With the tourism market having been somewhat sluggish in 2011, U.S. travel agents’ choice of Vancouver as a top Canadian travel destination could give the sector a welcome boost in British Columbia.
“It certainly can’t hurt,” says Stephen Pearce, vice-president of leisure travel and digital marketing at Tourism Vancouver.
“We know that travel agents—particularly in the mid-long-haul U.S.—are incredibly important in terms of influencing people’s opinion of where to travel. So if they become fans of Vancouver they become ambassadors for us. They’re a really critical tactic for us to continue to work with and cultivate.”
Accredited U.S. travel agents who read travel trade publication Travel Weekly voted Vancouver the best destination in Canada for the ninth year in a row in the publication’s Readers’ Choice Awards.
The awards are widely recognized as reflecting the professional opinion of travel agents who not only travel themselves, but also hear feedback every day from their clients.
“This kind of profile is great, because this publication goes out to tens of thousands of agents on a weekly basis and they’re nominating destinations that their customers are telling them they’re getting exceptional experiences in. So we’re really pleased to get that distinction,” says Pearce.
Overnight visitors to Vancouver spent almost $4 billion in 2010.
