In cased you’ve missed it, tourism to Canada is booming. The low Canadian dollar is proving to be an excellent lure to international travellers looking for an affordable, safe getaway. According to the Conference Board of Canada, tourism from the United States is expected to grow by 10 per cent this year, while inbound international travellers are expected to increase by 8.7 per cent.

Of course, as Canada plans for major festivities commemorating the 150^th anniversary of Confederation throughout 2017, the nation’s international profile should only grow.

Just in time for those celebrations, Destination Canada, the organization tasked with marketing Canada as a visitor destination has announced that has inked a new global partnership agreement with Air Canada. This is the first partnership of this scope between the two organizations and the first partnership for Destination Canada with a retail partner.

"It is inspiring to see Destination Canada advance our tourism industry through partnerships like this one," said the Honourable Bardish Chagger, Minister of Small Business and Tourism. "This is the first collaboration of this scope and it is very exciting to see our national tourism marketing agency join forces with an international carrier such as Air Canada to help bring more visitors to experience what our nation has to offer."

While both organizations have an obvious, vested interest in bringing more visitors to Canada, in a statement Destination Canada remarked that the three-year partnership will draw upon the “complementary strengths” of the two organizations.

Under the new agreement, Canada’s flag carrier and Destination Canada will collaborate on strategic marketing initiatives and events. Said initiatives will target the travel trade, consumer travellers and the media.

"We couldn't have chosen a better time for this partnership," said David Goldstein, Destination Canada's President and CEO. "Right before our country's birthday in 2017, and following international recognition of Canada as a premier tourism destination by Lonely Planet and National Geographic, this partnership will enable us to highlight that the world needs more Canada."

No specifics have been released, but both organizations have agreed to better align their marketing strategies with respect to international markets. Air Canada is undergoing a massive service expansion and has unveiled a staggering number of new flights this year, including new service from the West Coast to Europe. While the airline is positioning itself as a North American leader in international connections, it is also bringing a growing number of visitors into Canada, providing economic benefits to industry partners and stakeholders.

"Air Canada is very pleased to have this opportunity to leverage the global marketing power of Destination Canada by combining it with the strength of our extensive and growing network,” said Benjamin Smith, President, Passenger Airlines at Air Canada. “Canada as a brand has more appeal than ever around the world and as Canada's flag carrier we are eager to play our part and support our industry partners by carrying visitors to and within Canada, taking them to amazing destinations throughout our country.”

For more information, visit: www.destinationcanada.com or www.aircanada.ca. 

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