The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge spent their first overseas trip, from June 30 to July 10, 2011, in North America. The enormous interest in all things Will and Kate with 1,300 journalists following them around has brought the destinations they visited a windfall in free publicity.

Kate & Wills

But Will and Kate divided their time between Canada and California, so which “CA tourism” made the most of this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity?

For starters, the California Travel & Tourism Commission (CTTC) and VisitBritain teamed up to push the royals’ July 8 to 10 stay in Los Angeles as benefiting both California and Britain.

“We consider the Duke and Duchess’s visit a true hallmark, once-in-a-generation event that will benefit the state with a halo effect for years to come,” said Caroline Beteta, CTTC president & CEO. “Their visit also highlights the enduring positive relationship our state has enjoyed with U.K. travelers.”

Karen Clarkson, VisitBritain’s vice president for North America, explained the view from the other side of the pond. “Their popularity in the U.S. helps to keep the spotlight on Britain and showcase all of the exciting reasons why Americans should visit now,” said Clarkson. “The U.K. offers travelers choice, value and unforgettable experiences, rooted in our rich history, heritage, arts, culture and sporting traditions.”

The CTTC also launched a Royal Summer campaign which includes hotel packages inspired by Will and Kate’s visit. In a matching move, VisitBritain is offering “Royal Summer” travel tips on visitbritain.us for inbound U.S. travelers.

But while the CTTC and VisitBritain are busy patting each other on the back, Canada looks to be the destination that ends up with the biggest slice of the royal-tourism pie.

The Canadian Tourism Commission (CTC) set the ball rolling with a dedicated website and an accredited video crew, editor and two bloggers following Will and Kate around and producing daily “Royal Tour” material for website visitors and the media.

The regional tourism bureaus in Canada, whether by design or luck, ended up with great footage of the royal couple attending their most popular events and destinations.

They arrived in Ottawa on June 30, which happened to be Canada Day. The royal couple joined hundreds of thousands celebrating in the capital with fireworks and a rock concert, and the downtown core around Parliament Hill turned into a huge street party with Ottawa hotels completely sold out.

On July4, they were in Charlottetown for dragon-boat racing on Prince Edward Island. Kathy Hambly, executive director of the greater Charlottetown Chamber of Commerce, said it was fantastic to have Prince Edward Island showcased by the international media—not to mention the fact that images of Will and Kate competing against each other in a dragon-boat race will be useful as promotional material.

Banff National Park came into the limelight when the royal couple made a last-minute decision to spend the night of July 6 at the secluded Skoki Lodge near Lake Louise, which quickly had a $4,800 bathtub specially installed for the royal couple. Travel Alberta CEO Bruce Okabe noted that the lodge got more publicity in one day than it had in the last 50 to 60 years.

Calgary hotels likewise enjoyed a nice bounce July 7 and 8 for the 2011 Calgary Stampede, with iconic pictures of Will and Kate donning white cowboy hats. Tourism Calgary CEO Randy Williams said the 10 gallon hats they wore helped put Calgary on the map.

Alberta’s biggest markets just happen to be the United Kingdom and the United States, where interest in the royal tour of Canada was peaking at the right time when the couple were in Alberta, just before their arrival in Los Angeles. All said and done, it was a very well-timed royal tour, and the concerned destination organizations made the most of it.

Photo – VisitBritain

Related posts:
VisitBritain’s Royal Wedding Strategy
London Hotel Rates Rise for Royal Wedding

The California Travel & Tourism Commission (CTTC) has put out a Sustainable Tourism Marketing Handbook that was put together in partnership with Cal Poly’s Recreation, Parks, & Tourism Administration (RPTA) Department.

The handbook provides examples of best practices for sustainable tourism marketing from 30 California based organizations, from LEED certified hotels to the California Academy of Sciences and many CVB’s.

Sustainable Tourism marketing handbook

Each of the 30 organizations was asked to name the marketing tools it used to turn its sustainability into dollars. The tools that were named the most were social media, business partnerships/networking, specific web pages and online PR efforts.

Social Media – 16
PR Articles – 11
Press Release – 11
Word of Mouth – 10
Branding sustainable efforts – 8
Newsletter – 1
Partnerships/ Networking – 17
Facility Design – 7
Signage – 6
Specific Web Pages – 11
Certifications – 7
Directories/ Maps – 8
Events – 9
Discounts/ Sweepstakes – 5

One of the best examples provided in the handbook is the case of BART, which was sitting on a pile of green tourism gold and didn’t know it. 

The Bay Area Rapid Transit was always a model of sustainable transportation service, since it started out as a green company with all-electric vehicles that produce electricity when they move. But it was for local transport, and had very little to do with tourism. BART began targeting tourism in 2005, and since then ridership from SFO to downtown San Francisco has increased by 400%.

They got into distribution through online travel sellers to expand their business nationally and internationally. They implemented a voucher system and partnered with the CTTC and the San Francisco Travel Association (formerly SFCVB).

BART has also taken advantage of social media marketing through Facebook and Twitter, and markets through the Internet by holding viral sweepstakes on their web site.

The CalPoly handbook has adapted the 37 standards of the Global Sustainable Tourism Criteria (GSTC) and it will be used to introduce sustainable tourism within the California tourism industry, with TourBench (www.tourbench.info) as a benchmarking resource.

If you need more help with integrating sustainability into the business, the UNEP has a step-by-step business management guide for integration of responsible environmental, social and socio-economic practices and principles into the day-to-day operations of a tourism company.

CalPoly-CTTC Sustainable Tourism Marketing Handbook – Download (pdf)

The California Travel and Tourism Commission (CTTC) will be launching a new television ad on Oct 11, 2010 called ‘Misconceptions’ which pokes fun at its own stereotypes with the help of an all-star cast of celebrities.

California Misconceptions celeb ad

The cast includes Betty White, Kim Kardashian, Olympic skier Shannon Bahrke, chef Michael Chiarello, LA Philharmonic conductor Gustavo Dudamel, and musicians Jonas Brothers and Jason Mraz.

The basic premise of the ad is these celebrities pointing out California stereotypes – convertibles, surfing, bikini babes, rock stars, etc. – while doing exactly what they’re making fun of.

The ad begins with Kim Kardashian saying “People have a lot of misconceptions about California, but none of them are really true.” She’s shown lounging poolside in a bikini with a quantum physics book in her hands.

The celebs have spectacular backdrops to support them, from the Squaw Valley ski slopes to Hotel Del and Coronado Beach in San Diego, the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, the redwoods, wine country and Venice Beach in Los Angeles.

Caroline Beteta, CTTC president and chief executive officer, said in a statement that “We’re encouraging travelers to ‘find yourself here’ in California. We’ve chosen personalities for this campaign that represent the California lifestyle in world-class sports, great cuisine, the outdoors, music and entertainment.”

Beteta added that “The broadest appeal of this ad is the compilation and contrast of these personalities together on screen. Much like these diverse celebrities, California has something for everyone.”

See the Misconceptions ad  - www.visitcalifornia.com/misconceptions

Thomas Jefferson’s resume now says Founding Father, Third President and social media maven for California Tourism.

Spendtom

To demonstrate the economic impact of tourism, the California Travel and Tourism Commission (CTTC) is distributing $100,000 in $2 bills with Thomas Jefferson’s mug to local businesses across the Golden State, and attempting to track where the bills go and how they’re being used.

The Spend Tom 2010 campaign is part of an interactive public awareness campaign launched by the CTTC for National Tourism Week (May 8-16, 2010).

Way it works is that the $2 bills stamped SpendTom.com are handed out as change by local businesses at participating destinations. Recipients are urged to visit the Spendtom facebook page to report where they received the bill, and how they spent it.

Photos and videos of the ‘Toms’ exchanging hands at stores and businesses are being uploaded to youtube and linked to from facebook and twitter.

The way that the CTTC is portraying it – “get out there and get Tom on a California Road trip and beyond (Tom says thanks in advance – he needs a vacay!)” – is putting the personality and popularity of Thomas Jefferson to work for California Tourism.

 Spendtom now has his own facebook page and a personal twitter account (@Spendtom). To make things more interesting, CTTC is also handing out a bucketload of prizes (weekend getaways and overnight stays, shopping & dining certificates, attraction tickets, etc.) to randomly selected winners on Facebook.

In 2009, Spendtom was a pilot program held only in Sonoma County. This year, the list of participating destinations has expanded to include Carmel Plaza, San Diego, Palm Springs, Sacramento, Lake Tahoe South, Lodi, Sonoma County and Sonoma Valley, Temecula and seven popular destinations in the Greater Los Angeles Area – Beverly Hills, Hollywood, Los Angeles, Marina Del Ray, Santa Monica, Venice Beach and West Hollywood.

SpendTom 2010 begins May 8 and ends May 31, 2010. More details on SpendTom.com, Facebook and on twitter.