For the primary time in almost three years, Tourism Calgary has a marketing strategy.
Calgary’s vacation spot advertising and marketing group introduced the technique on Feb. 16 to members of the tourism trade, Metropolis of Calgary officers, and members of Calgary Metropolis Council.
Among the many areas of focus for the areas of focus for the subsequent three-years will likely be strengthening Calgary’s repute by means of branding, changing into a year-round occasion metropolis, elevating town as a prime conference vacation spot, and additional constructing neighborhood and collaboration amongst companions.
“Nicely, mainly, we’re again,” mentioned Cindy Ady, CEO of Tourism Calgary.
“We had been continually in what I might name the midst of the disaster after which into restoration, and that is the primary actually nice signal that we’re transferring out of restoration just like the daring individuals we’re, into the long run.”
The brand new technique, mentioned Ady, is supposed to help the greater than 970 Calgary companies that depend on Tourism Calgary to deliver guests to town.
When it comes to the tourism trade itself, Calgary is on monitor to return to 2019 ranges of visitation by 2024. With that, there’s the chance to develop from a projected $2.1 billion in tourism income in 2024 to $2.7 billion by 2027.
Generational alternative
Ady mentioned the deliberate opening of the BMO Centre Enlargement in 2024 was a generational alternative to extend and advance the customer financial system in Calgary.
That enlargement challenge performs a big half in turning Calgary right into a Tier 1 conference metropolis.
“That places us up there with Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver—type of strikes into the large children’ desk on this one,” Ady mentioned.
Plans for the approaching 12 months contain Tourism Calgary aligning conference advertising and marketing and gross sales plans with companions just like the Calgary Stampede, and rising trade consciousness of the upcoming conference area.
Going into 2024 and 2025, the group mentioned that they need to optimize the return on funding from efforts to attract conventions to town.
Tourism Calgary can be directing a part of its technique towards supporting conference delegates, particularly those who will likely be attending the June 2025 Rotary Worldwide Conference. That occasion is predicted to attract between 20,000 to 40,000 guests to town, from greater than 100 nations.
Importantly for town’s tourism trade, these conference travellers characterize each excessive volumes of individuals visiting town, and in addition excessive ranges of spending.
Gualtieri mentioned that the addition of occasions just like the Particular Olympics and Scottie’s Match of Hearts to the Chinook Blast combine does extra than simply increase the choices to locals.
“Additionally they deliver lots of vacationers, the place we get to really incorporate the humanities and the tradition of our metropolis as nicely,” she mentioned.
Leisure journey continued focus, and worldwide guests wished
The technique isn’t utterly transferring away from home travellers. That journey is predicted to characterize 78 per cent of the entire Canadian tourism trade spend in 2023.
“It will likely be crucial to proceed to advertise Calgary as a vacation spot of selection regionally and domestically, the place our largest quantity of travellers come from,” wrote Tourism Calgary of their technique.
Ady mentioned that leisure journey particularly is again nationally, however the worldwide leisure journey portion of the trade has been slower to get better.
Key markets for 2023 will proceed to be areas inside an eight-hour drive of town, like components of B.C., central Alberta, Saskatchewan, and components of U.S. states like Montana, Idaho, and Washington.
“There’s going to be lots of emphasis from a strategic perspective by ourselves, journey Alberta and Vacation spot Canada, on the U.S,” Ady mentioned.
“We’re going to be Mexico as a result of that’s the market that’s been essentially the most resilient within the comeback up to now… and New York, California, Texas—they are usually the locations the place we get essentially the most guests from, so we’re very a lot hoping for a restoration of that visitors.”
Precedence markets for Tourism Calgary for 2023, outdoors of the USA, are Germany, Switzerland, Australia and the U.Okay.
France, the Netherlands, and Japan will likely be focuses later in 2023 and into 2024, whereas South Korea and China will turn out to be precedence markets in 2025.
ROI from previous visitation, tour operator viability post-pandemic, ease of air entry, and ease of doing enterprise with these markets are all cited as causes these markets had been chosen.
“The explanation they’re vital to our market is, though they solely characterize about 25 per cent of the guests that come to Calgary, they characterize 75 pre cent of the spend,” mentioned Ady.
Making a year-round eventful metropolis
One of many targets for Tourism Calgary is to draw between one and two giant signature occasions to town annually. Alongside that, they plan to draw anchor occasions within the shoulder and winter seasons, after which help native occasions by connecting them with different occasions and conventions.
“We’re going to, in 2024, have the Particular Olympics in Calgary, which we’re fairly enthusiastic about. There’s this dream of Commonwealth Video games maybe coming, and we’re additionally within the combine proper now for the North American Indigenous Video games,” Ady mentioned.
“There’s numerous actually nice alternatives on the market that the crew is engaged on, and placing us in a bid placement in order that we are able to really go and entry them.”
Ady mentioned that one of many reputations Calgary has is a metropolis that’s pleasant but in addition being nice hosts. That’s one thing that Tourism Calgary goes to leverage as a model.
Ward 12 Coun. Evan Spencer spoke to LWC in regards to the eventful metropolis technique, in the course of the launch of one other main occasion that is because of happen in Could.
“If you consider what has simply occurred within the metropolis, even only recently with the Nitro RX occasion, what we’re witnessing is a fairly superior diversification when it comes to the sorts of choices that we now have as a metropolis,” he mentioned.
Plans to attract extra occasions to town embrace internet hosting excursions in 2024 and 2025 with worldwide occasion companions, leverage the Particular Olympics to construct consciousness of town’s capability to have occasions and to increase the attain of Chinook Blast.
Chinook Blast wrapped up with eyes on future development
Throughout the technique doc, the plan for Chinook Blast is to construct the competition’s repute and significance, with the potential for breaking off the competition submit 2025 into its personal entity separate from Tourism Calgary.
“There are 4 main teams that come collectively to deliver it, and we’re going to see as time goes on,” mentioned Franca Gualtieri, Govt Director, Chinook Blast.
“We’re going to guage and see if it finally ends up changing into an entity by itself, however I feel it wants a little bit assist earlier than that.”
A part of meaning getting elevated company sponsorship of the competition, and persevering with to attract in accomplice organizations.
Regardless of the polar vortex in week one of many 2023 Chinook Blast, the competition noticed good turnout numbers, which then grew to become file turnout numbers for weeks two and three after the climate warmed up, mentioned Gualtieri.
“One in every of my counters on Steven Avenue, mentioned that there was 18,000 individuals downtown on a Saturday night, so I couldn’t ask for something extra,” she mentioned.
Different pillar companions reported record-breaking attendance, together with the inaugural Nitro RX occasion on the Calgary Stampede’s GMC Stadium, which was the best attendance for rally cross races in North American historical past.
