Canada On Centre Stage

April 19, 2010

CANADA ON CENTRE STAGE
Getting a big bang for our buck
by Ilona Kauremszky

13 APR 2010: While most viewers who sat transfixed in front of the TV last February watched the winter Olympic games, it turns out the Canadian Tourism Commission was watching them. “Our strategy was not to focus on spectators but the 3 billion viewers who watched The Games,” said Michele McKenzie, president and CEO of the Canadian Tourism Commission.

McKenzie shared insights on the Olympics at a new exciting speaker series for ad execs and media planners hosted by the Institute of Communication Agencies and Ad Women of Toronto, a new group worth checking out for those in sales and marketing.

So how do you get those clients?

Start with a five year plan.

McKenzie is no stranger to Canadian tourism. She’s lived from coast to coast, worked in top jobs like Nova Scotia’s deputy minister of Tourism, Culture and Heritage, and in 2004 when she accepted the top position to steer Canada’s tourism office, one of her first tasks was to create a Winter Olympics media plan.

Read the entire article and interview at Travel Industry TODAY, an online travel news publication.