Travel and tourism are on an upswing in Alberta, and Travel Alberta is ready to push even harder to meet revenue goals with a new wave of media spending.
In a statement issued Thursday, Dave Kaiser, president and chief executive officer of the Alberta Hotel and Lodging Association, reported positive results for the province’s tourism marketing so far in 2012.
“As compared to 2011, occupancy rates for hotels in Alberta have risen four points to 65% from January through July this year,” Kaiser said. “Additionally, the average daily hotel rate has risen nearly 5%. Alberta’s tourism industry is eagerly reaping these long-awaited benefits.”
Following a summer tourism campaign, “Remember to breathe,” Travel Alberta is poised to launch the 2012 campaign’s second phase, which will be unveiled at its annual conference and annual general meeting next week.
The details of the new work are being kept under wraps until the event. However Royce Chwin, vice-president of global marketing and communications at Travel Alberta, said phase two will continue to move away from the iconic Rocky Mountain fare that dominated the 2011 campaigns.
“This year, we’ve gone to other parts of the province and produced a lot more assets,” Chwin said. “Last year we focused on the Rockies and other iconic things that can be portrayed internationally, but there’s a whole other side of the province that really needed to get covered.”
The media spend will stay roughly the same, with greater resources being allocated to online channels. “The key to integration is to create conversations around shareability and the word we use internally: remarkability. So I’ll be putting things out there so that our target travellers will say, ‘Wow, that’s what we need to share with friends and family.’ The basis of the brand is to inspire that connection.
The upcoming campaign phase will include TV spots, cinema pre-roll, online and print.
“We’re working on an activation piece for LA Live, where we do a lot of marketing to our free spirits in southern California, similar to what we did earlier this year with a dinosaur on the beach in Santa Monica,” Chwin said. Travel Alberta is planning experiential engagements around the Iron Horse Trail and the Alberta Prairie Railway in Stettler.
Bolstered by record attendance at the Calgary Stampede and Edmonton Fringe Festival, Travel Alberta intends to increase the province’s tourism revenues $1 billion by 2017.
