Paul Nursey - Tourism Victoria
Posted by Steve Kleinschmidt
on Mar 23, 2016
Paul Nursey is the CEO of Tourism Victoria. Tourism Victoria's primary objective is to market the city as a destination. The organization has a 41 year history and works cooperatively with other tourism and venue marketing groups in Victoria. Victoria will benefit from Western North America being the next global hotspot. The world is compressing in Victoria's favour as the accessibility of the city increases. This has been aided by improvements to the Victoria International Airport and increasing air access from multiple locations in Canada and the US. Tourism Victoria has a 5 to 6 million dollar annual budget. It launched a new advertising campaign last year which was very effective with 25% of visitors who recall seeing elements of the campaign. The organization operates in a multi-stakeholder environment with 900 members in the Greater Victoria region.
Paul Nursey is the CEO of Tourism Victoria. Tourism Victoria's primary objective is to market the city as a destination. The organization has a 41 year history and works cooperatively with other tourism and venue marketing groups in Victoria. Victoria will benefit from Western North America being the next global hotspot. The world is compressing in Victoria's favour as the accessibility of the city increases. This has been aided by improvements to the Victoria International Airport and increasing air access from multiple locations in Canada and the US. Tourism Victoria has a 5 to 6 million dollar annual budget. It launched a new advertising campaign last year which was very effective with 25% of visitors who recall seeing elements of the campaign. The organization operates in a multi-stakeholder environment with 900 members in the Greater Victoria region.
The harbour area in downtown Victoria is only a 2 day experience and it is important for visitors to develop an emotional connection which is critical for repeat visitation and longer stays. The tourism product generally and the accommodation product specifically are excellent in Victoria. Hotel occupancy and room rate are the key metrics by which the industry's performance is often measured and these have been trending upward over the past two years with occupancy breaking the 70% annual threshold. Victoria must be seen as a regional gateway location. The low Canadian dollar is not the main reason for the large increases in US visitors. The ideal value to the US dollar is in the 75 to 80 cent range and any level below this Victoria could be seen as a commodity destination and this is not good for the sustainability of the industry.
The direction for 2016 is very positive as the high summer season approaches.