Small business
RTOWN Communications Inc. plans to set up in 25 Vancouver hotels
RTOWN is a Whistler- based media company that provides information on local attractions to guests in resorts and hotels. It’s making a move into the Vancouver market.
A Whistler- based media company that provides local information content for tourists mainly through televisions at resorts and hotels across the country is setting its sights on Vancouver’s tourism market.
“We’re hoping to launch in June,” said RTOWN Communications CEO Don Mcquaid on Tuesday of their latest franchise sale. “It will be in 25 hotels, including the Pan Pacific and Four Seasons, in Vancouver’s tourism zone.
“It’s an advertising- based service and provides visitors with everything they need to know about the local market to have the best time possible. Visitors can access available activities, tickets, events, shopping, galleries, everything [ they] need to know.”
RTOWN Communications broadcasts into 45,000 hotel rooms and 25 public digital screens in resorts and communities including Whistler Blackcomb, Squamish, Mont Tremblant, the Thompson- Okanagan, as well as Tofino, Long Beach and Ucluelet. Their service provides local information on dining, entertainment, activities, weather reports and news.
The company has 12 full- time employees in Whistler and operates in 12 markets across Canada and the Caribbean. The firm has an audience of over 4.5 million a week and delivers advertising through several media platforms, including television, digital signage, web, mobile marketing networks and theatres.
Mcquaid said the company he started 10 years ago is also poised for major expansion in the coming years in other resorts and towns across the country.
He said RTOWN sells franchises for a $ 20,000 fee ( franchisees typically spend another $ 75,000 to set up), and receives a 20- per- cent royalty from individual franchisees on advertising revenue.
Mcquaid said RTOWN produces the content for franchisees, who are themselves responsible for making community connections and selling advertising.
Mcquaid said individual franchisees typically make about $ 350,000 annually, and that RTOWN had about $ 2 million in revenues in 2011.
“We let people know that there’s things they could do that they didn’t know was available, anything from a nearby golf course to a waterslide to another attraction.
“We were the ‘ new business of the year’ in Vernon last year.”
Mcquaid said tourists can, for example, purchase last- minute tickets for local events after accessing that information on their screen.
He said that, unlike community television channels, RTOWN provides very specific, hyper- local information and points tourists in the direction of companies or organizations that advertise through the service.
Mcquaid expects to see franchises soar over the next two to three years, noting that there’s a potential market of 300 resorts and towns in Canada. “We’re looking at 30 new markets in Canada in the next 18 to 24 months.”
Mcquaid said their latest franchise in Vancouver is owned by former Global TV national sales manager Brett Manlove and syndicated radio host Mike Falcon.
“This is our first time in a big city,” he added, noting that RTOWN is working with Tourism Vancouver to get it launched.
RTOWN board director Frank Palmer said the real advantage of RTOWN television is that each hotel can put its own stamp on their channel with customized information for their guests.
Manlove said in a statement that the RTOWN network is a huge opportunity for hotels and businesses targeting visitors to Vancouver.
“We’ve seen the tremendous success that RTOWN has had in resorts across Canada and think it provides the perfect avenue to reach people visiting our city with hyper- local, hyper- targeted content. There’s simply nothing like it now in Vancouver. We want to change that.”
RTOWN noted that tourism spending was on the rise for the 10th consecutive quarter, despite the economic downturn and strong Canadian dollar.
It said that since the second quarter of 2009, tourism dollars spent in Canada have risen 9.5 per cent.