As Canadian tourism officials prepare to launch a new marketing campaign next week to promote Canada as a place for Australian tourists to “Keep exploring,” travellers Down Under may have second thoughts if they take the advice of their own government.
A website run by Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, has Canada listed as a country where travellers should “exercise caution,” which is the second-safest rating out of five.
Australians are advised to be cautious because of “the risk of a terrorist attack” in Canada, heavy snow and ice in the winter, and forest fires that can erupt “at any time.”
British Columbia, in particular, was singled out as being in an active earthquake zone and “subject to avalanches,” along with Alberta.
Canada is in the same company as some, but not all, members of the G7—the U.S., Britain, Germany, France and Italy.
The website says the United Kingdom remains a potential target for terrorist activity and lists the attacks in 2005 and 2007. It also says Australian travellers face the risk of terrorism in the U.S. and mentions a July 2007 National Intelligence Estimate which concluded the U.S. is in a heightened threat environment.
But the site doesn’t specifically mention why Canada is listed as a risk for terrorism.
Countries listed as safer than Canada include China, Chile, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Belarus, Romania, South Korea, Ireland, Norway, Japan and Latvia. They get a “be alert to own security” rating, the lowest on the list.
The Canadian Tourism Commission, which promotes Canada to 10 regions including Australia, said 207,000 Australians visited Canada between January and November 2007, up 9.9% from the previous year. The CTC is predicting a 4% rise in the number of Aussie visitors to Canada in the first quarter of 2008 over the same period a year ago.
Sylvie Lafleur, executive director of overseas markets for the commission, declined to say whether the travel warning would make the commission’s job harder to sell Canada as a favourable tourism destination aboard. But she said she isn’t worried, noting the high numbers of Australians who visit Canada.
Lafleur said the CTC promotes Canada through print advertising, billboards and the Internet. She said the commission will be launching a new campaign in Australia starting Monday.
