Tourism Hamilton marks Tourism Week in Canada

HAMILTON – Tourism Hamilton is celebrating Tourism Week in Canada, June 7 to 13 2010, with a series of initiatives to raise awareness of tourism as an important industry and mark the beginning of the productive summer season. “Tourism is an industry with passion, foresight and excellence,” says David Adames, Tourism Hamilton Executive Director. “It’s important to recognize our impact.”

Tourism Week in Canada is the national celebration that highlights the economic impact and social benefits of Canada’s tourism sector among the media, general public and government. Throughout tourism week, industry members organize and engage in a wide variety of local and regional activities and events demonstrating how tourism contributes to Canada’s economy, its standard of living, and the quality of life of all Canadians. Tourism Week is led by the Tourism Industry Association of Canada.

Throughout the week, Tourism Hamilton staff will meet directly with local industry members spanning the city to update them on activities, learn news from the partners and develop strategies together. Members will include attractions, Business Improvement Areas, event organizers, hotels and retailers.

On Friday June 4, Tourism Hamilton and partners will participate in Ontario Tourism’s day-long celebration at Yonge-Dundas Square in Toronto. Hamilton will be represented among dozens of province-wide destinations in a marketplace and main stage targeting many vacation-hungry passers-by. A contest to win a free weekend in Hamilton, giveaways and entertainment will help raise the awareness of Hamilton among the thousands expected in the square.

Tourism Hamilton will also launch the city’s multi-media “You’ve Got to See This!” summer leisure campaign next week including television commercials as well as a new website with additional functions including reviews, videos and mapping.

Tourism Hamilton is an innovative destination management organization dedicated to significantly increasing new and return tourist visitation to Hamilton.

Backgrounder

About Hamilton

Hamilton is located at the head of Lake Ontario, in the Golden Horseshoe region, between Niagara Falls and Toronto. According to the 2006 census, Hamilton’s population is 504,559 making it the ninth largest city in Canada. Demonstrating the city’s diversity, nearly one-quarter of the metropolitan area population of Hamilton is foreign-born. This makes Hamilton the Canadian city with the third highest proportion of foreign-born citizens after Toronto (44%) and Vancouver (38%).

Hamilton Harbour was discovered by explorer Robert Cavelier De La Salle in 1669. Indians who lived in villages scattered around the harbour named it Macassa Bay, meaning “beautiful water”. The city was founded in 1816 and named after George Hamilton, a settler. Hamilton’s proximity to both natural resources and retail markets, and the accessibility of various modes of transportation, have helped make Hamilton a main industrial centre for Canada. As such, the city has earned nicknames such as Steeltown, Lunch Bucket City and Hammertown. In 2000, Hamilton and five surrounding municipalities merged to form a new amalgamated City of Hamilton. The city is governed by a mayor, Fred Eisenberger, and 15 full-time councillors.

About Hamilton’s Tourism Industry

According to Statistics Canada, Hamilton received 3.2 million visitors in 2008. Seventy per cent of visits were day trips and the remaining 30 per cent were overnight visits. Visitor spending reaches $224 million annually. The local economic impact of tourism is $152 million and municipal taxes collected as a result are up to $7.8 million. The tourism industry employs 2,768 people.

The city’s wealth of heritage is authentically preserved and displayed in museums including Dundurn Castle, and the Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum. The renovated Art Gallery of Hamilton and vibrant performing arts companies like the Hamilton Philharmonic Orchestra, Opera Hamilton and Theatre Aquarius quench the cultural thirst of audiences. The Bruce Trail and other footpaths weave through the city’s lush surroundings and along the waterfront, showcasing wildlife and waterfalls. Sports action occurs at Ivor Wynne Stadium in Hamilton’s east end, home to the city’s CFL franchise, the Hamilton Tiger-Cats. The Hamilton Bulldogs play at downtown’s Copps Coliseum against the aggressive challengers of the AHL.

The city is easily accessible via plane, train and automobile. Through the John C. Munro Hamilton International Airport, WestJet airlines connects Hamilton to popular gateways across Canada. Amtrak and VIA Rail both reach the nearby Aldershot Station. Hamilton is also conveniently accessible via the QEW, 403 and 407 Highways. To extend their visit, tourists have lodging options ranging from comfortable hotels to romantic bed and breakfasts to a host of family-priced inns and motels.

About Tourism Hamilton

Tourism Hamilton is an innovative destination management organization dedicated to significantly increasing new and return tourist visitation to Hamilton. Governed by a 14-member board of directors who represent the local tourism industry, Tourism Hamilton is staffed by ten employees.

The priority markets for Tourism Hamilton are the meeting and convention market, sports market and leisure consumer market. Strategies for these and other objectives are detailed in the 2008-2010 Tourism Hamilton Strategic Plan and annual marketing plans.

Tourism Hamilton 2010 Summer Marketing Campaign Snapshot

As per the 2010 Tourism Hamilton Marketing Plan, Tourism Hamilton is executing a six month multi-media campaign to increase visits to the city and tourismhamilton.com by promoting summer attractions and experiences to families in Canada and New Work state.

The campaign – characterized by the moniker “You’ve Got to See This!” – includes:

• An online contest

• Online advertising through facebook, The Weather Network etc…

• Television commercials

• Printing and distribution of the 2010 – 2011 Experience Hamilton Tourist Guide

• Weekly enewsletters pushing partner promotions to 10,000 subscribers

The total campaign budget is est. $255,000 including contributions from Hamilton partners of est. $98,000 and Ontario Tourism Marketing Partnership Corporation of est. $58,400.

June 3, 2010   Posted in: Canada