MBiz

24 SPRING 2018 CLEAR LAKE I t's been five years since Clear Lake and the town of Wasagaming in Riding Mountain National Park last hosted the Manitoba Chambers of Commerce (MCC) annual general meeting. A lot has changed since that time, as delegates to this year's AGM discovered May 3-4, when they convened at Elkhorn Resort and Conference Centre. A bustling hub of tourism in the 1980s and '90s, Clear Lake began to experience something of a downturn by the early 2000s. Visitor numbers began to drop and investment by the local business community started levelling off. It's a much different story these days. New businesses have begun popping up, existing business owners are reinvesting in the community and the number of visitors has been steadily increasing. The turnaround began in earnest in 2015, when local business leaders came together to form Clear Lake Country, a community- based group that is the marketing arm for the Wasagaming Chamber of Commerce. Its mandate is to increase tourism and focus more attention on what the community has to offer. Karly McRae, founder and chair of Clear Lake Country (CLC), saw the MCC's AGM as a perfect opportunity to showcase everything new and exciting that is going on in and around Clear Lake. In addition to several new restaurants opening, Elkhorn Resort recently completed a multi-million-dollar expansion of its pool and recreational facilities. Nearby Hwy 10 was recently resurfaced to make it easier to get to the park and the federal government plans to spend some $11 million on upgrades to the visitor centre at Riding Mountain and several other key park buildings. "We're starting to bolster tourism here in a big way again and it's great to have the attention of the Chamber audience, who are all fellow business owners and partners, to choose Clear Lake as their leisure destination in the summer or winter months," says McRae, who is also co-owner of the Lakehouse boutique hotel with her husband. "I think a big reason why Clear Lake was selected (to host the AGM) was because of all the buzz that is happening in and around tourism country here in Clear Lake and Riding Mountain National Park." BRAND AID Clear Lake partners with Travel Manitoba to maximize marketing strategy BY JIM TIMLICK A new destination brand campaign is aimed at bolstering tourism in the Riding Mountain National Park area. Photo courtesy of Clear Lake Country. CONTINUED >>

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