NANAIMO MAPS TOURISM STRATEGY

Nanaimo’s new tourism marketing strategy is expected to be launched in 2018 after being mapped out this year.

The city is planning to hire a consultant to work with a planned new tourism industry committee to design a model for its destination-marketing efforts. The initiative is being revealed as the tourism sector anticipates another strong year.

Some tourism officials hope for an independent destinationmarketing organization, similar to Tourism Victoria.

“Everything is under one roof. It’s all working together. They’re not duplicating. They’re not triplicating,” said Dan Brady, president of the Nanaimo Hospitality Association and general manager of the Howard Johnson Harbourside Hotel.

In the past, Brady said different organizations promoting Nanaimo did not co-ordinate their efforts. Tourism agencies in Nanaimo have gone through different renditions in past years.

Brady invited Paul Nursery, president and chief executive of Tourism Victoria; Walt Judas, chief executive of the Tourism Industry Association of B.C.; and Victoria’s Frank Bourree, a hospitality industry consultant and principal of Chemistry Consulting, to speak last month to tourism-industry officials and city hall representatives in Nanaimo.

They talked about best practices for destination marketing, Brady said. “It laid a foundation for when the tourism advisory committee gets struck.”

In 2016, Nanaimo experienced its best tourism year in 20 years. Nanaimo is fortunate because it has two ferry terminals and is a gateway to the rest of Vancouver Island. If Tofino and Victoria are doing well, that’s felt in Nanaimo, Brady said.

When the current fiscal year ends on March 31, Brady anticipates Nanaimo’s hotel tax will have raised close to $500,000.

Nanaimo’s accommodation sector performed well in February, with average occupancy up 11 per cent compared with February 2016, Bourree said Tuesday in his monthly tourism bulletin.

As well, the average daily room rate rose to $117.69 yearover-year from $112.65, he said.

Stronger numbers were also seen at the Vancouver Island Conference Centre in Nanaimo, which marked a 50 per cent increase in February compared with the same month last year. Ferry and airport numbers were down, however, with Bourree blaming that on poor weather.

Judas said many believe in the benefits of an independent industry led destination-marketing organization with responsibility for marketing. This means it would be “arm’s length from any political interference, any competition for marketing dollars. [And] that is really driven by industry for the benefit of industry and the community at large.”

Nanaimo’s plans for a new tourism marketing structure following the city’s decision in October to pull Tourism Nanaimo out of its Economic Development Corp., which was subsequently disbanded late last year.

One staff member remains as an economic development officer and plans are underway to set up a new structure for that function.

Nanaimo published a request for proposals last week to work with a new tourism advisory committee to develop a destinationmarketing model. Nanaimo has a two per cent hotel tax earmarked for festivals and promotion.

There are 22 applications for positions on the advisory committee, expected to have between nine and 11 members, said Philip Cooper, Nanaimo’s communications director.

While the new structure is being determined, Nanaimo has hired Tourism Vancouver Island to deliver marketing and development services. Its contract with the city of Nanaimo started Feb. 1 and runs until March 31, 2018. The contract’s value is about $470,000, Cooper said.

In October 2016, John Hankins, chief executive of the Nanaimo Economic Development Corp., was fired after criticizing council for taking away tourism marketing from that organization.

The decision, made at an in-camera council meeting, did not make sense to Hankins, who said Nanaimo’s 2016 tourism season had been successful and that the organization’s work for that sector had been praised.