Chris Morales

Tuesday, January 27, 2015

Winter Running

Who likes running outside in the winter? True confession: I do! But it takes me a couple of weeks to get used to the cold before I can honestly say I enjoy running outside in the winter.

I actually prefer the minus double digits temperatures because I get to use all my deep freeze running gear: Socks, double layer of tights, full head balaclava, mitts. Getting dressed and undressed is a real pain though and Sally is unimpressed with the room I take up in our guest bathroom with all my drying gear. Ahhh...the pleasures of apartment living.

Here's my mantra for running outside in the winter:

See you outside in the cold!

Until next time...
ThatRunninGuy

Friday, January 23, 2015

Global Tourism Overview

Tourism is big business. Just ask those Destinations that depend on Tourist $'s for their livelyhood. Here are some statistics that give an overview

Global Tourism Overview	Values	Statistic
Total contribution of travel & tourism to global economy	$6,990.3bn	Details →
Number of international tourist arrivals worldwide	1,087m	Details →
Number of European tourist arrivals	563.4m	Details →

International Tourist Expenditure	Values	Statistic
Global international tourism revenue	$1,159bn	Details →
International tourism expenditure of the United States	$86.2bn	Details →
China’s market share of tourism expenditure	11.1%	Details →

Lodging and Accommodation	Values	Statistic
Global hotel industry total revenue	$457bn	Details →
Average price of a hotel room in Europe	$185	Details →
Average price of a hotel room in North America	$119	Details →
Daily hotel rate in New York	$309.86	Details →

Online Travel Market	Values	Statistic
Percentage of travel bookings made from the U.S.	39%	Details →
Online travel bookings revenue worldwide	$340bn	Details →
Online travel agencies’ share of total hotel industry revenue in the U.S.	8.4%	Details →

Cruise Industry	Values	Statistic
Market volume of the cruise industry in North America	$17.46bn	Details →
Revenue of the cruise industry worldwide	$37.1bn	Details →
Average cruise revenue per passenger worldwide	$1728	Details →

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Chris M Morales
MarCommTO

chris.morales@bell.net

647 393 3855

Linkedin: Chris M Morales

The opinions expressed on this blog are my own and are not associated with any other group or organization

Tuesday, January 20, 2015

Where have you run?

Bondi Beach, Sydney, Australia

Where have you run?

I've been very fortunate. Over the years on both business and personal travel, I've been able to run in some fabulous places. These are some of my favourite runs:

It's been very cold in Toronto since the start of the year. I mean frigid! Even with the -20 C windchill factors, it's not the coldest run I've ever been on. That distinction goes to an early morning run in Regina in February. The air temperature was -40 C. There was wind...it blew in from the Rockies one province over and got the effective temperature down to -60 C (that's what I heard on the radio when I got back in). It wasn't a long run...I made the rookie error of going out with the wind against my back and turned to run into the wind on my return...I barely made it back to the hotel!
There are not a lot of open spaces in Hong Kong. Correction: there are no open spaces in Hong Kong on either the Island or Kowloon Side. Kowloon Park was right outside our hotel. It's a small rectangle tucked amongst roads and high rise buildings. It's crowded and noisy even early in the morning. And humid! I had to run multiple laps to get in any real workouts. I loved it!
Everyone in Sydney, Australia loves physical activity. OK, maybe that's an exaggeration but on Coogie Beach (next beach down the coast from Bondi Beach) I had lots of company running along the beach front and trails that extend north and south of the main beach area. And what a route: from the sandy beach up rugged cliff trails, the pounding surf was never far away. I loved the sunrises!

I've had other great and memorable runs in Paris, France; London, England; Waikiki, Hawaii;Negril, Jamaica and cities and towns throughout Canada and the US too numerous to mention. I still have a few destinations to check off the running bucket list including Central Park, Himalayas, Death Valley...

Until next time...
ThatRunninGuy

Thursday, January 15, 2015

Twitter drives Endurance Event Registration

The best way to reach potential registrants to an Endurance Event (Marathon Running, Triathalons, etc) is via Twitter: 71% of the Twitter Chatter occurs before the event...this is the key to growing registrations. Especially for Destination Events where participants have to travel to attend (Reaching the $6,000 Runner through Social Media) The conversation revolves around anticipation of attending the event and preparing for it.

For a deeper look at this, the following Infographic provides a good overview:

This Infographic was published originally in this blog post from Eventbrite and Mashwork. Here is the link to the original article: Endurance Event Twitter Chatter.