The Buffalo Niagara region’s tourism and hospitality industry is singing “O Canada” and with good reason.

A follow-up study to a $600,000 Southern Ontario targeted promotion campaign undertaken last year by Visit Buffalo Niagara and Niagara Tourism & Convention Corp. found that it attracted just shy of 300,000 Canadians to the region for overnight stays. The nearly 300,000 number of Canadian visitors who came because of the campaign is actually 111,801 “visitor parties.” An average visitor party includes 2.6 people, research indicates.

And, those Southern Ontario residents spent more than $130.2 million in the local economy. Additionally, the visitors used 339,945 hotel room nights and gave the region $7.2 million in sales and hotel room taxes. In other words, for every $8 invested in the targeted Southern Ontario campaign, it produced a $381 return.

“Clearly, it is working and worth it,” said Patrick Kaler, Visit Buffalo Niagara president and CEO. The results were tabulated by eBrains Inc., a Washington-based tourism-based research firm. Tourism officials released the information Friday.

The campaign was funded by Visit Buffalo Niagara, the Niagara Tourism & Convention Corp., Empire State Development and Brand USA. The follow-up study was done to justify the expenditure, but to also create the possibility for future funding as possible new, targeted campaigns may be aimed at such markets as Erie, Pa. and Rochester. Another Southern Ontario campaign is also in the works.

“Southern Ontario is great opportunity,” said Ralph Thompson, who heads eBrains Inc. and oversaw the study. “But, it needs to be penetrated more than it us.” It is well-documented that Southern Ontario residents flock to the region for its shopping centers and to fly from Buffalo Niagara International Airport and Niagara Falls International Airport.

Southern Ontario residents are also key segments of season ticket and individual game ticket buyers for the Buffalo Bills, Buffalo Sabres, Buffalo Bandits and Buffalo Bisons. But, there are other markets to tap into, Thompson found from his research. Among them: the “Girls Getaway” market and those seeking slices of “Americana.” Both were among five targeted videos created for the marketing campaign.

It worked. “You want to get ‘heads in beds’ and to your destination and not just to your website,” Thompson said. Videos helped whet the appetite of Canadians, the eBrains survey found. “It created an emotional connection,” Thompson said. Thompson said given the impact of last year’s targeted campaign, he recommends the regional tourism agencies expand their efforts to other municipalities. “It should absolutely be extended domestically,” Thompson recommended.

Source: http://www.bizjournals.com/buffalo/news/2015/06/19/targeted-canadian-marketing-campaign-lifts-buffalo.html