This year, Travel Manitoba’s prestigious Tourism Awards program celebrates its 15^th year. Join us in honouring those who make a difference in Manitoba’s tourism industry. Nominate a leader, an innovator, an organization or individual who is passionate about Manitoba and works hard to share that with our visitors. Nominate someone or yourself today. Click above for detailed information.

http://www.manitobatourismawards.com/

Complete: After 105 years of solely selling tickets at the gate, one of the region’s oldest fairs — the Royal Manitoba Winter Fair — has made its move to online sales.

"We wanted to be sure that our event was as accessible to the public as possible," said Karen Oliver, CEO of the Provincial Exhibition of Manitoba.

"By adding the online ticket option, we give fairgoers the opportunity to grab tickets before they head to the venue, saving them the hassle of waiting in line at the gate."

The Provincial Exhibition has teamed up with frequent collaborator, AuthentiGATE, to make the online tickets available to the public, and hope to drive fairgoers toward purchasing online with the help of their social media platforms, Facebook and Twitter.

Any users who have "liked" Provincial Ex’s Facebook profile, or have chosen to follow them on Twitter, will be given the opportunity to use special promo codes that will save them a certain percentage on their ticket purchases.

Another addition to admission for the Winter Fair is the use of credit and debit cards when buying tickets at the gate.

"Until now, visitors to the fair have had to use cash when purchasing tickets," Oliver said.

"But due to feedback following previous years of the fair, we decided this was no longer practical."

The 2013 Royal Manitoba Winter Fair takes place March 25-30 at the Keystone Centre in Brandon. Tickets can be purchased by visiting the Provincial Exhibition’s website, brandonfairs.com.

Tickets will still be available at the gate, and a free child’s ticket for children aged 12 and under can be downloaded from the website until March 25.

http://www.brandonsun.com/local/visitors-able-to-buy-tickets-on-net-198940991.html

OTTAWA - Canada's largest bank is forecasting the economy will do slightly better than most expect in the next two years, and one reason why is that the Canadian dollar won't.

The Royal Bank (TSX:RY) is projecting growth rates of 1.8 per cent for 2013 and 2.9 per cent for 2014, which is a couple of decimal points better than the consensus estimate federal Finance Minister Jim Flaherty will be using in Thursday's budget.

But the bank says the Canadian dollar is unlikely to see sustained parity again over the next two years, averaging at about 96 cents US in 2013 and 98 cents US in 2014.

http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/business/economy-to-improve-but-loonie-to-remain-below-parity-for-next-two-years-rbc-198952971.html

A resort owner in the Yarmouth area is hoping dark skies will be a bright spot in the tourism business.

Charles Leary, who operates Trout Point Lodge, is in the Canary Islands this week pushing to get a designation as a future starlight reserve.

StarLight Tourism Certification is awarded by a branch of the United Nations World Tourism Organization. It determines which areas in the world are ideal for people who want to take a clear look at the stars

“There's actually dark sky mapping that's done,” said Leary. “And when we're talking about dark skies, what we're really talking about is the absence of light pollution. It just so happens that our area lacks huge numbers of street lights or big industrial areas or huge towns where there would be lots of light pollution.”

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-scotia/story/2013/03/18/ns-starlight-certification.html

LANSING, Mich. - The state's "Pure Michigan" tourism campaign kicked off a $13 million national cable television advertising effort on Monday that is partly funded by several communities and the Henry Ford historical attraction in Dearborn.

The campaign runs through the end of June, and includes plans to run TV ads more than 5,000 times nationally. The state's five partners contributed a total of $3 million each: Ann Arbor contributed $1 million and The Henry Ford, Grand Rapids, Mackinac Island and Traverse City each kicked in $500,000.

"Our partnership program has allowed us to maximize our national exposure and tell a compelling story about the unique destinations Michigan has to offer," George Zimmermann, vice-president of Travel Michigan, which is part of the Michigan Economic Development Corp., said in a statement.

http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/travel/pure-michigan-tourism-campaign-kicks-off-13m-national-cable-television-advertising-effort-198811871.html

LONDON - BBC Worldwide, the commercial arm of the BBC, says it has agreed to sell its travel guide business, Lonely Planet, for 51.5 million pounds ($77.8 million) to U.S.-based NC2 Media.

The BBC said Tuesday the decision follows a review that laid out a strategy to focus on BBC brands. NC2 Media, based in Nashville, Tennessee, has primarily focused on the distribution and development of digital content.

Lonely Planet has printed approximately 120 million books in 11 different languages. However, the company's performance has been hit by the consolidation of the publishing industry and the economic crisis, which hurt travel.

http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/business/bbc-sells-lonely-planet-travel-guide-business-to-american-company-198939491.html

GULMARG, India - There are very few ski resorts in the world where you see a soldier in uniform waiting for the gondola with a snowboard in one hand and an AK-47 in the other.

Welcome to Gulmarg, nestled in the Himalayan mountains in Indian-held Kashmir, one of the most militarized places on earth.

India and Pakistan have fought two major wars over Kashmir, which is divided between the two countries and claimed in its entirety by both. Tension flared earlier this year when the worst violence along the disputed border in a decade left half a dozen troops dead — one of them an Indian soldier who was reportedly beheaded.

The clashes hurt business in Gulmarg, according to local tour operators, but a few hundred skiers and snowboarders were on the mountain during my visit at the end of February — almost all of them foreign.

http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/travel/powder-ak-47s-and-hashish-skiing-in-kashmir-one-of-the-worlds-most-militarized-spots-198784291.html

(A complete article published originally in the WFP, Mar.  '62)

Details of a training course for members of the Manitoba Hotel Association in preparation for the 1S62 tourist season were disclosed Monday by association president George Dangerfield. He said that Bernard Haering, general manager of the Charterhouse, will conduct a four-week course for waiters and waitresses. Per Moller of the Marlborough Hotel will supervise front office procedure classes. "Purpose of the classes is for a general upgrading of service to the travelling public as well, as to stay-at-home Manitobans," said Mr. Dangerfield. Bert Fraser, the association's managing director, said 40 hotel men and their employees have already enrolled in the two courses. At the conclusion of the school, successful candidates will be awarded diplomas. "These are the first courses of their type offered to the hotel industry in the province," said Mr. Fraser.