAs - 17% or $3.39 M 10
ACTP's Benefits Generates marketing economies & efficiencies at the consumer, travel trade & media-relation levels Creates significant opportunities for regional tourism synergies - information, marketing, research, etc. Promotes regional cooperation & learning Advantages the Canadian Tourism Commission's national marketing efforts in markets of common interest 11
ACTP's Impacts 2.7 million inquiries 611,000 party visits $735.8 million in revenues Averaged an ROI of $14.46 for every $1.00 invested in direct to consumer advertising 12
Atlantic Canada Cruise Association P3 partnership - Tourism Atlantic, Parks Canada, 4 Atlantic Provinces, Ports/Industry Promotes Atlantic Canada as a cruise destination in international markets Works with all major cruise lines that sell Canada New England cruise product 27% growth in cruise activity since 2009 1,500 port visits by cruise ships 3.5 million passenger & crew visits $327 million in export revenues 13
Niche Product Development Projects (in support of ACOA's Tourism Strategy)
L'Acadie Development & marketing of experiential travel products under the L'Acadie brand P3 partnership - Tourism Atlantic, Parks Canada, 3 Maritime Provinces, Société nationale de l'acadie, EDI Program, Industry Creating five experiential product clusters in Atlantic Canada Tourism PEI Strong example of ACOA s responsibility under the Official Languages Act to accentuate & assist the French-language minority s efforts in economic development 15
Atlantic Canada Trail Association P3 partnership - Tourism Atlantic, 4 Atlantic Provinces, Trans Canada Trail Association & Provincial Trail Associations ACT aims to develop & market high quality trail experiences Product development in terms of packaging, itinerary building, market-readiness, etc. Tourism PEI 16
Capacity Building Projects (in support of ACOA's Tourism Strategy)
Gros Morne Institute Sustainable Tourism Courses - Edge of the Wedge, Beacons for Effective Sustainable Tourism, Partnering & Packaging & other, specialized programming Partnership Tourism Atlantic, ACOA-NL, Parks Canada 254 SME attended training in Gros Morne 641 SME attended outreach training 18
BonaVista Institute for Cultural Tourism Advances the quality & development of cultural tourism products & experiences in Atlantic Canada Brings cultural & tourism industries together to maximize opportunities in delivering world class experiences Courses - Building Place: Planning & Developing a Creative, Cultural Destination; Profitable Partnerships - Maximizing Cultural Opportunities; Culinary Tourism & the Arts 305 SMEs have attended the BonaVista Institute for Cultural Tourism 19
Strategic Tourism Expansion Program Gives communities an understanding of: destination development; experiential product development Builds on the inherent strengths & unique selling points of individual tourism communities Directly links to provincial tourism development strategies Tourism PEI Completed in 3 communities (Alma NB, Tignish PEI & Souris PEI) Being launched in 5 other Atlantic communities (Twillingate NL, Louisbourg NS, Baddeck NS, Dalhousie NB & Caraquet NB) 20
Accelerated Market Readiness Assists operators improve their standards of excellence, how to be responsive to emerging market trends & actions that can be taken to increase revenues. Designed for operators in a clearly defined geographic cluster. Delivered by qualified / trained consultants - usually over a 24 hour period. 26 SMEs in Central Newfoundland & Labrador 15 SMEs in Cape Breton 21
Tourism Technology Provides technology support, training research & consultation services Applications include online booking options; Website Development; Online Marketing; Website Best Practices; Social Media 181 SMEs received mentoring 454 SNEs participated in workshops 206 SMEs participated in webinars 22
Tourism Best Practices P3 partnership - Tourism Atlantic, 4 Atlantic Provinces, 4 TIAs Expose operators to leading or cutting edge tourism destinations, products & experience in other North American jurisdictions Provide industry with hands-on exposure to exemplary, leading-edge tourism products and services Designed to achieve quality, high productivity, extended seasonality and motivation to travel 23
Tourism Best Practices - Logistics Organize up to 7 missions per year 4 missions in the Spring & 3 in the Fall 16 participants per mission 4 per province Nomination process Industry reimbursed 50% of individual costs to a max of $1,500. All group costs are covered by Tourism Atlantic Additional 25% subsidy may be available from the provinces. 24
Tourism Best Practices 101 missions 945 SME participants 86 themes 25
Tourism Best Practices - Examples Mission Theme Birding Destinations Themed Accommodations Cruise Interactive Museums Winterchange Historic Interpretation Retail Theming Watchable Wildlife Multi-Use Trails RV Campgrounds Sport Tourism Destination Point Pelee National Park, ON Ganaoque Inn, Quebec Vancouver, BC; Seattle, WA & Juneau, AK Kingston & Ottawa, ON Whitehorse, YT Hudson River Valley, NY St. Jacob s, Elora & Niagara-on-the-Lake, ON Quebec City & Charlevoix, QC Bruce Peninsula, ON Montreal, QC Dumheller, Banff, Canmore, AB 26
Tourism Best Practices - Examples Mission Theme Tourism Health Wellness and Spas Music Tourism Marine/Seacoast Destinations Cycle Touring Product Development Festival and Events Culture Tourism: Food & People Experiential Tourism Adventure Tourism Urban Tourism Experiential Cuisine Destination Victoria, Brentwood Bay & Sidney, BC Ottawa, ON Mystic, CT: Marblehead & Cape Cod, MA Montreal & Area, QC Canadian Badlands, AB Edmonton, AB Prince Edward County, ON Riding Mountain National Park & Winnipeg, MB Vancouver Island, Victoria, Nanaimo & Tofino BC Asheville, NC; Greenville & Charleston, SC and Savannah, GA Niagara, Stratford & South West Ontario Region, ON 27
Tourism Best Practices Sightseeting & Touring Day Tour Packaging Service & Quality Golf Unique Cultural Rural Tourism Sporting Event Tourism 28
Website www.tourismbestpractices.com 29
Assessment - Capacity Building 97% SMEs satisfied with programming & knowledge transfers 95% SME application rate of lessons learned Programming cited as a catalyst for meaningful behaviourial change & enhanced market readiness 30
ACOA's Tourism Strategy Modernization & realignment of tourism programming, Agency-wide Focus (& better understand) ACOA tourism investments Address challenges of reduced tourism competitiveness Tourism Atlantic given a mandate to develop a new, Agency-wide growth strategy for tourism 31
Guiding Principles Research / Marketing / Product Continuum Primary Motivators of Travel Experiential Tourism Foundational Visitor Needs Strategic Marketing Partnerships Strategic Product Development Strategic Capacity Building 32
Strategy Alignment priorities of increasing awareness of Canada as a premier tourist destination, encouraging product development & enhancing visitor experiences priorities of promoting experiences that are relevant to travelers' interests & values, growing tourism export revenues & enticing more international travel to Canada including Parks Canada, Canadian Heritage, four provincial governments & industry associations in Atlantic Canada 33
Proactive Tools & Solutions Tourism Best Practices Tourism Technology Accelerated Market Readiness Strategic Tourism Expansion Program Service & Quality Assessment Gros Morne Institute Sustainable Tourism Bonavista Institute Cultural Tourism 34
Moving Forward
Strategic Focus - Moving Forward Atlantic Canada Tourism Partnership Atlantic Canada Cruise Association Aimed at individual or collaborative product ideas that are genuinely innovative, offer new experiences & give travelers a real reason to visit Atlantic Canada & its Provinces Aimed at refreshing Tourism Atlantic s already successful capacity building programs (GMIST, BPMs, BICT, AMR, etc.) & facilitating SMTE investment in experiential & niche product innovations. 36
Strategy's Programming Aimed at ensuring that customer service expectations by travellers are not merely met, but are exceeded by Atlantic Canada s SMTEs Aimed at ensuring that SMTEs have the knowledge & tools required to engage & interact with prospective travelers in a digital environment. Aimed at recognizing & rewarding individual &/or collaborative innovations 37
Thank You