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Feature - Tourism Marketing

Fast work and target marketing saved the resort from disaster post 9/11

When two planes flew into the World Trade towers in New York on Sept. 11, 2001 the tourism industry could be heard gasping around the world.

Obviously horrified by the human toll, people around the world held their breath to see what the fall-out would be.

But tour operators, destination resorts, and business owners reliant on tourism were particularly worried as they scrambled to understand how it would impact them.

For Whistler that meant contemplating a horrific winter season with US travellers staying out of the air and close to home, and customers from jumpy overseas markets striking any North American destination off their list of places to visit.

The only strategy left to Tourism Whistler and other winter resorts was to fight as hard as they could to save the season. And they had to go it alone for the most part, as most other Canadian resorts focus on the summer business and didn’t need to react swiftly.

Everyone went into high gear. Tourism Whistler organized conference calls with all its counterparts around the world.

The resort braced for a potential fall off of 20 per cent in business.

"When we went into Sept, 11 our target for the season was to be down anywhere between six and 15 per cent," said Barrett Fisher, vice president marketing strategy and business development for Tourism Whistler.

"But we knew it might be down to 20 per cent. Those were very realistic targets. And when we compared to our competitors, like Vancouver and other destinations, they had similar targets that in fact materialized."

After intense research into the markets it was decided to abandon, for the most part, any US market that relied on airplanes to get people here. The big exception was California, which was still targeted for advertising.

The focus switched to the rubber-tire market, Canada, and the overseas markets of Mexico, Australia, and the UK.

Many would argue that what the resort reaped in reward for its quick action was an astounding success.

According to Tourism Whistler, last winter season’s business fell only two per cent from the previous year.

"It’s totally amazing and it far surpassed our expectations," said Fisher.

In fact many in the resort were predicting that type of drop off before Sept. 11, as Whistler’s double digit growth over the last decade slowed.

For this year marketing will continue to be focused on those same areas, as it is expected that many of the same trends will continue. There is also the continued soft US economy, on-going unrest in the Middle East and the fear of flying to consider.

Many feel that part of Whistler’s success in bucking the trends expected post 9/11 lie in the unified and co-operative way in which it marketed itself.

"We have always been an active member with Tourism Whistler but I think the number and intensity of the partnerships grew significantly," said Stuart Rempel vice-president of marketing and sales for Whistler Blackcomb.

Fortunately for the mountains a shift in marketing was already underway before the terrorist attacks.

Intrawest research had shown that much more could be done to tap into the regional market and plans were already in place to push in that area.

When the attacks occurred Whistler-Blackcomb was already launching a new marketing strategy for the regional market.

"When 9/11 happened we were in the middle of executing that and I think what we ended up doing differently post 9/11 was really focusing on partnering with our in-resort partners like Tourism Whistler," said Rempel.

"We developed a number of strategies, both regionally and in the destination markets, which helped provide us with quite a successful season overall.

"Nine-eleven, as difficult a situation as it was, actually presented us as a resort with some wins. It is a difficult one to articulate.

"While we did suffer a little on the destination side of the resort we did do quite well, compared to our major competitors."

Statistics Canada, in a tourism study released last month, found that about 800,000 foreign travellers visited B.C. in June, a drop of about 30,000 from a year ago. And the 4.8 million foreign visitors nation-wide was an 11.9 per cent drop from 2001.

The same study found the number of Canadians travelling abroad was up marginally in June – to 3.2 million – from the previous year. Between August 2001 and June 2002, however, foreign travel was still down 16.7 per cent.

For smaller business owners in the resort the experience has been mixed; some have gained and some have lost, said Brent Leigh, president of the Whistler Chamber of Commerce.

"As a result of the big shift away from the destination to the regional market some of the local businesses benefited while others suffered," he said.

But Leigh is optimistic.

"I think on a broader level, when the world becomes a less secure place people look to travel and spend their disposable income in places that are more secure," he said.

"So I think it bodes well for us over the longer run.

"I think people will come here. And I also think that with Whistler examining not only what it is, but also what it wants to become through its sustainability planning, that will allow us to position ourselves to be something unique.

"In doing so you fold in the considerations of a post 9/11 culture and I think that all bodes well for even the medium term."

As for lessons learned out of the terrorist crisis the one which rises above the rest for Fisher of Tourism Whistler is that nothing is a sure thing.

"I think what we recognized is that you can take nothing for granted," she said.

"Working together is essential to our success as a resort. Competition is outside the resort not within it and the importance of focusing our efforts on a united front and working together is essential.

"As far as a forecast for next year it is slightly more optimistic that for last season, but fairly similar."



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