Clean. Safe. Affordable. Fun. Alberta’s tourism and convention marketers are sticking closely to a carefully scripted message this year as fears grow of an anti-Canadian backlash in the lucrative U.S. travel market.

As the political rift between Canada and the U.S. deepened last week with predictions by American ambassador Paul Cellucci of a “strained” relationship over Canada’s refusal to join the invasion of Iraq, both tourism and business officials in this province were holding their breath.

“The reaction I got is: ‘Why aren’t you guys backing us?’ Tourism Calgary president and CEO Joe Fardell says of a
conversation he had during a recent golf trip in South Carolina. “I told them it was more political than anything else, and if you look at Canadians across the country, you’ll get all kinds of views, just like in the States where people are going both ways.”

Fardell says the issue of potential holiday cancellations “is definitely high on our radar scope.” His office is in constant contact with several U.S. groups, including the American Bus Association, automobile clubs and the International Association of Visitor and Convention Bureaus.

“We’re asking them to monitor the reaction down there, if they’re seeing
cancellations or hearing from tour operators that they’re not going to be looking at Canada,” he adds.

Shannon Oatway, Business Edge
Derek Coke-Kerr of Travel Alberta says marketing campaigns will continue to focus on the province as a safe and clean destination.

While convention business to Edmonton and Calgary isn’t expected to feel the pinch because bookings are often made years in advance, “we’re worried about short-term stuff,” Fardell says, referring to events such as the Calgary Stampede or trips to Rocky Mountain resorts.

“But it’s too early to tell yet,” he adds.

More than a million American visitors travel to Alberta every year, and Travel Alberta managing director Derek Coke-Kerr says that while he’s already hearing “anecdotal evidence” that Americans are disappointed with Canada’s anti-war position, “I must underline that it’s not a lot of people at this point. It’s early times. There is perhaps still some shakeout to come, some clarification from Ottawa,” he says.

Travel Alberta is strictly a marketing organization that sells the attributes of the province, Coke-Kerr adds. “We deal with the political things at a marketing level as best we can.

“We hope they continue to see us as neighbours and see our destination as a safe and secure one.”

If current ticket sales to this summer’s Calgary Stampede are any indication, Americans appear to still be feeling right neighbourly. Calgary Stampede spokesman Dan Sullivan says sales from the U.S. remain strong, with about 12,000 Americans booked so far.

“I look at it this way. You’ve got two per cent of the population on either end that’s vocal (about the war), either in support or opposition. You don’t hear from the 96 per cent in the middle,” says Sullivan. “There’s a large section of people out there that I don’t think are going to allow politics to dictate their choices for entertainment and holidays.”

Other reports are surfacing that Canadian tourism might actually benefit from war jitters. Associated Press reported on Friday that a school in Vermont that cancelled a trip by eighth graders to Washington will instead send their students to spend two days in Montreal, perceived by school organizers to be a safer destination.

Travel Alberta is unveiling its new strategic marketing plan over the next few weeks, and, Coke-Kerr says, it won’t deviate from past year’s efforts. After the terrorist attacks in the U.S. in September of 2001, Alberta was the first destination marketing organization to react to the potential impact on tourism, adds Coke-Kerr.

“We concentrated then on the domestic, the near-in and the Alberta market. So I think you’ll see us doing a lot more” in that area this year, he adds.

Economic Development Edmonton spokesman Jim Rudolph says EDE is monitoring the situation, but so far hasn’t seen any indications that travel patterns will change in the coming months.

There are related wildcards that could still affect Alberta’s travel revenues in the next few months, including airlines cutting back on their capacity due to reduced demand and the rising cost of gasoline.

“Four to six weeks from now, depending on what’s happening, we might have to reassess our strategies for tourism marketing,” says Rudolph.

“But we have to remember that we’re in an emotional time right now,” Rudolph adds.

“Emotions are running high, and we expect that the long-term friendship between the U.S. and Canada will prevail through this.”

Last week, Premier Ralph Klein said the province is watching closely for any signs of lost business opportunities because of the war. Provincial Energy Minister Murray Smith has written to U.S. vice-president Dick Cheney on behalf of Alberta-based oilwell fire-fighting firm Safety Boss, which has yet to be invited to contribute its expertise to fighting fires in Iraq.

Klein has also voiced his personal support for U.S. efforts to depose Saddam Hussein.

“We’d like it if our premier’s message would get out to the U.S., but it’s not our job to get it out there,” says Coke-Kerr. “Hopefully those things get picked up, and it will mitigate some of the negative feelings going around.”

Calgary businesses are also worried about possible fallout, says Richard White, executive director of the Calgary Downtown Association, which represents 3,500 businesses.

“They are one of our major trading partners, but on the other side, Canada is one of their best and safest sources of energy,” says White. “So, in the case of Alberta, a lot of our trade is something they need and value, something they need to nurture – a good, safe source of energy.”

Alberta’s exporters are also closely monitoring the strained relationship with the U.S. Carol Blakey, president of Calgary-based environmental equipment supplier Cheiron Resources Ltd., says most of her U.S. clients use “selective avoidance” if the topic of war appears likely to surface. We just don’t talk about it.

“From my perspective, there hasn’t been a negative effect yet,” adds Blakey, who is also president of the Exporters and Importers Association of Calgary. “My feeling is if they need our products, they will buy them. However, if they can go American first, they will probably be more active about doing that now.

“But having said that, there are so many Americans who are ambivalent about the war themselves – almost every one of our clients has said they don’t think the U.S. should be in that war . . . If the war had been more widely popular in the U.S., we would have a lot more trouble than we do have.”

A Fleishman-Hillard/GPC International poll released by the Globe and Mail last week reported that nearly half of Americans surveyed said they were likely to find substitutes for Canadian goods because of this country’s stance on Iraq.

Another survey released last week by the Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB) shows small business owners across the country are uncertain about what the war might mean to the economy.

“Small businesses are concerned about what the war will do to energy prices and their ability to ship goods across the border,” said CFIB chief economist Ted Mallett.

In Alberta, about 35 per cent of businesses thought war would affect their business, while 40 per cent weren’t sure and 24 per cent said they didn’t think there would be an impact.

Transportation, manufacturing and construction industries are the most likely to expect harmful economic effects due to the conflict, says the CFIB.

Coke-Kerr and other Albertans who make their living showcasing this province and its goods and services to the U.S. and the world remain hopeful that the anti-Canadian mood south of the border will quickly blow over.

“Right now, everything is pretty passionate, and I understand that completely,” says Coke-Kerr. “But at the same time, you need to stay in front of (the situation), and put forward Alberta’s most significant attributes, which is that it’s clean, it’s pristine, it’s safe and it’s non-threatening.”