Tourism Powell River is changing focus in its marketing and its operational strategies to meet changes the industry faces. Paul Kamon, executive director for Tourism Powell River (TPR), presented his annual tourism report for 2014 to a recent Powell River City Council’s committee of the whole.
He said Tourism Powell River is a non-profit organization that has the mission of marketing the Powell River region as a world-class tourism destination, incorporating the community’s unique strengths in parks, culture and recreation.
In terms of major alterations in the coming budget, Kamon said the organization is getting out of the event business.
“It has overextended tourism a bit and we need to get out of the event business,” he said.
Mayor Dave Formosa said he was glad to hear Powell River Tourism was getting out of the event business.
“Your cash flow deficits over the past two years are quite alarming,” he said.
Kamon said a lot of the traditional grant funding that has been accessed in past is slowly diminishing. Service Canada grants that the organization has received in previous years are being reduced so TPR is looking for new funding opportunities.
The demographics for people interacting with TPR show 83 per cent being Canadian. The United States is the second largest market, followed by Europe.
Social media is now the primary marketing tool for TPR, with Facebook and Twitter being the two leaders. Kamon said there has been significant growth in Facebook because TPR has invested in Facebook with various campaigns directed to key markets.
“So we’ve seen significant growth in Facebook,” he said. “We’ve put a fair amount of time and energy into it.” There has been growth in Twitter activity, too.
The visitor centre did see an increase in 2014 from a “pretty rough year” in 2013. Kamon said visits went up 11 per cent in 2014 but the centre is still trying to recover back to the numbers from previous years. The main group of visitors is coming from BC and local residents form the bulk of the people that use the centre.
Councillor Jim Palm asked why there had been a drop in visitors in 2013. Kamon said it was difficult to pinpoint. He said technology plays a part because people aren’t using visitor centres the way they used to in the past.
“People are more in tune with collecting their information from online sources,” he said. “That’s why we are seeing growth in our social media.” He added that BC Ferries is also a big part of the equation.
The top information request for people coming in the centre is hiking, linked in with the Sunshine Coast Trail. Those connecting with the visitor centre are also seeking information on Desolation Sound, the heritage attractions, mountain biking and the canoe route.
Kamon said part of the larger strategic vision is to invigorate visits to the community.
“BC Ferries isn’t doing us any favours,” he said. “There are other ways to get here. Boating is a key one. Roughly 20,000 boats go by each summer to Desolation Sound and we need to engage with those boaters.”
One of the key sector development projects that Kamon has been part of is the BC Ocean Boating Tourism Association, instituted to promote local waters internationally.
He has also been working with other communities on Vancouver Island, the gulf islands and lower Sunshine Coast is to create southern and northern circle tour cycling route.
“Lots of the infrastructure is there,” he said. “There’s some gaps we are trying to address but there is major infrastructure investment going on at the municipal level.”
TPR has been expanding retail sales during the past two years and in 2014, revenues were close to $17,000, which was almost double the amount from the previous year. Custom designed merchandise is sold and goods are locally sourced. Kamon said unique products are being sold so as not to compete with local businesses.
Some of the marketing initiatives include a two-page spread in the summer issue of BC Ferries’ onBoard Magazine. Consumer shows are another important piece of the marketing initiative. This year, local representatives will be attending a tourism show in Sacramento, California, the Vancouver Boat Show, and adventure shows in Vancouver and Calgary.
