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Value, Great Snow Offset Security, Dollar Worries In Canada

By Craig Altschul
June 26, 2006

First is the likely enforcement of the passport requirement in the Intelligence and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004 - which kicks off early in 2007. Couple that with a weakening Canadian dollar - now a thin dime shy of Uncle Sam's version - about 90 cents these days.

Some say the double whammy could rewrite the National Anthem lyrics to "Woe Canada." But several leading Canadian ski resort marketers, while making it clear these are significant concerns, think the effect can be mitigated by the vacation product offered. But first things, first.

The initial phase of the Terrorism Act goes into effect Jan. 1, 2007. It requires anyone traveling by air and sea to and from Canada (and, for that matter, the Caribbean, Bermuda, Central and South America, and Mexico) to have a passport to enter the United States. The second phase, scheduled to go into effect Jan. 1, 2008, extends the requirement to all land border crossings.

"We know from our research that almost twice as many Canadians have passports as do U.S. citizens," Rempel told The Industry Report. "But, we also know that the American market attracted to ski vacations at Whistler/Blackcomb are more affluent, so there is a higher propensity that they have passports."

Rempel said one study by an airline reported that "something like 60 to 80 percent of the people flying into Canada for vacations from the U.S. had passports. But, even if the number is 80 percent, we can't afford to lose that 20 percent of the market."

There is considerable lobbying going on to delay the implementation of the Terrorist Act, but Rempel is wisely not optimistic that will happen. "We're proceeding as if it will go into effect." Several influential governors and some U.S. Senators are lobbying for the delay.

However, with U.S. Congressional elections coming this fall, coupled with the June 2 arrest of 17 would-be Islamic terrorists for allegedly targeting the Canadian Security Headquarters, CN Tower, and Toronto Stock Exchange, House of Representatives members are expected to be very wary of supporting any delay.

The dollar at near parity with its southern counterpart may be less of a problem, other than in perception. Canada remains a value, as long as it is related to the experience.

"At various levels - lodging, skiing, and real estate - Canada remains a good value," says Matt Mosteller, Senior Director for Business Development for Resorts of the Canadian Rockies. "A great comparison is where you might get a condo at some major U.S. resort for $500,000, you can generally get a house for that in Canada."

Rempel points out that when apples and apples are compared on the luxury resort front (Whistler/Blackcomb, for example, with perhaps Aspen or Vail), "visitors still save 10 to 15 percent on mountain products such as lift tickets, ski school, and rental equipment in Canada."

Yet, the actual experience of skiing or snowboarding in Canada is what will continue to attract U.S. visitors, even with new passport restrictions and money parity. That is likely to be the marketing tactics the Canadian resorts will be taking this season as they lure Americans north.

"We have a really unique program called the Two Nation Vacation, for example," RCR's Mosteller says, "that offers the U.S. skier a great introduction to Canada with a combined vacation trip of Big Mountain, Montana, and Fernie Alpine Resort." The two resorts are about 100 miles apart with the U.S.-Canada border in between. The land passport requirement is a year away.

The concerns may not be as strong in Eastern Canada, where Martine Lizotte, Director of Communications for the Association des stations de ski du Quebec (ASSQ), notes that "U.S. skiers represent approximately seven percent of the nearly seven million skier visits in Quebec. We have 80 ski areas, but most of them are not 'touristic,' thus not U.S.- oriented." Mont-Sainte-Anne and Tremblant are the exceptions and do market to the U.S.

Lizzotte, like other Canadian resort marketers, returns to the "experience" - in Quebec's case "the culture, gastronomy, friendliness, etc. You can visit for a long weekend and be in a different country close to home."

The perception that Western Canada was hard hit by the dollar and the 2004/05 "monsoon" may need to be mitigated. "We had a significant rebound this past season, particularly from skiers who live in Washington, Oregon, Arizona, and Texas, though California was a bit off pace," Intrawest's Rempel said. "But the two million skier days we logged at Whistler/Blackcomb were only surpassed in the world by Tignes, France, and Mt. Naeaba, Japan."

Rempel said the Intrawest response will be to do a thorough job of educating the public. Complete information on the new passport requirements, including how to apply for a U.S. passport or the acceptable low-risk NEXUS pass, a joint program of the two governments, is already featured at www.whistlerblackcomb.com. "We're going to have to have all this information available on everything we produce."

But, the focus for Canadian marketers will be to laser in on the value equation that remains, and on, as Rempel aptly puts, "the incredible experience at a fair price." Or, as Mosteller phrases it, "not many ski areas have the jaw-dropping scenery combined with incredible snow and terrain." Passport or not. Dollar for dollar or not. It's still "O Canada."

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