(Originally published in TOURISM)
As Chairman of the Board of the Canadian Tourism Commission (CTC) since 2002, the Honourable Charles Lapointe has made his mark on the organization in charge of selling Canada as a tourist destination to the rest of the world. During his five-year term, he has charted a positive course through the challenges facing the CTC and Canada's tourism industry. TOURISM discussed some of these challenges during a recent interview with Lapointe, whose term of office ended December 1, 2007:
TOURISM: The challenges Canadian tourism industry stakeholders face today, whether in terms of the funding of projects, marketing or human resources, seem to indicate that the industry has a less‑than‑favourable profile. Do you agree with this view?
Lapointe: It is always an uphill battle to convince the private sector to invest in this industry, which creates substantial spin‑offs. At the same time, it is always difficult to convince public players of the significance of tourism as a key industry in terms of revenue generation and job creation in Canada.
Recently, Secretary of State (Small Business and Tourism) Diane Ablonczy announced an additional $26 million to promote Canada for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Games. That is a victory. The Government of Canada has also injected funds into promoting the French presence in Canada for the 400th anniversary of Québec City.
I think that, with good projects, sustained efforts should allow us to forge alliances with more private players which will bolster the interest of the authorities in increasing their commitment to the tourism industry. The Massif project in Charlevoix is a very good example with regard to Quebec; the governments of Canada and Quebec are both investing in it, together with a private investor, who is providing over $200 million. As soon as there is a major private investment, projects seem to move forward; this is what happened at Mont Tremblant and Whistler.
TOURISM: Now, let’s talk about CTC achievements during your term. Which ones do you consider particularly noteworthy?
Lapointe: I think our greatest accomplishment was to create a new brand image for Canada. What was exciting was that the exercise took place in a framework that allowed us to consult with all regions of the country from British Columbia to Newfoundland and Labrador, and with some of our key markets. It was very useful for consolidating the ties between the CTC and Canada’s tourism industry. Canada. Keep exploring is a slogan that permeates the CTC's whole strategic approach to supporting the industry, and increasingly all the parties are getting onboard.
The second achievement worth noting is the CTC’s new strategic direction. At the beginning of the second year of my term, the board of directors and all of our committees started carefully reviewing each of our target markets. After long, and sometimes agonizing, discussions, we agreed to cut the number of markets targeted by the CTC from 15 to 8. It was a very difficult decision, because we had established ties with Italy, Holland, Switzerland, Taiwan and Hong Kong. But this turned out to be the right decision in terms of strategy because it gave us a greater impact on the markets that provided the best returns.
The same year, we also made a firm decision to adopt internet communications. This decision does not seem very original at first glance, but it was a decision which had to be made. The fact that strategies could be developed to build a direct relationship with consumers on the internet led us to change course so that the CTC no longer depends solely on the conventional range of print, radio and TV advertising media.
The third achievement, which demands constant effort, is the strengthening of the CTC’s leadership role. We had a number of opportunities to demonstrate our importance during the last five years in the wake of September 11, 2001 and SARS in Toronto, which threatened the prosperity of the tourism industry across the country. During those two crises, I think that the CTC successfully played its unifying role.
TOURISM: Which key element do you consider as basic to this leadership role?
Lapointe: There’s not much wizardry about leadership. It takes a modicum of listening skills and the ability to seek the best from our partners. Leadership also means being able to inspire confidence and encourage people working for you to be the best they can be.
TOURISM: What, in your opinion, are the most urgent challenges facing the CTC at present?
Lapointe: The first challenge, which concerns the entire Canadian industry, is obviously the steady decline in the number of tourists from the US, a phenomenon which may be observed in all regions of Canada. Our largest volume of foreign visitors is from the US, so we are trying a number of things with our partners, focusing on the largest cities because we have realized that the decline is much less for Americans travelling by airplane from California, Washington, Texas, Florida and New York.
In those cases, there was even a slight increase in 2007. We have not found the formula for attracting all of the border areas. However, I believe the CTC’s decision to cease activities in border areas was wise, because Vancouver is already active in Seattle; Toronto and Niagara Falls are active in Buffalo. They are neighbouring destinations: Windsor will be active in Detroit; and Montréal invests in Montpelier, Plattsburgh and Burlington.
Moreover, this allows us to turn our attention to other markets, such as Mexico, France and England, which perform well. The number of visitors from China is increasing. However, China represents another challenge, and I must say that the fact we did not obtain approved destination status in 2007 leaves me very perplexed. It is all the more frustrating because the US has just obtained this highly sought‑after status.
On another level, we are facing much fiercer international competition than before. New tourist destinations are being created. There is currently strong interest in Croatia and Eastern Europe in general. Laos is beginning to open up. These new destinations mean that the tourism pie is being divided into ever‑smaller slices. We must maintain our market shares and showcase Canada’s advantages as a tourist destination. By appealing to the consumer’s imagination and sense of adventure, we may have found the right tool with Canada’s new brand image; however, this will only be confirmed after testing it for around 10 years.
TOURISM: How can the tourism industry prepare itself better for the challenges ahead?
Lapointe: I am not pessimistic at all. There is definitely more work to be done to make the industry more uniform. We are a long way behind the agriculture sector, which has a much stronger lobby than we do. We are all working hard on this. The Hotel Association of Canada, regional hotel associations and the Tourism Industry Association of Canada are involved. But we still have work to do so we can eventually speak with one voice. By that I also mean being able to go into markets – not in a piecemeal way – but as a part of Canada as a whole.
Does adversity encourage us to form alliances? We have already included the importance of the role of non‑traditional partnerships in our priorities for the 2008‑2012 strategy. We would like to focus on them more. I am convinced that, of all the resources at our disposal at this time, non‑traditional partnerships constitute the best means for internationalizing the Canadian tourism industry. It is up to us to build those partnerships..
TOURISM: Thank you, Mr. Lapointe.
As Chairman of the Board of the Canadian Tourism Commission (CTC) since 2002, the Honourable Charles Lapointe has made his mark on the organization in charge of selling Canada as a tourist destination to the rest of the world. During his five-year term, he has charted a positive course through the challenges facing the CTC and Canada's tourism industry. TOURISM discussed some of these challenges during a recent interview with Lapointe, whose term of office ended December 1, 2007:
TOURISM: The challenges Canadian tourism industry stakeholders face today, whether in terms of the funding of projects, marketing or human resources, seem to indicate that the industry has a less‑than‑favourable profile. Do you agree with this view?
Lapointe: It is always an uphill battle to convince the private sector to invest in this industry, which creates substantial spin‑offs. At the same time, it is always difficult to convince public players of the significance of tourism as a key industry in terms of revenue generation and job creation in Canada.
Recently, Secretary of State (Small Business and Tourism) Diane Ablonczy announced an additional $26 million to promote Canada for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Games. That is a victory. The Government of Canada has also injected funds into promoting the French presence in Canada for the 400th anniversary of Québec City.
I think that, with good projects, sustained efforts should allow us to forge alliances with more private players which will bolster the interest of the authorities in increasing their commitment to the tourism industry. The Massif project in Charlevoix is a very good example with regard to Quebec; the governments of Canada and Quebec are both investing in it, together with a private investor, who is providing over $200 million. As soon as there is a major private investment, projects seem to move forward; this is what happened at Mont Tremblant and Whistler.
TOURISM: Now, let’s talk about CTC achievements during your term. Which ones do you consider particularly noteworthy?
Lapointe: I think our greatest accomplishment was to create a new brand image for Canada. What was exciting was that the exercise took place in a framework that allowed us to consult with all regions of the country from British Columbia to Newfoundland and Labrador, and with some of our key markets. It was very useful for consolidating the ties between the CTC and Canada’s tourism industry. Canada. Keep exploring is a slogan that permeates the CTC's whole strategic approach to supporting the industry, and increasingly all the parties are getting onboard.
The second achievement worth noting is the CTC’s new strategic direction. At the beginning of the second year of my term, the board of directors and all of our committees started carefully reviewing each of our target markets. After long, and sometimes agonizing, discussions, we agreed to cut the number of markets targeted by the CTC from 15 to 8. It was a very difficult decision, because we had established ties with Italy, Holland, Switzerland, Taiwan and Hong Kong. But this turned out to be the right decision in terms of strategy because it gave us a greater impact on the markets that provided the best returns.
The same year, we also made a firm decision to adopt internet communications. This decision does not seem very original at first glance, but it was a decision which had to be made. The fact that strategies could be developed to build a direct relationship with consumers on the internet led us to change course so that the CTC no longer depends solely on the conventional range of print, radio and TV advertising media.
The third achievement, which demands constant effort, is the strengthening of the CTC’s leadership role. We had a number of opportunities to demonstrate our importance during the last five years in the wake of September 11, 2001 and SARS in Toronto, which threatened the prosperity of the tourism industry across the country. During those two crises, I think that the CTC successfully played its unifying role.
TOURISM: Which key element do you consider as basic to this leadership role?
Lapointe: There’s not much wizardry about leadership. It takes a modicum of listening skills and the ability to seek the best from our partners. Leadership also means being able to inspire confidence and encourage people working for you to be the best they can be.
TOURISM: What, in your opinion, are the most urgent challenges facing the CTC at present?
Lapointe: The first challenge, which concerns the entire Canadian industry, is obviously the steady decline in the number of tourists from the US, a phenomenon which may be observed in all regions of Canada. Our largest volume of foreign visitors is from the US, so we are trying a number of things with our partners, focusing on the largest cities because we have realized that the decline is much less for Americans travelling by airplane from California, Washington, Texas, Florida and New York.
In those cases, there was even a slight increase in 2007. We have not found the formula for attracting all of the border areas. However, I believe the CTC’s decision to cease activities in border areas was wise, because Vancouver is already active in Seattle; Toronto and Niagara Falls are active in Buffalo. They are neighbouring destinations: Windsor will be active in Detroit; and Montréal invests in Montpelier, Plattsburgh and Burlington.
Moreover, this allows us to turn our attention to other markets, such as Mexico, France and England, which perform well. The number of visitors from China is increasing. However, China represents another challenge, and I must say that the fact we did not obtain approved destination status in 2007 leaves me very perplexed. It is all the more frustrating because the US has just obtained this highly sought‑after status.
On another level, we are facing much fiercer international competition than before. New tourist destinations are being created. There is currently strong interest in Croatia and Eastern Europe in general. Laos is beginning to open up. These new destinations mean that the tourism pie is being divided into ever‑smaller slices. We must maintain our market shares and showcase Canada’s advantages as a tourist destination. By appealing to the consumer’s imagination and sense of adventure, we may have found the right tool with Canada’s new brand image; however, this will only be confirmed after testing it for around 10 years.
TOURISM: How can the tourism industry prepare itself better for the challenges ahead?
Lapointe: I am not pessimistic at all. There is definitely more work to be done to make the industry more uniform. We are a long way behind the agriculture sector, which has a much stronger lobby than we do. We are all working hard on this. The Hotel Association of Canada, regional hotel associations and the Tourism Industry Association of Canada are involved. But we still have work to do so we can eventually speak with one voice. By that I also mean being able to go into markets – not in a piecemeal way – but as a part of Canada as a whole.
Does adversity encourage us to form alliances? We have already included the importance of the role of non‑traditional partnerships in our priorities for the 2008‑2012 strategy. We would like to focus on them more. I am convinced that, of all the resources at our disposal at this time, non‑traditional partnerships constitute the best means for internationalizing the Canadian tourism industry. It is up to us to build those partnerships..
TOURISM: Thank you, Mr. Lapointe.
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