France Marketing and Sales Programs

Our marketing and sales activities encourage French travellers to see and experience Canada in a whole new way, and to do it now versus later. Whether we launch an integrated marketing campaign, conduct travel-trade shows, bring media and destination partners together to exchange stories and tourism experiences, our initiatives target three major audiences:

Consumer Read more > Close >

France’s 2013 consumer direct strategy is focused on integrated advertising campaigns over various media channels (such as print, online, SEO and social media) in partnerships with key provincial/territorial, city and small/medium-size tourism enterprises. Campaigns target France’s priority Explorer Quotient^®(EQ^®) segments, Free Spirits and Cultural History Buffs, who pose the best potential for conversion.

Our consumer direct strategy aligns with our travel trade and PR/media relations channels to optimize our influence across the various stages of the path to purchase. This strategy utilizes the latest research findings such as Global Tourism Watch and our 2012 conversion study. Insights from both CTC in-market teams and key industry partners aid media and channel planning to ensure we optimize our conversion prospects.

The spring-summer consumer campaign took place early in 2013, and capitalized on the awareness generated from our 2012 Upgrade to Canada campaign by featuring iconic Canadian summer experiences. We used CTC’s global marketing platform for print and online ads, supported by our social-media channels. The campaign drove consumers to the partnered tour operator site for the advertised packages. 

CTC-France’s autumn consumer campaign will run November/December to stimulate 2014 summer travel. The campaign will be based around branding, with other elements brought in to help consumers develop their itineraries. We will use dynamic, bespoke online content while the consumer website will focus on Canadian Signature Experiences(CSE) partners. Social-media cultivation will bring additional traffic through Facebook and other social networks. 

 

E-newsletters

Throughout 2013 CTC-France is deploying quarterly e-newsletters to maintain, grow and engage the consumer database. The content consists of recent media stories, upcoming promotions and where appropriate, partner offers. CTC-France selects content based on its appeal to our priority EQ^® target segments.
 

Travel Trade Read more > Close >

CTC-France trade development focuses on the retail and wholesale aspects of selling travel, both online and offline. We send a monthly e-newsletter to the active tour operator and travel agents from our database. The in-market team works with retail agencies (Nouvelles Frontières and PartirauxAmériques) to create dedicated newsletters, contests on social media  (Equinoxiales), online Canada campaigns, window displays such as Thomas Cook, Selectour Afat Voyages, Carlson Wagonlit, plus Canada videos on digital screens located in travel agencies.

CTC-France worked with online agencies such as Opodo and Govoyages to develop dedicated microsites featuring Canada product offers and to feature the Canada Shared by Canadians video. We also partnered with B2B organizations such as Thomas Cook and Tourmag for roadshows in 11 different cities to educate the travel trade. During Q1 2013, CTC-France trained 262 agents.

Wholesale activities include destination/product-specific meetings with Canadian partners such as Coast Hotels, Travel Manitoba and Canadian Signature Experiences(CSE) members from Manitoba and Hopewell Rocks. We initiated product updates and seminars, training sessions for reservations staff, and were instrumental in the joint development and financing of partner campaigns, including:

·       Air Transat: Five 60-second radio clips featuring PAN Canada iconic experiences on National radio Nostalgie from February 25 to March 1.

·       Vacances Transat: Canada ads in the Parisian metro, on the side panels of buses in Lyon and Marseille as well as ads in the traditional press.

·       Destination Poudreuse: two journalists visited British Columbia to generate photos and videos that CTC-France can utilize. 

·       Maison des Etats-Unis et du Canada: a client event will take place with a pan-Canada conference in order to launch the Canada brochure and initiate summer sales. Seventy of its best clients are expected to attend the evening.

CTC-France attended the Canada Shared, Canada Squared event in London in late February to conduct meetings with partners.

During CTC President and CEO Michele McKenzie’s visit to France, CTC-France organized a lunch for key accounts with the Canadian Embassy that was held at the Canadian Ambassador’s residence.  The event was co-hosted by Jean-Dominique Ieraci, Minister Counsellor, and Michele McKenzie.

Canada Specialist Program

Travel agents, tour operators and other travel influencers greatly impact where and how consumers travel. As of now, we have 449 fully accredited CSP agents, of which 100 were recruited through our ViaRail contest. The two trips for two from Toronto, ON, to Vancouver, BC, were won by Severine Thomann (E.Leclerc Voyages Saint-Ouen l’Aumone) and Géraldine Houver (Thomas Cook Boulogne). Our goal for 2013 is to have 500 CSP agents, which would represent 10% of the total French travel-agent community.

Participating travel agents are offered a range of information and support, including:

• Certified training programs and testing
• Conferences and seminars
• Familiarization (FAM) trips
• Tools and training manuals
• CSP website and e-newsletters
• Marketing and sales support
• Roadshows.

We partnered with Travel Manitoba on a CSP workshop with 20 travel agents attending a 90-minute breakfast session. The workshop was videotaped and interviews were conducted, the final footage will be posted on our CSP e-learning website in order to keep it dynamic.

Trade shows

• Rendez-vous Canada
• IFTM - Top Resa

For details on these events and more, check out our Trade Shows & Events. 

.

Media Read more > Close >

CTC-France assists the media with partnered press trips, media events and by hosting media on visits to Canadian destinations. Our strategy is to gain visibility in the French media by creating and building buzz. We send a quarterly e-newsletter to our media database and pitch targeted story ideas to media influencers. We translate one media story and one blog every week from the CTC’s Media Centre.

In Q1 2013, we organized two press trips. Vincent Gaudin from www.journaldutrek.com joined a press trip initiated by Tourism Yukon to attend the Yukon Quest and experience winter activities in the Yukon.Sabrina Bailleul from Télé7jours visited Montréal and Quebec City to report on winter activities in Quebec.

In Q1, CTC-France participated in the ADONET Press Day, a gathering where journalists and destination organizations developed press trips for 2013. CTC-France participated in the meeting in Montréal of the Congrès Mondial Acadien 2014(CMA), where future partnerships between Tourisme Québecand Tourism New Brunswick were discussed.

CTC-France attended the General Assembly of “Femmes du tourisme” followed by the awards ceremony to attribute the best tourism communication campaign. Tourism New Brunswick was nominated among the three finalists. 

CTC-France attended the “Plumes d’Or” luncheon March 21, a gathering of journalists and destination organizations where one journalist is awarded the title of “Golden Pen.”

CTC-France took part in the New Brunswick lobster media dinner alongside 30 journalists.

 

Special media event/Public relations

CTC-France will host a table at the Travel d’Or Awards and invite our French key accounts.

 

Go Media Canada Marketplace

French media attend GoMedia Canada Marketplace, CTC'sannual media event where Canadian travel suppliers and destination marketing organizations exchange stories and ideas with international media. GoMedia, held annually in Canada and hosted by a different destination each year, takes place in Charlottetown, PEI, Sept. 8-12. The listing of French invitees has been forwarded.