Open to registered delegates only, come visit over 55 suppliers in the exhibition area!

Registration Opens
(Vide Foyer)

Continental Breakfast
(Exhibition Area | Grand Ballroom East)

Opening Remarks
(Grand Ballroom)

8:45 am - 9:45 am

What Makes A Strong Country Brand?
(Grand Ballroom)

The FutureBrand 2010 Country Brand Index, presented in partnership with BBC World News, ranked Canada as the number 1 global country brand. Hot off the heals of the 2010 Winter Olympic Games, Canada rose to the top spot this year amid fierce competition. Tom Adams reviews Canada’s performance and key highlights of the 2010 study, revealing rising and falling stars and looking at country brand strengths and weaknesses across areas as diverse as tourism and doing business. He will also take a look at key future drivers influencing everything from familiarity to advocacy in country brand perception.

Keynote Speaker:

Tom Adams | FutureBrand Worldwide

Sponsored by:

10:15 am - 11:15 am

Destination Marketing: Tourism Marketing At Home And Abroad
(Grand Ballroom)

More than just a leading brand, selling a region (whether a province/state or country) depends on a broad array of marketing and selling strategies aligned across both public and private sector initiatives. And then there’s the marketing budget, including both traditional, unique and one-off sources. This panel discusses current approaches to regional branding, marketing and selling.

Moderator:
Rick Antonson | Tourism Vancouver

Speakers:
Roger Dow | U.S. Travel Association
David Kincaid | LEVEL5 Strategic Brand Advisors
Michele McKenzie | Canadian Tourism Commission
Noel O'Dea | Target Marketing & Communications

11:30 am - 12:20 pm

D1: Marketing To The Weekend Customer
(Windsor Room)

Many Canadian cities are attractive weekend (and short stay) destinations. Product is important but marketing/positioning no less so. How have the successful ones achieved success?

Moderator:
Robert Kawamoto | Tourism Toronto

Speakers:
Edwin Frizzell | Hilton Toronto Hotel
Janet Gates | Canadian Sport Tourism Alliance
Janice Solomon | Toronto Entertainment District Business Improvement Area

11:30 am - 12:20 pm

D2: Buying Business: Are We Giving Away The Store?
(Conference Room D & E)

Once primarily focused on the convention and incentive travel industry, the practice of offering rich incentives to all groups (sport, leisure, fraternal), and significant discounts for individual travelers, appears to be in full throttle. When is enough, enough?

Moderator:
John Dunn | Dunn Consulting Services

Speakers:
Scott Allison | Marriott Hotels & Resorts Canada
Angie Pfeifer | Investors Group Financial Services
Barry Smith | Metro Toronto Convention Centre

11:30 am - 12:20 pm

D3: Destination Development – The Missing Link
(Conference Room F)

Effective tourism marketing is critical however in this crowded and competitive marketplace creating compelling reasons to visit is king.
Consider what you could be doing to stimulate more business through creative tourism experience development.

Speaker:

Richard Innes | Brain Trust Marketing & Communications

11:30 am - 12:20 pm

D4: Managing Your Online Distribution
(Conference Room G)

An outlook on hotel online distribution and channel management solutions to help you manage revenue maximization.

Highlights of this workshop include:
• Importance of online business
• Marketing power of individual channels
• Making it easier for your potential guest to find you
• Distribution Power = Yielding Opportunities
• Working better with your third parties
• Effectively managing online reviews

Speaker:

Casey Davy | RateTiger - eRevMax

11:30 am - 12:20 pm

D5: SEO For Marketing
(Conference Room B & C)

At this moment in time someone wants to stay in a hotel in your city, but can't find you. Right now, they find your competitors. Get down to business and begin teaching you how to win first page Google search results for your hotel.
You will learn how to create a benchmark and measure results to quickly achieve a positive ROI. By combining Google Trust with laser beam focus on keywords that will bring you customers, you may be one seminar away from immediate internet success.

Speaker:

Chris Adams | gShift Labs

2:00 pm - 2:50 pm

Successful destinations employ a range of tactics to attract visitors. Effective public relations works behind the scenes to raise profile and make the visitor feel your destination is a “must see”.

Moderator:
Diana Conconi | Creative Initiatives

Speakers:
Greg Klassen | Canadian Tourism Commission / Commission canadienne du tourisme
Terri McCulloch |Bay of Fundy Tourism Partnership

2:00 pm - 2:50 pm

Festivals and events offer one key marketing advantage for any destination. A perishable commodity…a reason to travel now! Learn what some of the most successful events and festivals do to ensure success.

Moderator:
Rob Taylor | Canadian Festivals Coalition

Speakers:
Anita Gaffney | Stratford Shakespeare Festival
David Seabrook | Harvest Jazz and Blues Festival
Val Taylor | Shaw Festival

2:00 pm - 2:50 pm

E3: Core Trends In The Meetings And Events Industry
(Conference Room D & E)

The meetings and events industry will never be the same again: the recession has fundamentally transformed its core principles and will continue to do so. In this interactive session, Didier Scaillet will explore some of these new trends and paradigms: CSR, technology, business value of meetings, measurement, war for talents will be amongst the topics uncovered.

Speaker:

Didier Scaillet | Meeting Professionals International

2:00 pm - 2:50 pm

The workshop will discuss how effective Social Media Strategies can create new opportunities between you and your customers, suppliers and partners.

• What is Social Media and why should I care?
• Is Social Media a fad?
• If you build it will they come?
• How do I create a Community?
• 5 Social Media Strategies take away you can use today

Speaker:

Christopher Chong | TripTelevision

2:00 pm - 2:50 pm

This session will focus on:
• Leveraging a cohesive push & pull media mix to maximize sales and boost occupancy.
• Utilizing deals to fill need periods while keeping your ADR in check (or even increase it!).
• Creating landing pages that will engage visitors, maximize bookings and increase ADR.

Speaker:

Lara Barlow | Travelzoo (Canada) Inc.

3:00 pm - 3:50 pm

F1: Research--Are You Doing The Right Thing?
(Conference Room F)

To be successful, a marketing campaign needs a five step research programme - from grass roots learning to measuring Return On Investment. Find out what those five steps are. Are you doing the right thing - or wasting valuable resources? In the session we will outline the 5 steps of research that should be done - from grass roots focus groups at the outset through to measuring Return on Investment. We will use colourful examples from past research to illustrate the value of each step and how, without it, the whole campaign could be led astray.

Speakers:

David Thexton | Insignia Marketing Research Inc.
Lydia Zorn | Insignia Marketing Research Inc.

3:00 pm - 3:50 pm

With the economy in the throes of a difficult recovery, American consumers have been reevaluating their priorities and travel aspirations. A two-year study by Resonance Consultancy and the Luxury Institute of the lifestyle aspirations of the country’s top 10% of households indicates that affluent Americans today consider that the most valued goods, services and experiences are not necessarily material in nature, but more leisure-oriented pursuits with exotic vacations and vacation homes at the top of their list. Learn more about this study’s findings and discover what these consumers are looking for in their travel experiences today, where they want to travel and join a discussion on how the Canadian travel and tourism industry can re-engage the American traveller.

Speaker:

Chris Fair | Resonance Consultancy Limited

3:00 pm - 3:50 pm

Is it the destination or the leading attraction…what draws visitors and how can the lead attraction and the destination work together to attract tourists?

Moderator:
Fran Hohol | PKF Consulting Inc.

Speakers:
Lesley Braby | Canadian Tourism Commission / Commission canadienne du tourisme
Patrick O’Reilly | Canadian Museum for Human Rights
Jack Robinson | CN Tower

3:00 pm - 3:50 pm

It wasn't too long ago when many businesses were pondering "Do you think we need a website?" Now the paradigm has shifted and Mobile Marketing is becoming as important a channel for communicating with consumers as online. The mobile channel however is unlike any medium and must be managed carefully. It's not just the web on mobile or a simple text messaging campaign, but a powerful new channel to your customer.
• iPhone, Blackberry and Mobile apps have been all the rage…learn why that's the case and what does that mean when you look to develop your company's mobile strategy.
• Capitalize on the next wave of personalized communication, promotion and selling - mobile marketing!

Speaker:

Steve Sorge | Mobile Fringe

3:00 pm - 3:50 pm

F5: TripAdvisor - Maintaining Your Reputation Online
(Conference Room B & C)

Hear what TripAdvisor has learned about how Web 2.0 has impacted the travel industry and how tourism businesses can leverage new media.
• How does a property , brand or DMO effectively manage the conversation within and outside of TripAdvisor and other social media channels?
• How can the travel industry leverage the distribution power of TripAdvisor and the platform to communicate with their customers?

Speaker:

Jim Brody | TripAdvisor, Inc.

AFTERNOON PLENARY SESSION

4:30 pm - 5:30 pm

In The End, It’s All About The Destination
(Grand Ballroom)

Moderator:
Eddie Friel | EFA Tourism & City Marketing

Speakers:
Noel Buckley | Ottawa Tourism
Julie Canning | Banff Lake Louise Tourism
Steve Rhys | Forrec

5:30 pm - 5:45 pm

Closing Remarks 
(Grand Ballroom)

5:45 pm - 7:45 pm

Reception  - Sponsored By Travelzoo

This Annual Conference, now in its 19th year, provides an opportunity for those involved in the ownership and operation of lodging enterprises (mid and senior levels) as well as a broad range of industry suppliers, to gain timely insights into industry trends and current practices. For more information, visit www.hacconference.ca

This is a cutting edge, forward thinking Conference produced for the industry, by the industry! In a non-intimidating, interactive atmosphere, this solution-focused Conference holds hands-on workshops that address the critical online marketing issues influencing tourism in Canada. Canada's leading tourism professionals gather including Destination Marketing Organizations, Hotel Brands, Tourism Associations, Search Engines, technology Companies, and Tourism Marketing experts. For more information, visit www.onlinerevealed.com