British Columbian Travel To Washington State Poised For Growth

Vancouver, BC - A new Ipsos-Insight poll released today shows that after years of decline, tourism from British Columbia will hold steady or even increase slightly in 2004. In all, 1.3 million British Columbians (representing 43% of the adult population) plan to visit Washington State including Seattle over the course of the next year. On average, visitors are planning 3.7 trips which means British Columbians will inject approximately $250 million into the State economy in 2004¹. Among those planning to visit, four-in-ten (36%) say shopping is the best thing about the area while a slightly smaller number (33%) say it is the outdoors (including parks and scenery). Meanwhile sizeable numbers (29%) say they like the wide variety of good attractions such as events, museums, restaurants and entertainment as well as the proximity (23%) and the people (21%). Given these findings, it is perhaps not surprising that overall, a large number of British Columbians (80%) say Washington State including Seattle is a good travel destination. "I think for many British Columbians visiting Washington State is like taking a vacation in their own backyard, and they may have taken it for granted over the last few years." says Peter Weylie, Associate Vice-President with Ipsos-Insight, "But with all the uncertainty in the world today, people are looking closer to home and British Columbians feel Washington State has many quality attractions to offer them." British Columbians' travel to the United States as a whole is still experiencing negative momentum. Compared to a year ago, three-in-ten (29%) say they are now more likely to visit the U.S. while almost half (49%) say they are less likely to visit the U.S. For those who are planning more trips, the improving exchange rate seems to be the main draw (31%). "With an improving exchange rate and compelling reasons to visit, I think British Columbians' travel to Washington State is set to increase over the next few years." says Weylie. These are the findings of an Ipsos-Insight poll conducted between February 3rd and February 13th 2004. The poll is based on a randomly selected sample of 800 adult British Columbians. With a sample of this size, the results are considered accurate to within 177 3.5 percentage points, 19 times out of 20, of what they would have been had the entire adult British Columbian population been polled. The margin of error will be larger within regions and for other sub-groupings of the survey population. These data were statistically weighted to ensure the sample's regional and age/sex composition reflects that of the actual British Columbian population according to the 2001 Census. Note ¹ Total value is calculated in the following way: 1.3 million visitors x 3.7 trips x $50 average spending per person. Figures used are from Washington State Tourism and can be found here. For more information on this news release, please contact: Peter Weylie Associate Vice-President Ipsos-Insight 604.891.3771 About Ipsos-Insight Ipsos-Insight, the company's flagship marketing research division in the U.S., specializes in research for companies in the following industries: agrifood; cable, media and entertainment; consumer packaged goods; energy and utilities; financial services; health; lottery and gaming; retail; and technology & communications. Ipsos-Insight provides custom and tracking research services to domestic clients, as well as U.S.-based multinationals. It also offers concept and product testing, package testing, attitude and usage studies, omnibuses, tracking systems, brand equity, volume forecasting, marketing models, advanced analytics and global research. To learn more, visit: www.ipsos-insight.com. About Ipsos Ipsos is a leading global survey-based market research group, with revenues of 569.7 million euros in 2003. It offers a full suite of research services, guided by industry experts and bolstered by advanced analytics and methodologies in advertising, marketing, public opinion and customer loyalty research, as well as forecasting and modeling. Member companies also offer a full line of custom, syndicated, omnibus, panel, and online research products and services. To learn more, visit: www.ipsos.com. Ipsos is listed on the Euronext Paris Premier Marchй, and is part of the SBF 120 and Next Prime Indices as well as eligible to the Deferred Settlement System (SRD). Euroclear code 7329, Reuters ISOS.LN, Bloomberg IPS FP