TRAVEL MANITOBA
TRAVELLING THE ROAD TO RECOVERY Rebuilding Manitoba’s tourism industry
was one of the first sectors to be impacted by the pandemic and will likely be one of the last to fully recover. The tourism industry has been devastated by COVID-19. Forecasts by the World Tourism
As the provincial destination marketing organization, Travel Manitoba has a dual role in supporting the local tourism industry: marketing and advocacy. A summer marketing campaign, in partnership with Destination Canada, urged locals to “show Manitoba some love” by reminding them that “ home is where the heart is ”. This campaign balanced public health orders with the promotion of safe travel experiences within the province in order to stimulate the economy and mitigate the anticipated losses in visitor spending. While marketing tourism during a pandemic has its challenges, Travel Manitoba aligned its messaging with that of government public health. And throughout, advocating for the tourism industry has remained a top priority. Since the outset of the pandemic, Travel Manitoba used its seat at Manitoba’s Economic Growth Plan committee to advocate for the needs of Manitoba’s tourism industry — the majority of which are small - and medium-sized businesses. The organization continues to collaborate with the Manitoba Chambers of Commerce and other organizations such as Tourism Winnipeg, the Manitoba Tourism Education Council, the Manitoba Hotel Association, the Manitoba Lodges and Outfitters Association and the Manitoba Restaurant and Foodservices Association to amplify the voices of their members. As a member of the Tourism Industry Association of Canada, Travel Manitoba is part of a broader, larger advocacy network working for all tourism businesses across the country.
Organization indicate that international tourism could decrease by 60 to 80% in 2020 as public health rightly remains a priority over leisure and business travel. In Canada, if borders remain closed until 2021, a forecast from Destination Canada indicates a 61% decrease in tourism revenues in 2020. This would equate to Canada losing more than half its tourism jobs. In April, at the outset of the crisis, Travel Manitoba announced an anticipated decline in tourism revenues between 25 and 65%. Over the course of July and August, some factors appeared to have insulated the province’s tourism industry: Manitoba relies less on international visitors than other Canadian destinations and we had a relatively low COVID caseload over the summer — high season for tourism. Despite some bright spots, with a few rural destinations reporting all time high numbers of visitation, that initial forecast was revised. Manitoba is now expected to see a drop between 45 and 60% in overall visitor spending. This is equal to $800 million to $1 billion in revenues and could lead to the loss of up to 10,000 jobs in the tourism industry. Some sectors, including Winnipeg’s hotels, attractions and meetings and events, along with fly-in hunting and fishing lodges and Churchill operators have been particularly hard hit.
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