Visit California hosts Canada Reverse Sales & Media Mission in San Diego

Amidst the recent brewing storm of potential U.S. travel boycotts by Canadian travellers, the Canada Reverse Sales & Media Mission by Visit California last week was a relative oasis of calm and positive action.

Eighteen Canadian travel product buyers met with about 40 California suppliers over two days at a luxury conference hotel in San Diego, while the spectre of traveller turmoil loomed outside the doors. But the two groups were united by the common purpose of mutually beneficial business, confirmed by a full schedule of meetings taken by the buyers and sellers. They all assembled at the US Grant Hotel in central San Diego last week for the meetings.

While potential U.S. tariffs on Canadian goods have been a rallying point for Canadians who are thinking about stopping their travels south of the border, a more relevant vacation issue is the challenging currency exchange rate that Canadians face when visiting America.

That was a key point voiced by some Canadian travel buyers who were in attendance at the conference, including tour operators, airline reps and travel advisors. To help dilute the impact of the tough exchange rates, they emphasized the need to add value to California tourism products.

“Value in relation to resort fees, which continue to increase in price, are a bone of contention for visitors,” said Madeleine Brydon, product buyer/portfolio manager at WestJet Vacations. “They pay $30, $40, $50 per night and they ask ‘what is the value of this, what am I getting for this resort fee?’” 

Instead, the resort operator could provide credit for something that is available onsite – for example, a food and beverage credit that might be worth US$100 on a four-night reservation, suggested Brydon. “If I saw that, then I would be willing to spend more on my stay,” she said.

More value-added options

Another value-added option might be to offer a free night of accommodation on a set number of reserved nights. This would encourage guests to extend their stay (and spend more on resort services), knowing that a free night is available if they do so, said Brydon.

“You can’t give up looking for value solutions,” she said. “You just need to stay on target and focused to ensure you continue the value conversation with your partner.”

Some California product suppliers said they weren’t aware of the difficult currency exchange situation for Canadians, and how this impacts the cost of their vacations.

Methods to help compensate for the currency deficit will be considered by operators such as Julia Van Eerden, the VP of marketing at Pier 39 in San Francisco. There is no cost to visit the popular Pier 39, which is known for its thriving community of sea lions, as well as the Aquarium of the Bay, San Francisco Bay boat tours and many restaurants, amongst other things.

The way these numerous retailers are marketed on the Pier 39 website may be changed to emphasize how to achieve maximum value from a visit, said the VP. It will be a priority to inform visitors how to get the best value for their vacation dollars, said Van Eerden, who noted that Canadians account for many of the visitors to Pier 39.

But “value-added can be a hard conversation for many partners,” said Brydon. “That’s because everyone is feeling the pressure of costs being on the rise. You need to find a common denominator that is going to work for both parties, as well as providing enough value to Canadian travellers so that they will say, ‘that works for me.’”

The bottom line 

Regardless of how the tariff issue is resolved, the bottom line will be to find ways to address this disparity in exchange rates between the Canadian and American dollars, she said.

She noted that despite the negative rhetoric by some Canadians, bookings continue to come in at WestJet Vacations. “There may be a percentage of Canadian travellers who opt out of taking a vacation in the U.S, but many will stick with their plans. They need their holidays.”

In the face of these difficult days, California state tourism reps are seeking to sweeten the California vacation dream with a compelling image proposition. That is, they presented California as “The Ultimate Playground,” saying that “California inspires travellers to pursue playfulness in their lives.” 

They backed that up with information confirming “the power of play.” They quoted the National Institute for Play, which says that “play is critically important to public health: our overall well being, physically, socially and emotionally.” 

California is now marketing itself as a destination worthy of fulfilling those playtime priorities. Ways in which to practice these were provided by a selection of fam trips for Canadian buyers and media around the state at the conclusion of the Canada Reverse Sales & Media Mission.