Visits to B.C. are climbing with more non-stop flights from Mexico City

Bruce Constantineau
Sun

A group of skiers from Mexico City, in Whistler for the second annual Mexican Whistler Ski Week, get ready to head down to the village after a day of skiing and racing. Mexico has emerged as a strong, growing market for the B. C. tourism industry.

Those 200 boisterous skiers swooshing, gliding and racing for trophies down the powdery slopes of Whistler this week represent a hugely promising B.C. tourism market — Mexico.

With no ski resort of their own, more than 150,000 Mexican skiers flock to winter destinations every year and Whistler-Blackcomb has gained prominence on their radar.

“They’re a lot more aware of Canada and it has become more trendy to travel here,” Tourism Whistler sales director Karen Goodwin said in an interview. “Many of them have been to Niagara Falls, seen the CN Tower and visited Montreal so they want to try something new.”

Mexicans are clearly more drawn to Whistler in the winter, as the resort attracts between 5,000 and 10,000 overnight visitors from Mexico between November and April, compared with just 1,500 between May and October.

Tourism BC figures show that 72,500 Mexicans visited the province during the first 11 months of 2007 — an increase of more than 23 per cent over 2006.

That’s more overnight visitors than the number from Hong Kong or Taiwan and only 7,000 fewer than Germany, a vital international market for B.C.

Travel flows between B.C. and Mexico are still heavily skewed in Mexico‘s favour, with 123,000 B.C. residents traveling to Mexico during the first half of 2007 compared with 34,100 Mexicans coming the other way. But the Mexico-to-B.C. figure was up more than 27 per cent over the previous year.

Whistler is capitalizing on the trend this week by hosting a bash — the second annual Mexican Whistler Ski Week — to promote the destination to well-heeled Mexican travellers.

The event features special ski training days, races, exclusive shopping, group dinners and apres-ski parties for Mexican visitors.

More than 200 people made the trek to Whistler from Mexico City this year, up from 130 last year, and they’re having fun.

Mexican tour operator Nathan Baker feels Mexicans and Canadians relate well to each other because they’re both so heavily influenced by their huge U.S. neighbour.

“We find Canadians to be very friendly and we appreciate that, too,” he said in an interview while enjoying a beverage with his fellow Mexican travellers this week at the Garibaldi Lift Co. bar in Whistler.

More than half the visitors on this trip came as guests of corporate sponsors but many heard about the event on Mexican radio and paid their own way, with packages starting at around $2,500.

Baker said about 20 visitors on the Whistler trip have never skied before but are keen to learn as they take advantage of lessons from resort ski instructors, some of whom speak Spanish. He feels Whistler has emerged as the third most popular destination for Mexican skiers recently — behind Colorado and Utah.

Mexican marketing consultant Arturo Cervantes — who conceived the Mexican Ski Week idea four years ago after seeing so many Mexicans in Whistler — said Canadian skiers have been patient on the slopes with some of the less-than-expert Mexicans.

“They’re very nice to Mexican skiers, even though they may not be very good,” he said. “Nobody gets into any trouble because they don’t ski well.”

Tour organizer Louis Miguel Fuentes said it’s easier now for Mexicans to travel to Canada than the U.S. There are at least 11 non-stop flights a week from Mexico City to Vancouver and Mexicans can travel to Canada without a visa.

“But you need a visa to get into the U.S. and sometimes it is very difficult to get one,” Fuentes said.

Tourism BC North American marketing director Carol Nelson said a growing middle class in Mexico with a growing penchant for international travel has prompted Canadian tourism officials to pay more attention to the market.

The Canadian Tourism Commission established an office in Mexico City five years ago and Tourism BC, which spent virtually nothing on marketing to Mexico just two or three year ago, now spends $250,000 a year on the Mexican market.

“About 13 million Mexicans travel internationally every year and Canada only attracts about 250,000,” Nelson said in an interview. “So there’s a lot of room for growth.”

She said B.C. received about $1.4 million worth of media coverage in Mexico last year, with about $400,000 of that generated by the first Mexican Whistler Ski Week. Tourism BC launched a new Spanish-language website two months ago, which has attracted about 5,000 visitors so far.

CTC vice-president of sales Andrew Clark said Mexican visitation to Canada has increased by about 25 per cent in the past five years.

“There’s some real enthusiasm in Mexico for some key Canadian attributes,” he said. “Canada is considered to be a beautiful country that’s very clean and very safe.”

He said many Mexican travellers to Canada are “high-yield, long-stay” consumers who spend a lot of money — an estimated $275 million in 2006.

“They like to travel in relatively large groups so they generate some very good spending,” Clark said. “They basically stay longer and spend more.”

© The Vancouver Sun 2008

Some seek privacy but others want to be seen. Here’s where you are most likely to find them

Yvonne Zacharias
Sun

Diana Krall and Elvis Costello were spotted at Bishop’s just before Christmas. Photograph by : Kevin Winter, Getty Images

Anne Hathaway

Jessica Alba

Ben Stiller

The bar at CinCin. Anne Hathaway, B e n S t i l l e r a n d Pierce Brosnan are a m o n g t h o s e t o have dined at the R o b s o n S t r e e t eatery.

At Elbow Room, the celebs are on the wall, as well as at the tables.

The next time you head out for some fine dining, take a minute to look at the table next to you. You never know who you might find.

Jennifer Aniston, Aaron Eckhart, Keanu Reeves, Jennifer Connelly, Ashley Judd, Michelle Pfeiffer, Ashton Kutcher and Kathy Bates are all shooting films in town. They have to eat somewhere, don’t they?

There are a few hot spots where you could easily bump into one of them. Try the Blue Water Café, CinCin Ristorante, Tojo’s, West, Cioppinos’s and C restaurant, to name a few.

The celebrities create a certain buzz the minute they walk in. The staff loves it. The patrons love it. So do the stars.

There is a wide variance in the celebrities’ preferences. Some like to trumpet their presence. Others want to hide it. Some are sociable; some are not.

Edwyn Kumar, CinCin restaurant director, said actress Anne Hathaway was one of the sociable ones. “She was talking to people at the tables beside her and having her photos taken with them.”

All kinds of celebrities have passed through CinCin’s doors, including Aniston recently, Isaiah Washington, Canucks player Henrik Sedin, actors Ben Stiller, Jason Priestley and Pierce Brosnan and members of The Tragically Hip.

“They don’t get a different level of treatment. It just doesn’t exist,” said Kumar. “I think they appreciate that.”

He says they are drawn to the warm, welcoming ambience of the restaurant and the cooking style, which incorporates a wood oven and a wood grill.

Some are dressed superbly, especially the women, he said. “They are coming out for a nice dinner and they look fantastic.”

Kumar said the women certainly don’t starve themselves. “I don’t see them ordering a half soup and a salad for a main. They are ordering off the menu.” And the majority of the celebrities drink alcohol of some kind if they are of age.

At the Blue Water Café, restaurant director Stephan Cachard says celebrities go for appetizers and entrées that are mostly sushi, lobster and fish. They tend to drink quite a few martinis, he said, as well as beer and glasses of wine. They rarely order a whole bottle.

“I can’t remember the last time I saw one of them ordering a bottle of wine.”

Jessica Alba is a regular here. Other guests last year included Charlize Theron, Renée Zellweger and Kim Basinger. Catherine Zeta-Jones was once a guest as were Harrison Ford and Calista Flockhart, as well as Lucy Liu and the Red Hot Chili Peppers.

Cachard said they like coming here because there is an open space where they can be seen. Some actually want that. If they don’t, they can be tucked away into a quiet, intimate area.

With an open kitchen, open sushi bar and bar all on one floor, the room is very energized, said Cachard.

The celebrities sometimes order dessert, said Cachard, but that doesn’t happen often.

The Cactus Club in Yaletown is another place that draws in both athletes and actors.

General manager Kevin Banno says the restaurant/bar’s attraction is partly its location in Yaletown. It gets people away from Granville Street, which can be scary on a Saturday night.

Athletes also like that fact that everything on the menu is alterable. Hockey players often come in and order a grilled chicken breast, brown rice and broccoli, and that is okay.

Banno says the big names are drawn here by its casual, low-key atmosphere. “We don’t point any fingers.”

Sometimes the kid-glove treatment gets to be too much, even for the stars. For a dose of reality, they head to a hole-in-the-wall breakfast place Elbow Room Café on Davie Street, where owner Patrick Savoie serves them hearty portions along with some fun-filled abuse.

Even Sharon Stone doesn’t get to jump the queue here and Tom Selleck was once told to refill his own coffee.

Despite his brusque ways, Savoie is known as a man with a heart of gold. He has a rule in his place that if you don’t finish your breakfast and there is nothing wrong with the food, you have to put money in the jar to help feed people with AIDs. Since 1993, he has raised $53,600 in this way.

Savoie says half the time he doesn’t know that this actress or that actor is sitting at one of his tables.

He yearns for the old days when the stars were really big and you knew who they were.

Sometimes his staff gets all excited because members of some big band have arrived. “But to tell the truth, honey, if it isn’t someone like Tina Turner, I wouldn’t know who it is.”

© The Vancouver Sun 2008

The opulent, five-diamond Sutton Place Hotel keeps Hollywood’s famous warm and cosy, while the Opus in Yaletown keeps the rock stars happy

Yvonne Zacharias
Sun

Sutton Place Hotel’s Penny Graham has learned how to cater to a celebrity clientele . Photograph by : Ward Perrin, Vancouver Sun

Many stars are fiercely loyal to The Metropolitan Hotel. Photograph by : Mark van Manen, Vancouver Sun

Step into the Gerard lounge at the Sutton Place hotel and you might spota Hollywood favourite. Photograph by : Ward Perrin, Vancouver Sun

Cher, Gwen Stefani and Christina Aguilera have all stayed at the Opus. Photograph by : Bill Keay, Vancouver Sun

Stride through the opulent lobby of the Sutton Place Hotel and there is no telling who you might see. Name a star, almost any star, who has shot a film in Vancouver and chances are they have stayed here.

Sometimes the celebrities aren’t so obvious. They tend to criss-cross public pathways disguised in scarfs, hats and sunglasses.

But even stars have to shine once in a while. Step into the dark cocoon of the Gerard Lounge at the Sutton and you might spot them. In this venerable precinct, with its English club atmosphere, leather chairs and cosy fireplace, you are apt to find actors, directors and up-and-comers taking in a relaxing drink at the end of the day. Many a deal gets hatched in the Gerard.

But like most Hollywood North hangouts, this is a place of absolute discretion. Vancouverites are known for keeping a polite distance even when the big and the famous are in their midst. No paparazzi here. Barging in would be unseemly. Our northern polite friendliness is one of the reasons we are such a popular place for shooting movies.

At the Sutton, celebrities fall into the gracious, professional hands of senior sales manager Penny Graham who has been with the hotel since the start.

Graham reminds you of a favourite aunt, the kind who can soothe and make everyone feel at home while handling the logistics of the big family buffet, calming a squalling child and keeping the household marching to a perfect beat.

Graham is shy about naming the celebrities who have stayed here, not because it is any deep dark secret but because she is concerned about leaving people out.

She merely points out that the Sutton is the first choice for hotel accommodation in Vancouver in the film and television industry. Its biggest competitor, she added, is private accommodation.

The Sutton has a variety of offerings from one- and two-bedroom apartments to suites with fully equipped kitchens. Still, sometimes the lodgings aren’t big enough for stars who are here for many months on a television shoot and who have family staying with them or coming and going.

THE OPUS

Over at the Opus Hotel in Yaletown, which is more of a boutique-style hotel built to have a homelike neighbourhood feel, rock stars are sometimes spotted having breakfast in the Elixir bistro or in the bar. They like the Opus’ proximity to GM Place.

Consider the Opus, which opened five years ago, the brash upstart to the demure Sutton which has been around since Expo ’86.

The Sutton Place might be king of the block, but Katrina Carroll-Foster, vice-president of marketing and sales at the Opus, points out that there are plenty of celebrities to go around. The new kid is getting its fair share.

Cher, Gwen Stefani, Christina Aguilera, Ashley Judd, Anne Heche and Eric McCormack have all stayed at the Opus. Moby launched his CD here, sending the chef on a search for gourmet macro-biotic recipes. On a recent Thursday, Ashton Kutcher did some impromptu spinning with the hotel’s DJ.

The Opus is as colourful and quirky as the Sutton is sedate. With its bold colours and basic lines, the Yaletown hotel has both a modern yet nostalgic, retro 1950s look to it. If the Flintstones had been millionaires, this is the type of place they would have lived in.

The hotel’s penthouse, which everyone calls the diva suite, has a revolving door of big names who come and go.

And what a suite it is, with rich chocolate brown walls, a fireplace and a plush, red, sectional couch. It’s posh, yet feels like home.

Occasionally, passersby do a double take when they spot members of their favourite rock band hanging out at the hotel, said Carroll-Foster.

Mostly, they are left alone, she said, although she could recall an instance where fans on the street saw members of a really famous band inside the hotel. They had been practising in Vancouver for some time before their concert. The musicians were kind enough to go outside and give their autographs.

THE METROPOLITAN

Stars are drawn to this hotel or that sometimes because it matches their personality or out of a fierce loyalty. The Metropolitan Hotel has attracted the likes of Harrison Ford, Halle Berry, Bryan Adams, Janet Jackson, Al Pacino, Robin Williams and Goldie Hawn who filmed Bird on a Wire in the penthouse suite.

The hotel bar makes sure to have plenty of Ford’s favourite brand of Scotch on hand, the kitchen whips up vegan specialities for the vegan Adams, and Berry‘s bar gets stocked with Fiji water, says Kate Rogers, who handles public relations for the hotel.

Berry, the star of Catwoman and the X-Men films, has had a long association with the hotel. She has stayed in the penthouse, called the Taipan suite, for months on end. It commands $3,500 a night, although such long stays warrant a special rate. Berry calls it her home away from home.

Sometimes, the hotel witnesses some comical conflicts between handlers and guests.

For example, when American hip hop artist and actor LL Cool J came to stay, he was accompanied by a trainer, a big congenial fellow who hovered in the restaurant kitchen, insisting on no fat and no salt in Cool J’s diet.

Then, about 11 p.m., Cool J would sneak down and ask for chocolate chip cookies, which the kitchen would whip up for him.

What a guest wants, a guest gets, said Rogers. Even when the handlers don’t agree.

© The Vancouver Sun 2008