The Manitoba Model Forest in partnership with the Manitoba Department of Education and the Manitoba Tourism Education Council (MTEC) is hosting a workshop Friday, March 22 on “Training and Future Workforce Needs for Tourism in Manitoba”.   For additional information and registration please click below.

http://www.travelmanitoba.com/images_tr/pdf/future_workforce_workshop.pdf

HEADS up -- the bears are starting to awaken. And we can all agree cottage country is more enjoyable if you don't get eaten.

"We try to teach people to understand bear behaviour," Dean Berezanski said Sunday, as he staffed one of the most popular booths at the annual Cottage Country show at the Red River Ex grounds. When you have a bear skull on display, you tend to attract crowds.

The bears had their young in their bear dens last month, said Berezanski, a provincial fur-bearer biologist with Manitoba Conservation and Water Stewardship. "March, April, you'll see them coming around," he said....        ... Brace yourself for change, West Hawk, said WCA president Tom walker -- the work begun last year is almost finished.

For a long time, he said, "people scrambled with cars. (Now) there's sidewalks. It's separated from the cars now." There are new paved parking lots as well, some with extra-long spaces for vehicles pulling trailers.

"The road in the village hadn't been upgraded since 1958," Walker said.

http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/local/beware-of-bears-out-there-biologist-warns-at-show-196811091.html

The Selinger government laid out plans Friday to modernize Manitoba's provincial parks, but park users -- particularly cottagers -- will have to pay a bigger share of the cost.

Conservation and Water Stewardship Minister Gord Mackintosh said despite recent investments, the province's park infrastructure and services are largely out of date.

"It's largely the '60s and '70s out there in our parks, still," he told a news conference at which he unveiled details of a park-development strategy through 2020.

Huge back-to-back budget deficits have caused the NDP government to scale down what had been an even more ambitious plan.

http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/local/province-to-perk-up-its-parks-196659101.html

Complete: Winnipeg's True North Sports and Entertainment confirms it is in negotiations to host an NHL Heritage Classic game in the city.

"Mark Chipman and True North have had some preliminary discussions with the National Hockey League, about hopefully securing a 2016 heritage classic — the outdoor game, which would be played at the Investors Group Field," Scott Brown with True North Sports and Entertainment told CBC News.

"Both parties are very interested in making this event happen for Winnipeg and so we hope to have something finalized in the near future as both parties continue to have those discussions," Brown adds.

There is no word on when an official announcement will be made, but Brown said both parties are very interested in securing the 2016 game.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/story/2013/03/10/mb-true-north-winter-classig-winnipeg.html

Striking workers at St. John's International Airport will hold a silent vigil on Monday to recognize the six-month mark of their strike.

In a statement Sunday, the Public Service Alliance of Canada workers, along with their supporters, plan to gather at the terminal at 12 p.m. to appeal to airport authority CEO Keith Collins and the board of directors to bring an end to the strike.

Earlier this month, federal mediator Barney Dobbin decided not to bring the two parties back to the bargaining table after no progress was made.

About 85 workers have been on strike since Sept. 11, 2012.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfoundland-labrador/story/2013/03/10/nl-airport-strike-six-month-mark-311.html

What’s the payoff for British Columbia’s $11-million investment in a celebrity-driven series of events designed to market this province to residents of India?

Tough to say.

The provincial government estimates that its investment in the Times of India Film Awards — and ancillary business and entertainment events in the weeks leading up to the awards — will yield at least $13 million in direct spending and $4 million in “earned media” or favourable mentions in Times of India media publications. The Christy Clark Liberals also claim the events will spur growth in Canada-India tourism and business development.

Some calculations come from the province, some from the event promoters, some from the Canadian Tourism Commission.

http://www.globaltvbc.com/bollywood+event+payoff+uncertain+for+bcs+11-million+investment/6442825462/story.html

BAIE-SAINT-PAUL, Qc - The newly built Hotel La Ferme in Baie-St-Paul, Que., has won a top international design award.

The 145-room hotel, designed by architectural firm Lemaymichaud of Quebec City, won in the hotels and service retailers category of the U.K.-based Retail and Leisure Interiors Awards. Short-listed hotels included the Conservatorium Hotel in Amsterdam, the Macalister Mansion in Singapore, the Rooms Hotel in Georgia and the South Place Hotel in London.

Built on the site of a wooden farmhouse that was destroyed by fire in 2005, the Hotel La Ferme features barn-inspired elements, including pillars and exposed wood beams. Art and materials such as cabinets, curtains, bedding and carpets were all locally sourced.

http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/travel/quebec-hotel-with-barn-like-features-wins-international-design-award-196377311.html

Complete: SAVANNAH, Georgia - Deep budget cuts in Washington mean military flight teams will likely be no-shows at air shows across the U.S. starting this spring, leaving dozens of host cities bracing for thinner crowds and lost tourism dollars.

When $85 billion in automatic cuts kicked in March 1, the Air Force cancelled shows at bases from Florida to Arizona and grounded its formation-flying pilots, the Thunderbirds. The Army's Golden Knights parachute team also cancelled performances. The Navy's famous Blue Angels said only that military commanders intend to cancel their April shows, though nothing is officially cancelled yet.

John Cudahy of the International Council of Air Shows says at least 150 U.S. air shows each year count on military performers. Without them, he estimates up to a third of the shows might cancel altogether.

http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/world/air-shows-tourism-big-losers-as-budget-cuts-ground-blue-angels-other-military-stunt-flyers-196764801.html

(A complete article published originally in the WFP, Mar.  '71)

Manitoba must spend more money on tourist promotion even if other priorities seem more important at present, Tourism Minister Peter Burtniak said here Wednesday. "It has become increasingly difficult for provincial governments to give their tourist branches additional money to promote their provinces when money is tight and unemployment high," he said. However, he suggested, if Manitoba docs not spend additional money to promote tourism, the tourist industry will not grow and Manitoba will be worse off than ever. 'It is extremely difficult for one department of the government to convince people that the development of the tourism plant, which in Manitoba may happen to be a park, a lake access, camping facilities, etc., be placed in a priority position when they see unemployment, welfare, etc. as major problems of the day. "This downgrading of the priorities for tourism is the obstacle we face in attempting to develop this wonderful industry. "I can only tell you that we are bringing into the province annually $135 million and that by 1985 we arc hoping to double that amount”. …       …He said people do not fully understand the implications of the tourist dollar, and therefore it is difficult for an elected member to tell them the government is spending $2 million to build a park when all they can see is that they need new schools, roads and many other things. "If it doesn't have a smoke stack and highways, schools and houses, it is difficult to see and to appreciate. I can certainly understand it because my eyes were really opened when I became minister of tourism and recreation." Manitoba must accept as a priority challenge the task of encouraging visitors to travel in Manitoba rather than through the province, he said. As well, Manitoba must compete with the United States and other Canadian provinces for the Manitoba tourist as well as the one coming from out of the province, he said. "To do this, our expenditures, and sharpen even finer our techniques "I know that increasing expenditures is never good news, but the returns on the tourist dollar arc greater than returns on the industrial dollar. In Canada in 1969, tourism ranked a close second to newsprint as an earner of foreign currency." Manitoba must lengthen its tourist season, lie said, because one cannot build a tourist plant for three months' use. As well, he said, the province must gear itself to cope with the ever increasing percentage of tourists who carry their own accommodation in the form of trailers or tents. Local areas should promote tourist attractions within their boundaries, providing a reason for tourists to stay in' an area rather than just travel through, he said. He also urged regional development corporations to spend more on tourist promotions. At present, he said, tourist promotion accounts for only about one per cent of the budget of most regional development corporations, but the tourist industry could supply some of those same regions with about 15 per cent of their income.