Travel Trade Update - April 2024

BLLT Attend the Mountain Travel Symposium

The Banff & Lake Louise Tourism (BLLT) Travel Trade team attended the Mountain Travel Symposium (MTS) a ski-focused tradeshow in North Lake Tahoe this April. The team met with 28 buyers, made 14 member referrals, and participated in many networking events during the tradeshow. This helped to strengthen relationships with members and buyers.

Many attendees shared praises with our team on last years’ MTS that was hosted in Banff, and how it was the best tradeshow they had attended.

The Travel Trade team hosted a private reception at the MTS, where members and key partners could meet and connect before the welcome reception. Nearly 60 partners from various markets attended.

Here are some key updates and trends the team received from tour operators during our meetings:

• Operators in the UK and Australia reported challenges when selling Canada due to the high airfares and the affordability of Japan/Europe ski trips swaying their customers.
• US operators reported a strong winter season for Canada and Banff and Lake Louise.
• Poland tour operators were interested in selling Canada as a dream destination. They mentioned that interest in skiing in Canada is growing and wanted to obtain information regarding Banff and Lake Louise ski resorts, transportation, and accommodation. We have followed up with the tour operators by sending them training materials and member contact details. We will monitor this trend over the next few years to see its evolution.
• More Spanish operators want to grow the Canadian market. They are interested in working with BLLT to build winter itineraries that include ski and winter sightseeing and activities.
  

Great Results From JMAs in UK and Germany

We’ve received numbers from all our joint marketing campaigns (JMAs) that were executed last year in the UK and Germany, and the results are remarkable:

• 13 JMAs ($87,000 investment) in the UK generated 56,177 actual room nights in 2023 (32% increase YOY from 42,467 room nights in 2022) and $41M in destination revenue.
• 11 JMAs ($60,000 investment) in Germany generated 19,812 actual room nights in 2023 (28% increase YOY from 15,493 room nights in 2022) and $13M in destination revenue.

The 32% and 28% increases have exceeded expectations! We are still waiting for numbers from campaigns in Canada, the US, and Australia.