27 NOV 2018: Perhaps it’s our northern composure, but unlike our American neighbours, Canadians apparently aren’t seeking “bliss,” when travelling to Britain – at least according to VisitBritain’s newly formed “I Travel For” passion points marketing campaign.

According to VB, Canadians are interested in Culture (art & design, museums, galleries, theatre), Local Flavours (local food and drink), Meet the Locals (local people, living history, storytellers), the Unexpected (adventure, festivals, beyond the icons & landmarks), Landscape (countryside, coastline) and Discoveries (off the beaten track). But not, for some reason, Bliss (luxury, wellness and escapism)!

In the US, VisitBritain lists the following passion points for the travellers it is targeting: Undiscovered, Thrills, Stories, Characters, Culture, Inspiration, Local Flavor (yes, the spelling of the word is differentiated for the American audience), and Bliss.

But it’s really just the semantics of the wording – of course, Canadians value luxury, wellness and escapism – that separates the two markets and what they are looking for in a trip to Britain. The real point is the nature of the I Travel For campaign: marketing passion not places. Also, that the Canadian market is recognized as distinctly different than south of the border.

“I Travel For is the new articulation of our brand,” explained Gavin Landry, VisitBritain EVP, Americas, at the recent Destination Britain North America (DBNA) forum in Austin, Texas.

“Essentially what I Travel For does is, instead of being destination-based marketing when you’re talking about going to London, Birmingham, Oxfordshire … we’re saying let’s look at the passions that make people travel and match those passions to travel, and that’s what I Travel For is all about. So, you see I Travel For local flavours, I Travel For characters, I Travel For the undiscovered – there are six (Canadian) passion points that we play off and then we find assets and experiences that are uniquely British and assign and align those to those passions.”

And it’s not all talk. Beyond marketing, VisitBritain is committed to ensuring that all the product placed on its consumer web site (in cooperation with tour providers, of which there are several Canadian companies currently taking part) meets the new criteria.

“The important thing is that the products that are featured are not just any product,” says Landry. “They are products that align with passion points of the US and Canada. That’s the difference in the relaunch [of the VisitBritain marketing campaign]. Years ago, we had what frankly was dog’s breakfast of products that were out there; now we’ve really honed-in and fine-tuned products that are based on passion points.”

Now, Landry points out, visitors to the VisitBritain web site landing page can navigate by region or package. “And once they get this far, they will leave our site and go directly to the tour operator or to the booking engine that will convert their interests. The job is not just to inspire travel, it’s to get bums on planes and get heads in beds, as they say, and bums in restaurants. And the way to do that, really, is to do all the inspirational work and then fall in line with bookable product.”

Canadian passion points will also continue to evolve and be fined-tuned through participation with trade partners in this country, Landry noted.

Having inaugurated a VisitBritain travel advisory council in the US earlier in 2018, a Canadian version will be launched in the new year in which (volunteer) members “will be able to talk to us about strategy going forward, and also give us advice about what’s trending and what’s going on [in the market],” he said.

Held in October in Austin, the 10th annual DBNA was attended by 150 North American buyers, (mostly) British suppliers and travel trade media (including Travel Industry Today) and featured presentations and seminars, networking events and 5,000 business appointments, all designed to further tourism to Britain from Canada and the US.

At the event, Landry reported that Britain welcomed nearly 40 million inbound visitors, including 835,000 from Canada, in 2017, and was on track to surpass its 2020 target two years ahead of schedule.

“Last year was an incredible year for VisitBritain,” he said, pointing out that with nearly five million visitors combined from Canada and the US “the North American market is incredibly important to us.”

He added that both markets are “tracking well” in 2018 with VB’s ForwardKeys tracking tool, which is based on agent and airline bookings, already showing a 13 percent increase over last year through the end of the year. “And that’s already on the books, so it’s a strong year for Great Britain,” he enthused. “We’re really pleased!”