Pubdate: Wed, 26 Apr 2006 Source: Globe and Mail (Canada) Copyright: 2006, The Globe and Mail Company Contact: http://www.globeandmail.ca/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/168 Author: Kevin McArthur, Marketing Reporter Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/topics/Downtown+Eastside PITCHMAN'S ADVICE TO CANADA: SHOW OFF SEAMY SIDE TORONTO -- Vancouver's gritty Downtown Eastside isn't the kind of place you'd expect to find in a tourism campaign. But the neighbourhood's struggle with drug addition and social disorder could actually help boost tourism to Canada after the 2010 Olympic Games, according to an expert on how people perceive national brands. Rather than trying to hide Vancouver's edgy side, Canadian tourism authorities should embrace and publicize it, said Simon Anholt, who conducts quarterly surveys on brand attributes for 35 countries. One of Canada's biggest tourism challenges is our squeaky-clean, almost bland reputation, Mr. Anholt said. So telling people that Canada has its problems, and is working to address them, could actually make us more appealing to potential tourists. "At the moment, Canada has this image that is virtually angelic . . ." Mr. Anholt said. "One of Canada's problems is there no sense of urgency or relevance or modernity about it. . . . That's why if the world comes across a city like Vancouver with real issues and real problems and tackling them really well -- I think it's good." Mr. Anholt was in Toronto yesterday where he made a speech at a conference for the Canadian Tourism Commission, a government-sponsored agency devoted to marketing Canada to tourists around the world. According to Mr. Anholt's most recent survey, Canada has the third-strongest nation brand in the world, behind Britain and Switzerland. Canada is particularly admired for its people and the beauty of its landscape, Mr. Anholt said. The problem is that Canada is one of the most underleveraged brands in the world and doesn't get its fair share of tourists, he said. "It's a bit like vanilla custard. It's really lovely, but it's not quite as good as that Cajun shrimp." Canada needs to sprinkle a little spice onto its vanilla brand, Mr. Anholt told the audience of Canadian tourism providers and global buyers. One of the ways to do that is to hold up our problems -- like drug addiction in Vancouver and the sovereignty movement in Quebec -- and tell the world what we're doing to address them, Mr. Anholt said. Vancouver Mayor Sam Sullivan said recently that he wants to make major progress on the city's drug problem before the Olympic Games. "By 2010, I want the public disorder and crime seriously reduced," Mr. Sullivan said in an interview with The Vancouver Sun in which he discussed his idea of providing free drugs to addicts. - --- MAP posted-by: Richard Lake