Beyond the Matches: FIFA World Cup 2026™ and Ontario’s Opportunity

Mary Anne Ivison  00:01

And this is forward motion discussions about the important topic shaping Ontario's tourism industry. Here's your host, Andrew sigwart,

 

Andrew Siegwart  00:10

today's episode is a really important one for our industry. With the FIFA World Cup 2026 on the horizon, we have what is truly a once in a generation opportunity, not just for Toronto, but for communities right across Ontario. The question is, how do we make the most of it to help us unpack that? I'm joined by Alex mazenik, founding partner at Context research group. Alex and his team recently led a major market intelligence study for destination Ontario, looking at how travelers from key international markets are thinking about their World Cup experience and importantly, how they might engage with destinations beyond Toronto. Well, hello, Alex. Thank you so much for joining us today. Hi, Andrew. Pleasure to be on the pod again. Looking forward to getting into the insights here before we dive into things, I'd love to start at a high level. Can you walk us through the study what you set out to understand and why this moment matters for Ontario's tourism industry.

 

Alexander Mazanik  01:05

Couple things up front. So I'll warn you that, you know, I'm a researcher, and I came with notes. There's a lot of data in this study, and I have this researcher's tendency just to rattle off numbers. So if I'm just starting to sound like an Excel spreadsheet, let me know and rein me in. So the starting point for us really was a couple of simple questions. We know that they're these travelers. They're coming to Toronto for the World Cup, but what happens after they get there? Right? Do they stay put? Do they spread out across the province? What do they want to do? How many nights or days they want to stay what are maybe some of the barriers? Right? And that's what destination Ontario brought us in to find out. Of course, the studies done in collaboration with destination Ontario and commissioned by them, by the way, encourage anyone listening to go over to do insights portal and do insights.crg.ca to access this research or any other research by do so in terms of more nitty gritty information on the methodology side of things, we surveyed 1400 people across five markets. Us drive, which covers Michigan, Ohio and upstate New York. Us fly, which is New York City and Chicago. These are traditional segments that we survey. And then the UK, Germany and France, something that's really important. Note that we've been asked this question is, Who are these individuals? And everyone in the sample was already either considering, actively planning or had booked a trip to Toronto for this tournament, right? So this isn't like a jam pop, general sports interest study. These are people who are intent on coming here for for the tournament. Last note I'll make on the study is that field work dates, so if you work was late February. So February 14 to 20th. And these days, it's very important to make these notes in terms of, you know, putting in the context of all the world events that are going on. So the context for this is, this is sort of after ice, immigration enforcement surges in the US, which started like early January before, just like a day before, a couple of days before the violence in Guadalajara maybe raised some security concerns. And this is a week before US and Iran conflict sort of started. So just again, placing context just important to understand that whatever we're talking about here is in that timeframe, kind of context to keep in mind

 

Andrew Siegwart  03:23

for sure. Yes, there's always forces that are going to add extra layers to travel intent, something I think the industry is quite adept at, at navigating and balancing. A quick question before we dive into the study. I think it's interesting that you and destination Ontario set out to look at this. Obviously, we're, we're considering the FIFA World Cup opportunity here, but I would imagine that this can almost sit as a great case study for future events and seasons where we're planning ahead and trying to get a get a sense of of consumers, right? The purpose here isn't just today's insights. There is a, there's something we can learn for the future, isn't there?

 

Alexander Mazanik  04:04

Yeah, for sure, in terms of, you know, for this, this specific event as as an opportunity, right? The scale of it is just quite something, something special, right? So this is the most watched sporting event on the planet. Soccer is the most popular sport in the world, right? So what happens when this sort of event comes to Toronto? And what can we, what can we learn from that, right? And what we'll hopefully talk about today is, well, we're seeing a special type of quality of traveler that's coming here, right? So these are people that so three quarters of those who are actively planning to come here for the for the World Cup, they've been to previous World Cup events, and the majority have also traveled internationally for major sporting, music or cultural events. So these aren't sort of first timers. These are seasoned international event travelers, and so for us as a sector Terry. A tourism travel tourism sector, it's interesting to learn how to attract that sort of traveler and maybe how to turn them into repeat visitors.

 

Andrew Siegwart  05:09

One of the things that really stood out to me in the in the survey and your analysis is how strongly Toronto is anchoring the travel experience, even for travelers visiting multiple host city, Toronto was still the base. From your perspective, what did the survey tell you about why this is happening, and what does that mean for the rest of the province?

 

Alexander Mazanik  05:27

Nearly three in five travelers to say that Toronto is their primary destination. And even among those planning to visit other host cities, and when you look at nearby us, host cities like New Jersey or Philadelphia, more than four or five say that did attend a match there, but come back to Toronto the same day or next? Really, right? Which is really, yeah, it's really excellent to hear for us. And again, it just creates that perception of Toronto, clearly, as base camp, it's like a safe place to basically start out, go to different destinations and come back. What this means for the province is that Toronto isn't pulling people away from the province. It's actually serving as this, again, kind of base camp, like I said, and it concentrates the visitor traffic. And from there, Ontario has this sort of captive audience, almost, who is already in travel mode and looking for what's next, right? Like, what's the next experience? Where else can they go? What else can they do?

 

Andrew Siegwart  06:23

Do you think that this is a phenomenon we would have seen regardless of world events?

 

Alexander Mazanik  06:30

It's a great question, and I think so, right? Because Toronto already has that brand right. Like this isn't necessarily anything that's new. People know that we're a great city, we're a safe city, we're an inclusive city. Studies that we did last year with the European travelers, for example, really pointed to that as well. Having said that, I do think that the events that are unfolding in terms of maybe concerns to security, inclusivity, things like that across the border, are helping

 

Andrew Siegwart  06:59

our case here, for sure, for sure. It's a nice reflection of all the hard work that goes into building destination brands and the brand Canada, Ontario, Toronto. They mean something globally, and that's leverageable. And I think we need to be thinking about that more and more. And this is reminding us of that, which I think is really it's a great insight. Right off the top, it's clear, from what you've what your survey has shown, that the people who are intending to travel are very comfortable navigating multi city trips. That's a that's a great insight. Do you think that's going to make it easier to attract these visitors to regions beyond Toronto, within Ontario? Does it raise the bar in terms of what these customers are going to expect knowing that they are sort of multi city travelers.

 

Alexander Mazanik  07:48

An interesting point in the data that we saw is that nine in 10 travelers say that they're likely to explore beyond Toronto, right? That's a really high number. The intent is, is clearly, clearly there. So that's sort of a baseline, right? The other thing about this specific traveler, and as I mentioned, they're sort of these experienced travelers, high quality travelers, let's say they can live with real confidence, which is actually an advantage for us, right? So these aren't people who kind of need convincing that international travel is worthwhile, or that, you know, would be afraid of maybe planning or figuring things out. So that's that's good. They're kind of, they're ready to figure all this out. They have that experience. The other element also is that large proportion have been to Canada before, and to Toronto specifically. So maybe we're not introducing them to the country. We're kind of working on deepening a relationship that already exists, something else that's there. And again, this is just is just building up. The Case for these being quality travelers is that 85% say that they feel comfortable navigating transportation, both in Toronto and across the province. And what that means is that the psychological barrier, you know, maybe getting on the train to Niagara or renting a car to drive to Ottawa is generally low. The friction, ultimately, isn't fear. It's just lack of maybe clear information about what to do once they decide to go right. And I think the implication here is that experienced travelers, while it's good news for us that they're sort of prepared to figure things out. They're harder to impress with generic destination marketing, right? Like they've kind of seen it all. They know what that's all about, like a pretty picture with a kind of slogan or something like that. But they're much easier to convert with specific, credible information, right? So well curated restaurant recommendation, compelling reason why this particular stretch of Ontario is worth two days of their trip, all right? And I think that's a real opportunity here for for the sector to kind of communicate, communicate that sort of information.

 

Andrew Siegwart  09:49

We'll circle back to that comment in a in a few questions later on in the interview. But it's a really good it's really good feedback. I also think what you said. Is really insightful, and I think it's important to reiterate it continuing to develop a relationship with global travelers, that that is a different way of thinking about this experience. You know, I think your data is showing that this cohort of visitors has been to Canada before, has been to Toronto before, and they're looking, they're looking to to come back. And I think in thinking about regional clusters and encouraging people to go beyond a community that they know, in marketing speak or in destination development, speak, it's you know. How do we, you know, encourage people to move and travel? But I like the way you frame that. Let's talk about how we continue to deepen our relationship with partners. So I think that's a really insightful way to to highlight that kind of following on your train about, you know, not falling into that sort of generic campaigning. One of the one of the insights that you shared in the survey is that travelers aren't just coming for the matches, they're also coming for overall atmosphere, sort of a broader experience that can be very hard to define. I'm wondering, how do you think destinations should be thinking about that? What does that mean in practical terms for destinations planning ahead?

 

Alexander Mazanik  11:12

Yeah, that's the interesting thing about kind of FIFA travelers, and maybe one the puzzling piece was, when we're designing the study, is there's definitely people they were speaking to that they really understand. Well, how can you come here for the atmosphere of a big event versus the big event on its own? Right? So, for example, when Taylor Swift is in town, you're really going to see the concert. You're not there to hang out in the parking lot to, I don't know, get the atmosphere of it, all right? So, but that's the difference here. So only 17% say that their primary reason for coming is to support a specific team, and the single biggest group, 35% are coming for the overall tournament atmosphere and activities, right? Another 25% describe themselves basically as a mix of those two. What that tells us is that the experience is the product, right? It's not just the match ticket. And the region doesn't need to be a host city to basically tap into this energy, right? They just need to be ready and visible.

 

Andrew Siegwart  12:11

That makes a lot of sense, and that could be everything from participating in some of those broader regional campaigns that could just be having the right theming when matches are matches are on, or when people are here, giving them a little bit of the the atmosphere that they expect. I actually had this experience personally in in Berlin a couple of years ago. I happened to be there when the Euro Cup was was taking place, and I wasn't there because of that, but the atmosphere was what made that trip so memorable. And for someone who's not necessarily a sports guy, I spent so much time in beer halls, outdoor beer halls, or just hanging out in a in a local pub, watching a match, or people watching all the different nations teams coming together with their jerseys and the sort of street performance of it all. And then there was a lot of place making stuff that Berlin had done to sort of really celebrate. Yeah, I totally get what that means. I've experienced it myself. It's fun to think that people are going to get that experience here in Toronto and Region, when they when they come, I

 

Alexander Mazanik  13:23

can't wait, truly, because I'm a big soccer, soccer fan. People say it here, or football, as I'm kind of used to saying it, but I'm jealous of your experience in Berlin, and I'm really looking forward to what we're going to do here.

 

Andrew Siegwart  13:34

It's going to be great. Yeah, it's what made me that's when the opportunity clicked for me. This was a few years ago. This is when the opportunity clicked for me on how incredible this is going to be. So tell me, as you mentioned, nine out of 10 travelers are likely to explore beyond Toronto. It's a good number. How real Do you think that intent is, and what do you think is going to determine whether that actually turns into that kind of decision to make a trip beyond

 

Alexander Mazanik  14:01

so I think it's, I think it's real, right, like so it's generally consistent across every market we surveyed. So ranged from 85% in France to 93% among us fly travelers, you know, and eight in 10 of those planning to explore expect at least one overnight stay outside the city, right? Not, just a quick drive by. So if it is that is a real intent, intent that that's happening there, I think really what we ought to talk about more in our conversation today is, well, what do you do with that intent? Right? Like, what do you do with this opportunity? What does, what does conversion look like, and how do different regions position

 

Andrew Siegwart  14:40

themselves for it. So on that note, what would your What advice would you have for the destinations in thinking about that, that kind of conversion plan, what do you think are the most important elements at this stage?

 

Alexander Mazanik  14:55

Yeah, for sure. So let's, let's talk about that, and maybe we'll use Niagara as. As a jumping point and then come up with a few examples for regions. But Niagara, of course, stands to benefit from this a lot right, from from this, from this event. So they benefit from Why would that happen? Essentially, right? Why is this the case? It's because of their awareness and consideration. So travelers are telling us that 58% for awareness and 54% for consideration. This is highest of any region outside of Toronto. And the reason this is happening is because Niagara has sort of this high value proposition that's easy to communicate, and that's the key here, right? You've got your falls, you get your wine, and it's easy to get through. It's a short drive from Toronto, and so you can kind of picture that trip before you've even gone right? And I think it's a really powerful thing for potential travelers here. And so the other thing to keep pulling on this thread here with Niagara. So why is this conversion rate from awareness to consideration so high for Niagara, and why is it lower by comparison to other regions, right? So, for example, Niagara converts at nearly 93% from kind of consideration to actual trips and almost everyone. So basically, almost everyone who knows it considers going there as an example. Ottawa is at about 67% I'm not singling anyone out, right? Just dry some comparisons. That gap isn't about quality product. It's about narrative clarity. So I think the regions that will break through and the ones that invest in sort of awareness alone, so it'll be the ones that give travelers a clear, easy to communicate, reason to visit. So now list of things to do like here's all, all things to do under the sun here. There's 14 different activities you can partake in, but more so this is what your day looks like here, and it's far more powerful than again, just more and more generic, broad awareness plays. And lastly, what I mentioned on this front for regions is there's also a timing insight here that we don't want to overlook, and it's that over half of travelers say they're most likely to explore after the tournament ends. Right? So these visitors, they're still in Toronto, they're still in Ontario. They've had a great experience around the tournament, all the atmosphere, all these things, and now they're they have the have time on their hands, and the regions that have already been in the research conversation during that time are likely the ones to benefit from the conversion afterwards,

 

Andrew Siegwart  17:23

popping up on their planning radar in advance or while they're here, is important. Tell me you saw. You saw, I can ask a few questions kind of around this. So you saw, in your in your study, that those who plan are looking at about a two to three hour day trip for the day, and are willing to spend about four hours to sort of travel for an overnight stay. So that shows a good amount of intent to explore, doesn't it?

 

Alexander Mazanik  17:51

Yeah, absolutely. So in terms of the stats that we're seeing, so the average, max one way travel time for a day trip is about three hours, and 93% will travel at least two hours. And 60 66% say they would go three hours or more for overnight trips. The ceiling moves to four hours on average, with 52% willing to go that far more. Of course, you know, maybe, as somebody who lives in Toronto, I'm aware that on a bad day, Toronto is about two hours away from Toronto. That aside, if you were to put that on the map. So again, three hours one way for a day trip, about four hours for night trip. It covers a significant portion of the province, right? Basically, Niagara, Ottawa, Kawartha, Muskoka, Kingston, if you're optimistic, part of Northern Ontario even that's a large catchment area, and again, destinations need to actually position themselves within that radios during the research phase.

 

Andrew Siegwart  18:46

Well, that's what I found interesting. When you you shared in the in the survey, a couple of markets that that also showed a level of awareness, so Ottawa, Southwest Ontario and even Northern Ontario. And you know, depending on that certainly goes beyond that sort of timeframe of travel that you talked about. But clearly there is some awareness of even the broader pieces of Ontario, so that that tells me that there's, there is an opportunity to capture. I think what I think your advice is really good is, how do you, how do you clearly and concisely put what you have on offer, on the radar and in the right places. And I know we're going to talk a little bit about some of the the frictions and some of the readiness of travelers, and I know that there's some opportunities there, but the word we're going to talk about in in greater detail, but I do think that's it's very interesting if you were, if you were one of these places where that fit this criteria, what's the what's the one or two things you would be focusing on right now to to try to get that conversion or awareness?

 

Alexander Mazanik  19:57

Yeah, I think to make it really simple, number one, you. Make the practical information easy and findable, right? So things like travel times, transportation option options, what's in the region? I think that's probably the most important thing. It's probably the highest single leverage investment that can be made right now. And the second is being strategic about which segments you're you're activating. So European travelers, they average nearly seven nights and and p plus nights outside Toronto. So again, that's just higher than, higher than the average. That's even German. Germany is a real standout in that, by the way. And families, all right, the family travel, they're further along and they're planning. They're more likely to explore. And again, these look these groups, they look different in terms of marketing and product development. So those we might might too. One is practical information to just be aware of who you're targeting.

 

Andrew Siegwart  20:51

Clearly, we're going to see visitors from all walks of life in so many different communities, whether it's domestic or international. But could you maybe share with us some of the standout segments that you're tracking and what we need to be thinking about in relation

 

Alexander Mazanik  21:05

to them. Absolutely standout segment is definitely a German visitor. They average 6.9 nights in Toronto, and that's the longest day of any market. It has to be said that the European markets that we surveyed generally trend higher, but Germany is a specific kind of success case here. So that's 6.9 nights in Toronto. So seven nights basically, and 3.3 nights outside the city. They're also the most likely to treat Toronto as one stop within a broader, multi city itinerary, right? Which is great, and on paper, that maybe sounds like they're splitting their their time, but I'd reframe that, and I'd say that they're not less committed to Ontario, per se, as they're more comfortable building complex trips. And what I would pull out from that actually, is the implication would be to European markets, Germany specifically, but European markets is maybe to reposition ourselves in that, in the sense that they're not buying a Toronto trip with a bunch of optional add ons, they're buying an Ontario experience anchored

 

Andrew Siegwart  22:11

in Toronto. Yes, yeah. Good way to good way to frame it. And really, back to my question at the beginning. I mean, these are the kinds of insights that I think can shape how we think about attracting these markets in the future, right? Like this is, this is a good insight to gain about how we could be working and cultivating relationships with German visitors much into the future. That that is a, that is a that is a customer, I think worth building a relationship with, and strengthening our relationship when they when they travel to that degree, okay? What other what other groups, German travelers,

 

Alexander Mazanik  22:44

but specifically, now that you're you're mentioning building a kind of repeat visitation. Families are amazing for that, right? And that's also the other segment I'd really encourage the industry to lean into, because a third of travelers are coming with children, okay? And as we know these families, they're more likely to kind of try to figure things out beforehand, and that shows that. And they're also significantly more likely to explore beyond Toronto, all right? And the thing about families, and I think it really leans on the repeat visitor angle, is it's not just the volume opportunity. So when a family commits to like a regional overnight trip, they'll need accommodation, right, couple of meals and figure out what to do, how to get there, all these things, there's a lot of friction that's sort of involved in that the spent per trip is obviously considerably higher than the solo or a couple traveler. And basically, families who go through all that, and if they had a great experience, they're also more likely to return, all right, so it's really an investment play, and think for regional operators investing in that kind of specific family programming could pay serious dividends

 

Andrew Siegwart  23:51

down the line. It's a it's a good reminder that sport tourism in general can really be a destination builder over time and a gateway.

 

Andrew Siegwart  24:08

Now, speaking of other insights, now that you've painted the picture of who the who the visitor is, you've been tracking some of the maybe barriers that they make might be facing or are thinking about. So, you know, time cost and complexity. So within that, what do you think some of the risks that we have in in meeting their

 

Alexander Mazanik  24:29

needs Absolutely? So the let me just kind of walk you through some some numbers here, first in terms of these barriers. So the top barriers are time, cost and complexity, and so about 29% site limited trip time, 26% mentioned overall budget or cost of traveling outside Toronto. And 25% flags of traffic and congestion, right? And so I think the biggest, none of these are groundbreaking barriers, ultimately, right, like as we look at them, I. Um, and the biggest risk for us isn't that kind of demand won't exist for wanting to maybe disperse out of Toronto. We know that educators, based on this study, are that the demand will exist. The risk is that we fail to kind of communicate clearly enough and early enough and all that intense sort of to spread out really, maybe just dissolves into what is easiest and most convenient, just results and just Toronto stays.

 

Andrew Siegwart  25:26

So yeah, have making sure that people understand how to get where they need to go, and that there's clarity and ease with that. It seems that transportation is really the big the big piece here that they're they're interesting to move around. There's a high intent. They want to move it's about getting the the information to them, so all the different pathways as clear as possible. From your perspective, are you seeing, and I realize this might be a difficult question to ask, but are you seeing any, any markets or any any efforts to put the right information out there to to address this issue, or do you think that that's still an opportunity that lies ahead? I believe

 

Alexander Mazanik  26:09

it is an opportunity that that lies ahead, right? It's, I think it's mostly like these barriers that I've just listed. They're mostly around perception, right? So something else to to note for the specific traveler. Again, just as a reminder, this is sort of that experience, kind of high quality traveler that's not afraid of traveling and figuring things out. And 85% of respondents say that they feel comfortable navigating transportation across the province, right? So even while they're they're citing this travel time uncertainty as a barrier. This is generally a type of traveler that that's not afraid to figure something like this out. And so ultimately, the barrier here isn't the ability, it's the confidence. So I really feel like giving people clear information is really just going to dissolve

 

Andrew Siegwart  26:53

that, dissolve that barrier. Even there's a strong openness to to travel by rail, something that you tracked, even where the awareness of what that service level might be is lower. So I guess you know this, I'm going to throw this out in the universe. Maybe, maybe we'll see some campaigns emerging that are just about the different modes of transportation. And that's sort of how easy it is to navigate Ontario. We have so many new we have so many new modes that have come online, whether that's Metrolinx, the northlander, I think should be rolling. They're doing final tests now. So I think the more that is, that is online, you know, good air connectivity from different regions, we're starting to see some increased air connectivity. Who knows? Maybe there's a maybe there's a campaign around that somewhere. We'll just throw that out into the universe. Do you think something like that would resonate? Or do you think that's almost too simple?

 

Alexander Mazanik  27:45

I think it would resonate. Why not? I mean, we're talking about European travelers here, right? They're obviously arriving by air without a car. They can rent a car, but also their rail is sort of a natural mode of transportation for them back home, so they're used to that sort of thing. And so, you know, ultimately, the gap they have between familiarity and intent and using rail basically writes itself, almost like a marketing brief, right? So we can meet that, oh, we're talking about rail, and that's great. I mean, there's certainly some data here that shows that rail is a possibility and is interest in it, but car dominates, right? So that's the reality. 81% percent say that they did use a car to get around Ontario. That's sort of the reality of the world as it is. And I think most people like the data shows are going to are going to use a car. But as much as maybe it is simpler just hop into a car then schedule, kind of any sort of rail itinerary with connections and timings and things like that. Think it's still, like I said, going driving back the practical points from this research. They really crave that information. Well, how long is it gonna take me to get somewhere, right? Like, and what I mean?

 

Andrew Siegwart  28:54

What do I do along the way? There's a, I know there's a quite a culture, particularly in Germany and other European countries, of doing bus tours and motor coach tours. Did you Did any of that pop up or come through in any of your insights?

 

Alexander Mazanik  29:11

Busses are on the radar as well. So just running through the data quickly, car is at 81% train is at 74% these are likelihood of travel to other parts of Ontario using that method, and busses are at 65% so 100% there's there's that opportunity. There people are obviously open to the idea of taking the bus,

 

Andrew Siegwart  29:33

all modes functioning to their fullest. So one of the things that's that stood out to me from your survey. And again, I know this is going back to February, but most travel, I think it's fair to say that most travelers are still in that research and planning phase, and they may not have locked in everything yet. So how I interpret that is, there's still time. So if, if there's a destination or a business that maybe hasn't quite put anything out. Not specific, or hasn't got the ball rolling. There's still time to there's still time to reach these travelers. Is that a

 

Alexander Mazanik  30:06

fair statement? I'd say. So I think there's time, but I don't want that sentiment to sort of remove pressure for a meeting to act like as soon as that's right, right? And so two things to talk about here. So one is like, what? What to do right now? Why is that important? And so you're right. At the time that we did this, the study, only 5% had booked, 32% were actively planning, and 64% were still considering, all right, and then only one in 10 had actually secured match tickets. That means that the mass, the vast majority of decisions about where to sleep, what to do, where to explore beyond Toronto, there's still, there's still wide open. The implication here is that let's think about what travelers think about when they're planning for trips. So when they're in this consideration phase, they're sort of creating this mental map of their trip. And you're Googling a few things, you're starting to pull a few things into your wish list, things like that. Maybe you're not committing to things, but ultimately you're exploring what is possible. And so every region operator and experience that appears in that mental map during the research phase obviously has a really good chance of making it into kind of the final itinerary, right? And so at this stage, at this kind of research phase, it's about being findable and compelling. When somebody Google simple things, like things to do near Toronto, right, or data from Toronto World Cup into once they Google that just just kind of showing up, right? And I think the industry's job at that stage is to populate that environment and not necessarily just sort of wait for visitors to come here and then bombard them with information. So just wanted to kind of, you can definitely act proactively, and it's going to create real opportunity once there actually are here.

 

Andrew Siegwart  31:51

Would you say the best opportunity is in the digital space right now? So your web environments and your sort of social engagement is where you want to put that content and make sure it's as clear and easy and discoverable as possible.

 

Alexander Mazanik  32:05

Yeah, yeah. I'd say, I'd say so for sure, against populating that environment right now, getting into their research window, so that when they get here, you already created some, maybe awareness, some familiarity, right? You just make it onto their their final decision list here something else. So we're talking about right now, sort of pre that them actually landing here. That window to make an impact, obviously doesn't close the moment they land here. So 54% say they're most likely to explore after the tournament, right? So they're staying here. They're going to need to stay for the tournament. But then also, there's an opportunity after the tournament, and so which, what that means is that many won't finalize those post match plans until they're here, and they spend some time here. So real time information is also, is also important, right? Like, I just sort of want to balance the two here.

 

Andrew Siegwart  32:57

It's a really good point. And, you know, it's, it's funny when I speak to all of our partners, and I can recall myself when I worked in market and destination, one of the trend lines that we have been seeing is visitors are planning itineraries closer and closer to events. It causes so much stress for all of us because you don't see the bookings. We've even seen media stories talking about the pre bookings pace, right? And I know there's a lot of concern about that pre booking pace, but what we've seen, what I'm seeing when I talk to operators and regional players and destination communities, is that people book late, later than ever, and they make decisions very, very close. And that is a trend we're seeing. It's clearly playing out here. But you know, there's going to be a couple of weeks of a lot of great time in Toronto, where people are going to be here, enjoying the ambiance, participating in in everything that has to offer. And you're right to point that out, that is likely when they're going to be doing their trip planning. So the time window isn't, you know, don't think, oh, you know, the first game has started. We're out. We'll wait and see what happens. That's probably the best time to be engaging socially and digitally. So I think that's very good advice for for everyone. And you know, sometimes this isn't about having the best budgets or having the most creative campaigns or, you know, you know, emotional, moving messages. I think what your survey said is you can move beyond inspiration and focus now on practical decision making information and getting those itineraries out there. And if I'm if I'm correct, correct me if I'm wrong. But the other thing that your study showed was that it, which kind of backs this up, is that the the interest in itineraries, and the in the sort of booking on those that there's still opportunity there, they haven't quite finalized that. So bringing that focus to the strategy at this point could really help bring some some business. I think the is that, is that fair to say?

 

Alexander Mazanik  34:50

Yeah, yeah, absolutely. First of all, the trend of last minute book later and later and later booking, that's, that's certainly true. And I mean, you wouldn't blame in this environment. And especially, I guess, you know what the cost? You wouldn't blame anyone for maybe taking a moment to to decide on that final kind of itinerary or pulling the trigger on buying a ticket, you know. So that's 100% 100% true in terms of kind of itinerary and practical information and things you're calling out from from the survey here, the top needs in terms of building head, CLIN Aries, that the travelers, these travelers are telling us about, they're very practical, right? So the stop information, it's things like food and restaurants, maps, navigation, that's what people are telling us, right? Attractions, travel times and distances, budgeting and costs, accommodation, like, these are when we ask them, like, what are your informational needs? Like, that's, that's what they're asking for, right? And so what to take away from this is that they're not looking for what's not making it to this list is, like, inspirational items, right? Like, they're not looking to get inspired at the stage or anything like that. It is very much kind of pointed information, like a transactional like, where do I how do I get there, right? So it tells you something about the decision making process.

 

Andrew Siegwart  36:06

That's, right, yeah, we have to get into concierge mode. Yeah, that's, that's, that's what your survey is telling us, be prepared to give advice, provide information and help guide people exactly. And so in that

 

Alexander Mazanik  36:19

environment where you're sort of combining looking for practical information. They're booking things kind of last minute. What these travelers are really missing is this, like, last mile of confidence, right? It's that little bit of practical clarity that turns their intent into action. And again, I think that's where the industry ought to focus on some attention. Yeah. Well, if

 

Andrew Siegwart  36:38

there's anything I know about the tourism community. That's what they know how to do really well. And I think what's really helpful is this, this survey, and some of the data that you shared is, I think, part of giving us that confidence and and data, we need to sort of lean into that and and to bank on it. So, you know, this is why this is such an important endeavor and and why I think it's great that destination Ontario has created this work and that you're here to share it with us today, I'm going to sort of take it to a 30,000 foot level and thinking about the future. So this is obviously a big opportunity on a number of fronts for Canada, in terms of brand Canada, for tourism, for locals, for for community pride, for for our aspirations to become a bigger global player in tourism and visitor attraction, high stakes, actually. So I want to ask you when, when we look back after the FIFA World Cup this year, what, what should success look like for us? What do you think we should be measuring as a successful outcome? Yeah, that's a big question.

 

Alexander Mazanik  37:45

I'll offer kind of, you know, my perspective on it. So in terms of success, I think we're really looks like is a meaningful overnight stays, kind of distributed across the province, right? Like we're seeing that there's this intent to, want to disperse. So, you know, it's seeing visitors from Germany, France and the UK who arrived for football, leaving, kind of the genuine impression of Ontario, right, of the various destination experience across the region that that they got to kind of take part in. And crucially, would want to come back to, right? So it's, again, this idea of using this as an opportunity to showcase more than just Toronto, as great as it is, right, but showcasing the entire province and converting that into, hopefully a repeat visitation, because there's so much more to see, right? Like you really can't do it all in one in one trip. And so basically, in short, I think it looks success is having the industry use this moment to build kind of lasting awareness

 

Andrew Siegwart  38:44

and impression. You know, I think you're, you're sort of taking us where we started, which is, I can, I could summarize all of that into where you started, which is, this is an opportunity to strengthen relationships and to strengthen what Ontario means to international audience, and that has probably never been more important, whether that's for economic development, but also for our own, you know, our own impact in the world. So, you know, no no pressure everyone. But I do think that is, that is the opportunity we see, and of course, what we don't want to miss my last question for you. And you know, I you made a comment earlier that my last question was a big question and and I actually think it's really valuable to ask that type of question to an organization like CRG that is in the data, in the numbers, because I think you see things that we sometimes don't see, and I think your insights are really valuable. And on that note, I'm going to ask you a question on on advice. So, you know, one of the things we, you know, our forward motion tourism strategy, a lot of it is about alignment and and shifting focus and having the right mind. Mindset shift. So I'm wondering, do you have any advice for us? Is there any mindset shifts we need to be deploying right now to fully leverage this opportunity, from your perspective and from the data that you've been pouring through?

 

Alexander Mazanik  40:13

Yeah, absolutely. I'll share my thoughts on that a little bit to add to your previous question on kind of success. I think we really have tail a tailwind here for this right now. Canada's positioning around the world, specifically in Europe, is just very favorable, right? I don't want to get into kind of the politics of it all, but it is there is that alignment, right? We see that in the data. We continuously see that in the data to where European travelers sort of perceive us as perhaps, like a friendlier alternative, right? Or that is a destination is kind of aligned with their with their values, all right? So maybe they kind of almost see us in a slightly new light. So I think it's a big opportunity for us, and we have, we have some tailwind there, as far as a mindset shift heading into this, heading into this moment. I think what I would suggest is to not think about this as a kind of a Toronto moment, right? It's not a Toronto event, so to speak. Yes, the mattress are in Toronto, obviously, but visitors are spending, as we've talked about, some nights here. They're kind of captive in that sense, but they're also, they're planning to spend lots of nights outside Toronto as well, and that's a lot of days for people who are already kind of curious and already comfortable moving around, right? And so I think Devon brings the visitors to the door, and our collective job here is really to make sure that the door is open to the whole province.

 

Andrew Siegwart  41:39

And I think what you're also saying is teamwork is imperative across all of the all the players in Ontario for a success. And how on theme is that it's football, right?

 

Alexander Mazanik  41:53

Yeah, that's right, the ultimate team

 

Andrew Siegwart  41:54

sport, exactly. That's, that's the mindset shift we have that. But it's, it always bears repeating. It's something that we have to work on. And I think it's the power of tourism, to be honest with you, because this is a great example, all the hard work that the city of Toronto has put into this, and all the organizing teams, and the partnership with the province, partnership with BC and and the the purposeful effort to look at a strategy that that disperses and engages beyond the GTA to the rest of Ontario. I mean, that's been managed and cultivated with purpose, and I think that's that's really a strong legacy for us as we look at our our continued growth in our Ontario tourism strategy. Alex, I just you know, this has been an incredibly valuable conversation. I want to thank you. On behalf of all of our partners, I think what's really clear is that the opportunity in front of us is significant, but it's not also automatic. We have work to do. It's going to take more coordination and focus and ultimately meeting the customer where the customer's needs are, and that's always a winning formula. So thanks for sharing your insights and your advice. Thank you for the CRG team, all the great work you've been doing, as many of our listeners know, you've been such a valuable partner in helping us bring our tourism strategy together. I believe you are our second interviewee on the forward motion podcast. So that is an esteemed honor, and thank you for that. And just for our listeners. Listeners, please join me in congratulating Alex on his newborn son who is bringing a lot of excitement to his life right now. Thanks, Alex.

 

Alexander Mazanik  43:33

Appreciate it. Thank you very much. Andrea, lots of excitement on my end, and always a pleasure to be on, always a pleasure to share more and more insights with the sector and looking forward to being

 

Andrew Siegwart  43:42

on soon. And to our listeners, thank you for tuning in. If you haven't already, I'd encourage you to take a look at the full report prepared by C, R, G. It's packed with insights that can help inform how we all prepare for the FIFA World Cup 2026 it can be found on the destination Ontario insights portal. Link will be provided in the show notes. We'll see you next time on forward motion.

 

Mary Anne Ivison  44:05

Thanks for listening to forward motion. This show is created by the tourism industry association of Ontario and is recognized by government as the voice of tourism and produced by everyone at the sound off media company.