Tourist boards praised for commitment to Canada

IAN STALKER

The president of Baxter Media has thanked the different foreign tourist boards represented in this country for the contribution they make to Canada’s travel industry.

David McClung told a Tuesday Toronto lunch jointly sponsored by Baxter Media, the Globus Family of Brands and Torstar that their presence here is a major plus for the travel industry.

“The fact that you are here is so important,” he said to representatives of tourist boards promoting countries on different continents.

Lots of opportunity
McClung praised the different boards for committing to the Canadian market.

The gathering was in turn told by Stéphanie Bishop, who oversees the Globus Family of Brands’ Canadian operation, that those who work for the brands that fall under the Globus umbrella have a mutually beneficial relationship with tourist boards.

“There’s a lot of opportunity to grow…,” she said. “We appreciate the partnerships.”

The brands are “happy to share with you what our plans are all about,” Bishop said.

Creative campaigns
Consultant Karen Howe, who showed videos of particularly creative tourism marketing campaigns, told attendees that “creativity is your most powerful weapon.”

The Korean Tourism Organization’s Randy Snape later praised Howe’s talk, saying it delivered “some amazing examples of how social media, AI and recent trends are being integrated into campaigns and how even without budget, return can be seen. The cheekier examples of campaigns that were given added a little humour and certainly stood out for me.

“I learned a little bit more about Baxter publications, and finally got to put a face to the Toronto Star’s Rob Smith, a person I have been dealing with for years, but have never had the pleasure of meeting.

“It was fun and very educational.”

Barbara Huang of the China National Tourist Office, who attended the event with her director Wenting Yang, said she and her colleague found
it worthwhile.

“Both of us learned a lot of new ideas about nowadays marketing , and we chatted with new and old friends,” she said.

Huang said she and her director were grateful “for the opportunity to meet” their counterparts.