Destination Greater Victoria says its campaign to win back American visitors will be difficult, but it’s one it can’t afford to lose.
American travellers usually account for as much as 20 per cent of all visitors to Victoria and spend 70 per cent more than Canadian visitors
During the launch of its 2023 business plan Wednesday, the marketing organization laid out the opportunities and challenges it faces in bringing American tourists back to the city after the pandemic.
“It’s going to take some time,” said Paul Nursey, chief executive of Destination Greater Victoria.
Nursey said while Victoria has a lot going for it — its brand remains strong in American markets and Americans want to visit — it’s starting from scratch after the pandemic all but wiped out international travel.
Nursey said even when tourism rebounded strongly last year, it did so with Canadian travellers, not Americans.
“One of the challenges is during COVID, American travellers rediscovered their own country,” he said — and they continue to explore the states rather than heading north.
He noted that while COVID testing, proof of vaccination and ArriveCAN app problems have disappeared, the border remains a source of friction, and the U.S. is also dealing with an airline pilot shortage.
Destination Greater Victoria plans to concentrate its marketing efforts in the Seattle area, to complement the work being done by Destination B.C. and Destination Canada in California, Texas, New York and Boston.
Nursey said they will continue to work the travel-media angle, which last year resulted in increasing the profile of the region with pieces in hundreds of publications.
“We just have to extend our value proposition in terms of the reasons to come here — it’s a competition,” he said. “We have strong brand awareness and it is just extending an offer and having a brass-knuckles fight with the competition.”
FRS Clipper spokesman Scott Meis said Victoria is well placed to take advantage of travellers wanting the kind of travel experience they have been missing since 2020.
“While that may mean returning to top-demand, big city and tropical island destinations for some, we firmly believe Victoria is very well positioned to Seattleites as an easy international destination that is accessible at a domestic price,” he said.
Meis said fears of a 2023 recession and crowded airports could even play in Victoria’s favour.
“Victoria stands out as a unique, fun, affordable getaway for many Seattle residents who want to avoid the cost and burden of taking a long-haul trip,” he said.
Clipper, which runs passenger ferries between Victoria and Seattle, has adjusted its operations for a later departure time from Seattle and a 1:30 p.m. departure from Victoria on Thursdays to make it easier for Island residents to enjoy a multi-night stay in Seattle.
Meis said bookings are already starting to suggest a strong spring and summer.
Dave Gudgel, chief operating officer at Kenmore Air, which runs a float-plane service between Seattle and Victoria, said having Destination Greater Victoria focus on Seattle is a great way to address the U.S. market.
“They come out with the resources to build on the U.S. market, which tends to spend a little more than the Canada market,” he said. “Getting this market back is going to be somewhat of a challenge, but we’re seeing numbers for Victoria come back pretty quickly.”
Kenmore’s float planes currently fly two round-trips a day between Seattle and Victoria but will expand to four in the summer. Gudgel said bookings to Victoria are already creeping back toward 2019 levels.
“We are pretty bullish on Victoria,” said Gudgel, whose company is talking with Victoria International Airport about service between Seattle’s Boeing field and YYJ with a nine-passenger Cessna aircraft.
“We’re excited about that because we’ve seen capacity into YYJ drop precipitously,” he said.
Prior to the pandemic, there were seven flights a day between Victoria and Seattle, and now there’s one Alaska Airlines flight, he said. “We’re looking to supplement what Alaska’s doing.”
Black Ball Ferry Line, which operates the M.V. Coho between Victoria and Port Angeles, Washington, currently offers two sailings per day between the cities, but that increases to four in the summer months.
Also in Victoria’s favour are good numbers starting to come from the land crossings into B.C. and strong signs of life from the U.S. meetings and conference market.
As for the message, Destination Greater Victoria will be pushing experiential tourism and aiming campaigns at the millennial traveler, families and baby boomers.
“We’re not necessarily picking one product over another to lead with — it’s the overall experience and the emotional connection of the visit to Victoria,” Nursey said.
aduffy@timescolonist.com
