Tuesday, September 22nd, 2009
10:35 am – 11:35 pm
Travel Trends in a Changing Economy
Berkeley Young, President
Young Strategies Incorporated

With the economy presenting perhaps unprecedented challenges to the travel industry, we have to proactively find solutions to attract visitors to our area.  Berkeley will guide participants through the tourism trends of 2009, discuss how they are affecting us and will demonstrate how to utilize resources to effectively increase travel and tourism in Northwestern Ontario. He will also address how these changing trends will affect each of the generational groups from Millennials to Xers to Boomers to Traditionalists.

This entertaining and powerful presentation contains “befores” and “afters” in tourism research, positioning and marketing.  Even tourism professionals, with years of experience, find new perspectives on tourism marketing.  Each destination is told it must do “branding” today and NW Ontario is no exception.  Berkeley shows branding examples from a variety of destinations and shows what works and what should be avoided. This seminar always receives rave reviews!

Tuesday, September 22nd, 2009
1:45 pm – 2:45 pm and 4:15 pm – 5:15 pm   
Solutions By Us, For Us
Breakout Session – Product Priorities
Pat Forrest, President
Forrest Marketing + Communications

What needs to be done to position the Sunset Country region as a unique, world-class destination? What current and potential products can build on the region’s key strengths?  This workshop provide information on what the region’s tourism stakeholders believe are the answers to these questions while also looking at how to leverage festivals and events, address infrastructure issues, position and differentiate the region’s products and alignment with the Ontario Ministry of Tourism Competitiveness Study.

Tuesday, September 22nd, 2009
3:15 pm – 4:15 pm   
Building the Branson Brand
Dan Lennon, Vice-President
Branson/Lakes Area Chamber of Commerce and Convention & Visitors Bureau

Tuesday, September 22nd, 2009
7:30 pm – 8:15 pm   
Fish Where the Fish Are
Berkeley Young

It is critical to provide excellent visitor information services within a region during a down economy.  If fewer visitors are coming, it is of vital importance that the spending of every visitor is maximized.  This presentation will reveal how to identify the best places to contact visitors and some new methods to get information in their hands, resulting in maximum spending and ROI for the region.

Wednesday, September 23rd, 2009
8:30 am – 9:30 am   
How to Market Tourism in the 21st Century
John Hope – Johnstone, President
HPR Public Relations & Social Media
Despite common thought that marketing influences society; in reality society drives marketing.

Rather than viewing the marketplace as a location where tourism organizations seek out customers, successful players recognize that we are increasingly participating in a “reverse marketplace,” where customers seek out potential services, when they are ready and then they negotiate for the best deal.

The Internet has shattered the entire concept of the linear purchase funnel.
Consumers no longer move neatly from one marketing touch point to the next; - from your branding message - to your promotion – to a sale. Instead, they snack on digital content delivered through an array of devices (I-phones, laptops, PCs etc), and different social media platforms (such as Facebook, Twitter and You Tube etc) each giving a deeper understanding of your service or brand. Finally, they look to other consumers for third party references and to confirm their decision. Why has this happened? How can you make sense of it? How can you make it work for you?
These are questions this session will help answer for you.

“Remember technology is not the answer, it is an enabler.” John Hope-Johnstone

Wednesday, September 23rd, 2009
9:30 am – 10:30 am and 1:00 pm – 2:00 pm   
Solutions By Us, For Us
Breakout Session – Marketing Success
Pat Forrest

What are the best opportunities to market the Sunset Country region and within which markets?  This session will reveal the results of the pre-conference industry survey that was undertaken, examine current travel trends and examine a variety of aspects around the marketing of the region including:

• Planning
• Positioning
• Gaps and Issues
• Actions
• Opportunities
• Target Markets
• Channels and Tactics
• Funding

If you have ideas about how best to market the region or want to hear what others have to say, this session is for you.

Wednesday, September 23rd, 2009
11:00 am – 12:00 pm
How to Use Social Media
John Hope – Johnstone
This session teaches you how to capitalize on the potential that social media brings to your marketing mix and how to gauge if you are being successful or not. Social networking does not work like any other marketing tool and needs to be tracked in a totally different manner.

To be successful, social networking must get people “talking” about your organization. It is the “buzz” that dictates success or failure. Buzz is a conversation that goes on for three conversations or more and does not just die on the vine after one person has read it.

You will finish this session understanding how to put together a social media strategy that creates a lot of buzz!