For the French market, Canada is Quebec. And if the tourist office does not complain about this particular affection, it now promotes all the other provinces of a multifaceted country. Interview with Cyrielle Bon, France manager of Destination Canada.
L’Echo touristique: Destination Canada has just unveiled its new strategy for the French market. Does Quebec take up too much space?
Cyrielle Bon: It suits us very well that the French have this particular attachment to Quebec. It’s not a problem at all, on the contrary. La Belle Province is the natural gateway for French tourists to Canada, and often the destination of their first trip to the country. But what Destination Canada wants to send as a message to the French market is that Canada has ten provinces and three territories… and a multitude of destinations. It’s as many different journeys as possible, experiences to live. We want to convey other images of Canada, to show all of its diversity.
The French – and the distribution – do not know the destination?
Cyrielle Bon: According to our studies, the French know that Canada is not just about Quebec. They visualize the turquoise lakes, the mountains, the landscapes of the North… But they mix up all the provinces a little. Some people sometimes think of finding lakes made turquoise by glaciers in Quebec, for example. So, with this strategy, our goal is to help French professionals and tourists to better differentiate all these proposals in their minds. A bit like in the United States! The French know well that a trip to California is not like a stay in New York or Florida.
It is a country that lives before selling itself.
How to transmit this message to the market?
Cyrielle Bon: We are going to work in different ways. First, we will launch campaigns on major media, in B2C. If the French manage to put images on these provinces, they will know what to ask their travel agent. Of course, we will support these B2B campaign projects, and training for distribution. We have also launched a podcast on Spotify to be able to discuss certain specific points in more depth, such as the observation of polar bears. And, of course, we will organize educational tours. You never know a destination better than when you have visited it. Especially when the offer is so diversified as in Canada. It is a country that lives before selling itself.
So apart from Quebec, which provinces do you think have the most potential on the French market?
Cyrielle Bon:We are going to focus on all the provinces that are served by direct flights from France, because this is a very important element for Leisure. This is the case of Toronto (Ontario), Vancouver (British Columbia) or Calgary (Alberta). Each of these provinces deserves a trip in its own right. But I think British Columbia is the one with the most potential. The French connect Canada to what they will be able to see in this province. And the flight is not that long, since passing through the Arctic Circle, it takes about 9 hours to reach Vancouver from Paris. From there, just rent a car to discover something completely different from Quebec. So that’s our job: to put province names on the Epinal images that the French have of Canada.
Has the market recovered since the country’s borders reopened in September 2021?
Cyrielle Bon: At the end of August 2022, 260,000 French tourists traveled to Canada. This is around 70% of the total number of French visitors registered in 2019, but we are getting closer to a benchmark year. Because it is above all for operational reasons that Canada could not welcome more French people this summer. Indeed, and as in many other destinations, there is a shortage of manpower in certain sectors, such as the hotel and catering industry. Some establishments therefore did not open at full capacity this summer. But occupancy rates have been good. And these figures correspond to the strategic will of Destination Canada, which is rather to work on the qualification of the clientele rather than on the simple quantitative criterion.
