Tourism Industry Workshops

Social Media Marketing for Yukon's Tourism Industry

Back by popular demand! Tourism Yukon’s Industry Services Unit is once again offering social media tourism workshops just in time for the busy summer season ahead.

Dawson City
May 16 – Social Media Marketing 101
May 17 – Advanced Social Media Marketing

Whitehorse
May 19 – Social Media Marketing 101
May 20 – Advanced Social Media Marketing

For more information about the workshops and to pre-register by May 12, 2016. Register Now   Space is limited. 

Explore Your Yukon, May 20 to 30, 2016

Explore Your Yukon in an in-Yukon promotional initiative targeting Yukon residents. The intent of the campaign is to create ambassadors of Yukon travel experiences. We want to get Yukoners into the Visitor Information Centres so they can LEARN about all the great things to see and do around the territory, then get them out EXPLORING and taking part in the incredible experiences YOU offer and then SHARING their stories, photos and videos with friends, family and your potential visitors.

This is the second year of the campaign and based on our feedback from you last year, we’ve made a few slight changes:
1. We will be giving Yukoners (and ‘Honourary Yukoners’) a “Yukon Ambassador Pass”, which will be required to receive the incentives you offer (the passes will be free and can be picked up at visitor centres throughout the territory).
2. While the campaign is targeting Yukoners, we didn’t want our ‘early season’ visitors to be left out, so we’re considering them ‘Honourary Yukoners’ during the campaign!

Find out more and register your participation by May 6, 2016

Who's Who and (who's new) at Tourism Yukon

There have been some staff changes at Tourism Yukon this year and we'd like to introduce you to the new members of our team and let you know what other staff changes have taken place, should you be trying to reach someone. 

Pierre Germain, the Director of Tourism has taken a well-deserved six-month leave and will return to the Tourism Branch in October 2016.  While Pierre is away, Jonathan Parker, Tourism and Culture's Director of Policy and Communications will be filling in. Jonathan has been with the Department since 2008, is well informed and equipped to take the reins as Director of Tourism during this time. 

Industry Services Unit

ISU would like to introduce our new Tourism Resource Coordinator, Denise McCann, who comes from Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada. Denise has replaced Cathryn Paish who retired, and will represent Tourism Yukon and tourism interests at land planning and resource development tables.  

Also joining us this summer is Ceilidh-Anne Balie. Ceilidh (pronounced Kay-lee) joined the team on April 6 as a Research Assistant. She will be helping with the adminstration of the pilot Community Visitor Surveys running in Carcross and Dawson City over the summer. 

Marketing Unit

There have been some changes in personnel in the Marketing Unit that we'd like to introduce and welcome to our team. 

Robin Anderson was officially named the Manager of Marketing  in March. Robin was the acting manager over the past year and was formerly the Market Manager for Europe. 

Digital Marketing Strategist Stephen Reynolds and Marketing Specialist Annie-Claude Dupuis have exchanged positions for a year as part of our on-going career development opportunities. 

Sheena Greenlaw, our former Digital Content Assistant has stepped up to the plate to be our Digital Content Specialist , while Michelle Weiser has taken a temporary assignment in another department as a career development opportunity. 

Harmony Hunter, formerly of the Yukon Hospital Foundation, Northern Vision Development and City of Whitehorse Tourism has joined the team on a temporary basis as the Marketing Specialist, Channel Operations.

Valerie Neufeld, the department's Records Officer is helping out as the Marketing Coordinator, while Jennifer Glyka is on maternity leave. 

Visitor Services Unit (VICs)

The VIC unit would like to welcome back their returning seasonal employees and introduce our newest regional supervisor for Watson Lake VIC - Lelah Bruce. 

The supervisors of our six Yukon government VICs invite you to contact them if you have questions and to let them and their teams know what experiences or services you offer to visitors.

VIC Supervisors

• Beaver Creek - Sid Vandemeer
• Carcross - Dorothy Gibbons
• Dawson City - Peggy Amendola
• Haines Junction - TBC
• Watson Lake - Lelah Bruce
• Whitehorse - Alex Schamber

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If you would like to send an email to any Tourism Yukon employee, all emails are formatted as:  firstname.lastname@gov.yk.ca

Familiarization (FAM) Tours

FAM tours are one of the best ways for Tourism Yukon to promote Yukon as a travel destination and to share your products and services with our travel trade and media clients. Thank you to all Yukon suppliers who were called upon over the past winter to host our clients and share your products and services with the world. We appreciate your professionalism, your flexibility, and your willingness to provide us with reduced pricing wherever possible. It's a win-win...you get to expose your products and services to key travel trade and media contacts, and every dollar we save allows us to bring in more trade and media with whom to share the Yukon experience.

As we are quickly approaching the summer months, you will soon start to see the Tourism Yukon team in your businesses with important summer focused travel trade and media clients once again.

We look forward to working with you on these important marketing initiatives. The first FAM tours start in May and continue right through to September. See you soon.

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We need your product news!

Our travel trade and media contacts are always asking us "what's new in Yukon?" Please take a moment to send us your product news ( e.g. new tours, programs, routes, product updates, renovations, etc) so we can help you get the word out to our clients.  

For information on how you can get involved with our familiarization tour program,  or to send your product news. Contact Val Neufeld, Marketing Coordinator, by email at valerie.neufeld@gov.yk.ca

Community Visitor Survey

This summer Tourism Yukon, in participation with the Carcross/ Tagish First Nation, the Klondike Visitor Association and local businesses in Carcross and Dawson City,  will be piloting a Community Visitor Survey. The surveys will be conducted throughout the summer, with a possible extension in Dawson City through the winter.

This pilot project will assist Carcross and Dawson City to learn more about the visitors who go to their communities. If the project goes well, provides useful information and is cost effective, we hope to roll it out in other communities in the future.

If you have questions about this project, please contact Colleen Madore at colleen.madore@gov.yk.ca

Other updates

Tourism Indicator Reports

The monthly indicator reports from January to December 2015  are now available on the Department of Tourism and Culture website.  http://www.tc.gov.yk.ca/Stats_and_Figures.html

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General Sales Agent Update

A number of our general sales agent (GSA) contracts have gone out to tender in the first quarter of 2016, as the three year contracts for the existing agencies have expired. To date, we have completed the competition for the Australia GSA and are delighted to welcome back incumbent, DCA & Associates. The competition is also underway for our GSA contract in the UK and a competition will be held for Japan this summer. 

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Vacation Planner Ad Sales

Our annual Vacation Planner ad sales will start again soon. Stand by for more news as we roll out the 2017 Vacation Planner advertising program. 

Electronic Travel Authorization (eTA) - Changes

The Electronic Travel Authorization (eTA) is a new entry requirement to Canada for overseas travellers arriving by air, excluding U.S. citizens and people with valid travel visas. 

A voluntary enrollment period for eTA was introduced by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship in August 2015. The voluntary enrollment period ended in March 2016. However, the Minister of Immigration, Refugees, and Citzenship recently announced that leniency will be shown to travellers who are caught unaware of the new requirement ,until fall 2016. 

Be sure to take time to inform your overseas customers of the entry requirement changes throughout the remainder of the leniency period. 

To find out more, including who needs an eTA and who doesn't, visit Canada.ca/eTA  There is also an informative video on what visitors to Canada need to know about the eTA. 

Department of Tourism and Culture, Yukon Government, P.O. Box 2703, Whitehorse, YT, Y1A 2C6