Message from the CEC Chair

WELCOME TO CANADA-E-CONNECT

Dear friends & industry colleagues,

THE ONLY WAY TO PREDICT THE FUTURE IS TO INVENT IT…

We are all familiar with the current issues surrounding travel distribution and marketing: disintermediation, channel fragmentation, technology convergence, and consumer power. What we’re considerably less familiar with is how to leverage them. What do they mean to key players in the Canadian travel and tourism industry? And, most importantly, how how can we take advantage of these trends to market Canada to the world not only today but also tomorrow?

Canada-e-Connect intends to answer these questions. More than that, it intends to shape the future of e-marketing. While many Online Travel Conferences address e-marketing and online travel distribution, or focus on hands-on training and education, Canada-e-Connect tackles travel distribution and marketing.

We’re inviting industry experts to consider lessons from the past, to challenge the present, to debate the future, and to share their vision on the possible and the impossible together with the best and brightest in tourism marketing and online travel. How soon will online marketing and advertising dominate the scene? How will changing lifestyles impact travel incentive? Who will we trust the most – brand, price or our friends - when we purchase travel experiences? Will content leadership, brand leadership or consumer leadership ultimately win us over? Will emerging technologies impact sustainable tourism developments?

The conference is focused on the three main elements of the travel distribution life cycle - Consumer Acquisition, Consumer Experience, and Consumer Relationships - and is structured in such a way as to prompt critical questions and draw out controversial answers. We’ll foresee – and prepare for - the exciting (e)-journey ahead. And, we’ll do it all in a truly interactive and Canadian environment.

We’re also glad to have the first and only Canadian e-Tourism Awards be presented in conjunction with the Canada-e-Connect e-Tourism Strategy Conference. The Canadian e-Tourism Awards presents awards in 3+1 categories. In addition to having three categories (Website Design, Online Campaign, and Innovation) open to the travel and tourism industry’s three sectors (Destination Marketing Organizations, Large Enterprises, and Small-Medium Enterprises), a fourth award category was added that will distinguish outstanding User-Generated Content. These awards we created in recognition of the growth and marketing power of Social Media and Web 2.0, adding a unique spin to the Awards as a whole. Entries are eligible from all over the world, but every entry has to market, sell, or portrait Canadian destinations, products, attractions, or experiences. Undergoing evaluation from expert judging panels, all entries will also be reviewed by consumers and receive the Viewer’s Choice Score.

The only question left to ask is, can you really afford to miss this opportunity? With Canada-e-Connect, you'll network, you'll learn, and you'll discern the future from the past. If eligible, your work might also be recognized in the first and only Canadian e-Tourism Awards.

On behalf of the Canadian Tourism Commission, the Canadian e-Tourism Council, and the staff of Canada-e-Connect, we are looking forward to seeing you in Vancouver from November 7th to 9th, 2007, right after the TIAC Canada Tourism Leadership Conference in Victoria, BC.

Please visit Canada-e-Connect Blog (www.CANADAeCONNECTblog.com) for updates, interviews, and developments in this exciting event.

Cheers,

Jens Thraenhart
Canadian Tourism Commission
Executive Director, Marketing Strategy & Customer Relationship Management
Chair & Founder, Canada-e-Connect: Canada's e-Tourism Strategy Conference and the Canadian e-Tourism Awards