Complete: In celebrating our move at the end of March, MTEC is offering complimentary Winnipeg BEST Ambassador Training Sessions on March 20th at our current location, and April 30th at our new location on Scurfield Boulevard.

 Spring is the perfect time to prepare your business for summer visitors. Participants in these sessions will learn how to use personal interactions to deliver outstanding customer service that is remembered by each visitor, enhance their knowledge and pride of Winnipeg and the diverse activities and destinations each neighborhood has to offer, and create a memorable experience and a powerful connection for visitors to our city and your business.

 To register for either of these sessions or for more information, please contact Luanne Christensen, Training Services Coordinator at 204-957-7437 or lchristensen@mtec.mb.ca

http://www.mtec.mb.ca/

Complete: Between asbestos removal and the demolition contract, the total cost of levelling the former Brandon Inn site at the corner of Ninth Street and Princess Avenue will top $1 million.

The city paid roughly $860,000 to take the hazardous materials out of the building, seal it in bags and send them to the landfill for safe disposal.

Ted Snure, the city’s general manager of development services, said the removal of the hazardous material was completed last December.

"All of the asbestos materials and any of the hazardous materials that had been identified in the pre-assessment has been (taken out)," Snure said.

The original cost was estimated at $322,000. However, more hazardous materials were found during the removal process. As the contractor took out the hazardous materials, false floors were found, where asbestos tile flooring lay underneath the visible floor. Lead ceiling materials were found hidden away for years behind other layers of decor. Asbestos wall finishes were also located, hidden in the walls.

Snure said the only place in the building that still has any hazardous materials is in the roof, where there is asbestos in the tar paper.

City council approved a recommendation from the engineering department this week to award Rakowski Cartage & Wrecking Ltd. the demolition contract at a cost of $269,000.

As part of the contract, the Brandon Inn will be demolished for $254,000 and the former Brandon Real Estate Board building will be levelled for $15,000. Renaissance Brandon is providing $15,000 for the project.

The total contract value, including GST, is $282,000. The city requires the work to be complete by April 26.

The demolition will not include the existing barber shop — Brandon Mayor Shari Decter Hirst says the owner intends to stay at the site.

"It’s private property and we’ve been working closely with the owner of that property to ensure that the risk associated with knocking down the building is mitigated as much as possible," Decter Hirst said.

After the demolition, however, Decter Hirst says the soil on the properties will need to be tested before the ground is seeded into grass. Though preliminary tests have not shown any particular environmental hazards, the mayor says it’s the city’s responsibility to ensure the site is tested before any development takes place.

"We know there are some environmental issues in the soil that we want to confirm the scope of," Decter Hirst said Wednesday. "We’ve done a little bit of soil testing, but it just made sense to do it after the buildings were done to finish that up."

Though the timeline is not set in stone, Decter Hirst expects grass could be growing on the site by this summer. The property will double as greenspace until a plan is approved for the site and a developer chosen.

What that plan will be, however, is unknown, though Decter Hirst says it must complement the concept of an entertainment district for Brandon’s downtown.

Even before the demolition process begins, she says developers have been contacting the city with potential ideas, though she declined to be more specific than stating that many of the interested parties were from "out of Brandon."

http://www.brandonsun.com/local/brandon-inn-demo-cost-to-top-1m-195846321.html?thx=y

BRANDON -- A gaming centre such as the one announced for Winnipeg's MTS Centre is not in the cards for Brandon, the provincial government says.

"They continue to say that the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs is in control of the existing (gaming) licences, that the concept of a gaming centre is unique to the MTS Centre because of its role in downtown revitalization," Mayor Shari Decter Hirst said Wednesday. "They said no."

Winnipeg's new facility, a 5,000-square-foot gaming centre with 140 slot machines, two poker tables and four blackjack tables, will be operated by Manitoba Lotteries but owned by True North Sports & Entertainment, owner of the Winnipeg Jets.

http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/breakingnews/casino-rejection-miffs-brandon-mayor-195817161.html

Members of the Morden Corn and Apple planning committee launched their 2013 fundraising campaign yesterday.

The Ripen The Apple campaign is a fresh concept for the 2013 festival which aims to raise $80,000 for the upcoming event. President Dale Stambuski says fundraising is one of the most important parts of planning for the festival which will be celebrating its 47th year this year.

"We appreciate everybody's support, and regardless of whether it's a large sponsor or a small sponsor, all our sponsors are very important to the continuation of this festival, so we'd like to thank everybody."

http://www.pembinavalleyonline.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=31282&Itemid=425

TORONTO - With March Break just around the corner, some Canadians say they'll be packing their bags for a well-deserved getaway.

A poll released Thursday by CIBC (TSX:CM) found that 12 per cent of Canadians count on taking a vacation sometime this month.

Some 41 per cent of those going away say they'll be staying in Canada for their trip, while 36 per cent say they'll be heading down south to the United States.

Those in Alberta (17 per cent) were the most likely to say they're taking a March vacation, and those living in Atlantic Canada (4 per cent) were the least likely.

http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/business/finance/4-out-of-10-canadians-taking-a-vacation-in-march-say-theyll-stay-in-canada-195814781.html

Complete: CALGARY - WestJet and Air France have tightened their relationship. Their new agreement will enable Air France to offer 10 addtional Canadian destinations through a code-sharing with its Calgary-based partner. Starting on March 12, travellers will be able to use www.airfrance.ca or the French airline's call centre to book flights that will include some travel aboard WestJet planes.

http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/travel/air-france-westjet-embrace-code-sharing-agreement-to-ease-shared-bookings-195852701.html

BISMARCK, N.D. - Managers at dozens of small airports have expressed outrage at federal officials for hauling new full-body scanners away from their facilities and sending them to large hubs that haven't yet upgraded older machines criticized for showing too much anatomy.

U.S. Transportation Security Administration contractors were threatened with arrest after officials at a Montana airport said they received no notice before the workers arrived. In North Dakota, the scanners are set to be yanked from a terminal remodeled last year with $40,000 in local funds just to fit the new machines.

http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/travel/small-airports-upset-over-removal-of-body-scanners-equipment-being-sent-to-bigger-airports-195735661.html

Switzerland has the globe's most competitive travel and tourism sector owing to high quality transportion and hotels, skilled workers and rich natural resources, the Swiss-based World Economic Forum said Thursday.

In a biennial, 140-country ranking of competitiveness in the world's travel and tourism trade, the WEF said the Swiss had retained the top slot held in all five previous editions.

Switzerland's selling points continued to help it offset its relatively high prices, which would push it far down the rankings if they were the only factor, the Geneva-based think tank underlined.

Overall, Europe remained the world's most competitive region, with Germany, Austria, Spain and Britain coming hard on Switzerland's heels. The rest of the WEF's top 10 was made up by the United States, France, Canada, Sweden and Singapore.

http://www.france24.com/en/20130307-swiss-top-wef-competition-list-tourism-leisure

Complete: LONDON - Vacation tour operator Thomas Cook says it is considering cutting about a fifth of its workforce as it enters the next phase of a three-year program to restructure its operations.

The company has suffered financially as it struggles to deal with competition on the Internet, where customers can book holidays online. The proposed 2,500 job cuts will affect both those who work in the back office and its retail network. The firm says it 195 outlets — many located on Britain's main shopping streets — are being considered for closure.

Chief Executive Peter Fankhauser says Thomas Cook owes it to customers to operate efficiently. The company says it is talking with unions and employee representatives to minimize the impact of the changes.

http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/travel/thomas-cook-considers-2500-jobs-cuts-and-195-store-closures-in-restructuring-plans-195547651.html

(A complete article published originally in the WFP, Mar.  '72)

The provincial government's tourism and recreation department took a few verbal lumps Tuesday even though it was the host of a day-long seminar dealing with package tours. The idea behind the seminar, held at the Northstar Inn, was to try to generate more package tours for Manitoba by taking a close look at that aspect of tourism and arriving at some conclusions about what should be done. Instead, the tourism department was rapped for failing to provide leadership in the tourism industry and criticized for failing to provide enough money for prompting the all-important tourism industry. Dr. Joseph Slogan, president of Paddlewheel Tour Boats Ltd., said, "I think that what the government spends on tourism is peanuts. (Last year the department's budget was $974,000, of which $425,000 was spent on advertising. It has been estimated that 3.1 million tourists came to Manitoba in 1970 and spent about $135 million. In 1971, an estimated 3.25 million tourists spent about $140 million.) The economic effects of tourism are directly traceable to the government and the govemment should spend money to develop the industry, "The government

is the beneficiary of tourism but they're sleeping on the job." A. G. Saffron, market development manager of Air Canada in Montreal, said, "I would like to see Manitoba, under the driving leadership of the tourism branch, say 'we will do this and get it done". The (industry) will put our money where our mouth. About 60 representatives of the hotel and motel industry, airlines,  railways, special attractions operators and bus lines attended, the seminar and made many  suggestions about what can be done to improve tourism 'and package tours in Manitoba. Nick Pyrch, vice-president of the Manitoba Hotel Association, suggested the tourism department

act as packaging agent for tours in the province. "There is a crying need for an agency "like this,'-' said Mr. Pyrch. He explained that the government could start such an agency and once it gets operational it could be managed by people in the tourism industry….     …W. E. Organ, director of tourism, said in an interview that the department may be considering a "shifting in priorities" in the department's budget. However, the department will still concentrate its efforts on the north-central United States and will continue to educate Americans in North and South Dakota and Minnesota that Manitoba is a place of comfort as well as an outdoor province. J. R. Klassen, manager of

Grey Goose Bus Lines in Winnipeg, said, "It's time we stopped thinking about the things Manitoba doesn't offer, but what it has to offer." The government and the industry itself are "doing a poor job of marketing our product and as a carrier we must take our share of the blame."