BHA Attends Addison Tradeshow in Canada
Teresa Parkey and Robin McCutcheon
Teresa Parkey and Robin McCutcheon recently returned from a whirlwind four-day, four-city trip to eastern Canada, representing the Belize Hotel Association (BHA) and Belize tourism at the prestigious Addison Trade Shows, as part of BHA’s Global Marketing Initiative.
The Addison shows are run annually in Canada, and attract up to 8,000 travel professionals in Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal, and London. The Belize booth enticed visitors with ‘giveaways’, including Hot Mama’s Habanero fudge, and BHA’s branded nail-files promoting ‘smooth, snag-less travel’, and featured a large-scale map of Belize, illustrating just how easy it is for visitors to move around the country. Specially-prepared flyers in both English and French were distributed, giving general information on Belize, and the representatives fielded many questions from those who have already sent customers to Belize, as well as new prospects.
Teresa Parkey, of Hugh Parkey’s Belize Adventure Lodge, commented, “As you might expect, we saw significant interest in diving in Belize, but also a marked increase in awareness of Belize as a ‘green’ destination and our many inland pursuits, including the Maya sites, cave tubing, and zip-
lining.”
Robin McCutcheon, of The Added Touch, noted that travelling to Belize has become far easier for Canadians, with the introduction of Westjet’s seasonal charter flights from Toronto and Ottawa to Cancun (beginning 6th November), in combination with Maya Island Air Regional’s flights from Cancun to Belize.
BHA’s presence at the Canadian trade shows forms part of their Global Marketing Initiative, expanding on last year’s hugely successful European Marketing Initiative. The BHA works hand in hand with the BTB to promote Belize tourism abroad — a shining example of how public and private partnership cooperation can strengthen resources, whilst reducing expenses, to benefit all tourism stakeholders in Belize.
The Global Marketing Initiative provides the Belize tourism industry with cost-effective representation at 20 of the world’s major travel and trade shows over the next year, and is available to members and non-members alike. Businesses can join the Initiative from just BZ$1,000.
For more information, please contact:
Tess Avila, Belize Hotel Association, tel 223 0669 (www.belizehotels.org)
