Complete: A land transaction on the outskirts of Brandon has stirred up whispers that a major retailer is looking at the Wheat City as a possible location.

On Sunday, the sellers of the land confirmed that a parcel of land has been sold south of Brandon near Highway 10.

"Yes, we are the sellers of the land," she said. "But until the purchasers announce it, I don’t think that it is up to us to say anything."

The land, viewed by many as prime real estate for a commercial enterprise, was sold to a Winnipeg developer, fuelling speculation that a major retail chain has expressed interest in establishing a store in Brandon.

While there have been no official announcements regarding a possible new commercial expansion, Sandy Trudel, the city’s economic development officer, did confirm that the city has spoken to representatives of Costco Wholesale Corporation, more commonly known as Costco.

"Is it safe to say that (Costco) is actively watching the market? Yes, I believe that is true," Trudel said. "We’ve had communications with them, but are they at the next step? If they are, we’re not aware of it."

Costco, one of the largest retailers in the world that requires customers to have a membership to receive wholesale deals, has more than 80 stores in Canada.

Earlier this month, a Costco representative wouldn’t confirm or deny the store’s interest in locating a store in Brandon, only stating that the store refuses to comment on possible expansion sites until all the details are finalized.

Since becoming the economic development officer for the city in the 1990s, Trudel said the rumour that a Costco is coming to the city has cropped up several times, and each time it has failed to materialize. And although that may be the case again, she said it is always positive when the conversation is focused on growth in the city and not the opposite.

"It’s never a bad message to have that discussion out in the marketplace because it shows that we are a growing community and that there is economic activity sufficient enough to generate these types of discussions," Trudel said.

She also stressed that the city’s main priority is growing the industries that have deep roots in the area.

"Our belief is that economic growth comes from your primary industries," Trudel said. "With the growth in those base industries, everything else follows whether it be retail, commercial, hospitality or professional services."

Rumor or not, the land sale has only fuelled Brandon residents’ appetite for a Costco in the city.

"I’d love to see a Costco in Brandon," Ken Leslie said on Sunday while out shopping. "I’ve shopped at their stores in Calgary, Saskatoon and Winnipeg. It’s a great store and they have great giveaways and they’re really cheap in price. Their price point is really, really good."

Although he doesn’t have a membership card for the retail giant, Leslie said he uses family and friends’ cards to shop at the store.

The rumours of a Costco in Brandon come on the heels of IKEA, the Swedish furniture giant, getting ready to open its doors in Winnipeg on Nov. 28. The Winnipeg IKEA location, much like a Costco in Brandon, had been rumoured to be coming to the provincial capital for several years before the official announcement last year.

The whispers are also believed to be getting louder due to the addition of a Target store, which is set to open in the spring of 2013 in Shoppers Mall in the south end of Brandon.

"I don’t know a lot about Costco, but I do know that people go into Winnipeg to shop there because it’s reasonable," said Ellen Crooks while out shopping with her husband Frank.

And Frank might have best summed up Brandon shoppers’ constant state of flux with the wholesale giant.

"I sit at the door and wait. And sometimes it’s a long wait," Frank joked about his shopping excursions.

http://www.brandonsun.com/breaking-news/brandon-rich-with-costco-rumours-179938671.html

Here you wouldn't know him from the next guy on the street.

In China, Mark Rowswell is Dashan, a TV and media superstar.

And it's his fame the province is banking on to spread the word about Manitoba -- and its polar bears -- in the people's republic.

The Selinger government hosted Rowswell and his 14-year-old daughter, Marylin, this weekend, a trip that included a whirlwind visit to Churchill to see polar bears up close.

http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/local/dashan-off-to-see-the-polar-bears-179909461.html

Manitobans are about to gain access to a historical fort site and it's not Upper Fort Garry.

The old Fort Ellice site, which governments have been trying to buy for at least four decades, has finally been purchased from private interests and will soon be open to visitors.

The Nature Conservancy of Canada is the new title holder of the property near Russell, striking a deal with Arthur and Christine Fouillard, who have owned the land since 1955 and used much of it for pasture for livestock.

The Nature Conservancy will not say how much it paid, but the Free Press has learned the sale price was $1.8 million. That's for the Fouillards' entire 1,416 hectares, including some homes and other buildings. The fort site is only a small portion of that. The Fouillard family will maintain leasing rights to some buildings and pasture for a fee, the Nature Conservancy said.

http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/local/fort-ellice-will-greet-visitors-again-179909491.html

Complete: Brandon West Progressive Conservative MLA Reg Helwer called on governments to provide fair and equitable funding for the Keystone Centre, after hearing $180 million is pledged for a Winnipeg Convention Centre expansion.

“We always hope that Brandon will be treated in a fair and equal and proportionate manner to what happens in Winnipeg,” Helwer said. “It does not appear to be happening that way.”

If the federal, provincial and city governments were to offer a proportional share of the $180 million to the Keystone Centre, based on a 180,000 trading area, the facility should receive $43.2 million overall. Recently, the facility got $3.3 million for infrastructure upgrades.

“My understanding on the (Winnipeg) Convention Centre funding is that other projects were not in an appropriate stage to get this funding so they were looking to move some of the money around. You look at the projects ready to go. It’s another tool for the Keystone Centre to use when they look for funding from governments, because they can ask them to please treat us equitably.”

Government spokeswoman Naline Rampersad said that since 2000, the provincial government has put $10.6 million into the Keystone Centre, compared to $56 million into the Winnipeg Convention Centre. Based on Rampersad’s calculations of a Brandon population of 46,061 people, and a Winnipeg population base of 663,617 people the Keystone Centre received $230 per Brandonite, while the Winnipeg Convention Centre got $84 per resident.

However, Tourism Winnipeg’s website states that the provincial capital’s population is actually 753,600, while Economic Development Winnipeg’s website cites a 2011 census population of 762,759. Brandon’s economic development website states that the trading area Brandon serves has a population of 180,000. Using the economic development office figures, the Keystone Centre got $58.89 per Westman resident, while the Winnipeg Convention Centre got $73.42 per resident. That’s a difference in Winnipeg’s favour of $14.53 per resident served by the respective trading area in that 12 year period.

Helwer said businesses have to be able to put aside money for future needs, whether they are repairs to buildings and equipment and other inevitable expenditures the firm can’t avoid.

“If you are running a farm and have a combine, you know you are going to need to spend money on bearings, so you set money aside,” Helwer said. “That was something I found concerning about the financial statements at the Keystone Centre was that they were not including improvements. The (capital reserve fund) they have now is all good.”

The addition of the capital reserve fund, and the pledge to fund it through 75 per cent of the operating surplus the facility generates in a year, was a necessary step, Helwer said.

“That gives them some ammunition and some opportunities to go after some funding from governments now,” Helwer said. “Will they be successful?  That remains to be seen. If they have an appropriate plan that will fulfill the needs of Brandon and western Manitoba, and it will move the centre forward in its plans, that’s the key.”

http://www.brandonsun.com/local/helwer-wants-equitable-keystone-funding-179769581.html?thx=y

A division of Lakeview Hotels has made an offer to purchase the Hecla Oasis Resort out of receivership.

The troubled Lake Winnipeg resort about 150 kilometres north of Winnipeg has been closed for two years.

Keith Levit, president of Lakeview, said the company won't hear until Monday if the court has approved the offer.

"There are several stages in the process," Levit said. "The first is getting the court to approve, and that decision has been adjourned until Monday. Then we would have to deal with the province. It is a long way from getting the deal done."

http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/business/lakeview-hotels-seeks-court-ok-to-buy-hecla-oasis-resort-179777851.html

Winnipeg has been chosen to host a gathering of national Pride groups, which organizers hope will coincide with the opening of the Canadian Museum for Human Rights.

The InterPride Region 7/Fierte Canada Pride (FCP) Conference, to be held the last weekend in March of 2014, will provide Winnipeg’s LGBTTQ’s community with the chance to showcase their city and celebrate their many successes.

“To be able to hold it here in Winnipeg, to have all of the big players, to have all of those folks here at the conference is a huge accomplishment,” said Jonathan Niemczak, president of Winnipeg Pride Festival, which bid on hosting the conference. “We’re more than just mosquitoes and -50 C weather.”

Niemczak said this conference represents the national voice for all Pride festivals, including the cities of Toronto, Vancouver, Edmonton, Calgary, Halifax and Montreal.

http://metronews.ca/news/winnipeg/444092/national-pride-conference-picks-winnipeg-as-host-city-for-2014/

Complete: The hamlet of Arviat, Nunavut, has just received $100,000 in federal money to develop an eco-tourism industry.

It isn't just Canadians who suffer sticker shock with the growing number of fees applied to their airline tickets. The Tourism Industry Association of Canada cites aviation taxes and fees as a major impediment to attracting greater numbers of foreign visitors.

A Calgarian who uses her Air Miles for a "free" return flight to Edmonton must pay more than a hundred dollars in fees and taxes. It's charges like these, says the tourism industry association, that have helped Canada drop from seventh in the world in 2002 to 18th in 2011 when it comes to the number of international tourism arrivals. A decade ago, Canada received 20.1 million arrivals; by 2011, the figure had slipped to 16 million, behind nations such as Greece, Saudi Arabia, Ukraine and Mexico. Today, about 20 per cent of tourism receipts are generated by foreign visitors, down from 35 per cent a decade ago. The rest is contributed by Canadians poking around their own country.

"We believe that in getting back into the top 10 list, that would mean an extra $5.5 billion to the Canadian economy," association president David Goldstein told a recent meeting of the Calgary Herald editorial board. "And probably 45,000 full-time jobs. So the opportunity missed is actually fairly significant."

http://www.calgaryherald.com/life/Welcome/7558747/story.html

P.E.I. is looking to its Acadian history to boost tourism numbers.

The Evangeline Region west of Summerside is known as the heart of the Acadian area of the island. It's where most tourists interested in the province's French history go, but officials want to expand that to other cultural areas.

"[We will] identify the product to see how we can help in establishing new Acadian experiences through tradition, cuisine, music, visual arts, or any other form of artistic expression," said Marcel Bernard, co-chair of the Evangeline Tourism Association.

It is working with the Acadian Tourism Commission of Atlantic Canada on the project.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/prince-edward-island/story/2012/11/18/pei-acadian-tourism.html

Complete: Billionaire Saudi Prince Walid bin Talal’s Kingdom Holding investment group said on Nov. 17 that it has purchased the luxury hotel Four Seasons Toronto, Canada for $200 million.

“The transaction was funded by a $130 million mortgage loan while $70 million came from (the company’s) own resources,” Hazem al-Dosari, a Kingdom Holding Company spokesman, told AFP.

The Four Seasons Toronto features 259 guest rooms, including 42 suites. “This transaction is in line with our investment strategy to develop hotels in selected key cities,” Prince Walid said in a company statement announcing the deal.

The prince, in his late 50s, has holdings in Citibank and Rupert Murdoch’s News Corporation. Forbes magazine listed him last year as the 26th richest person in the world with assets of $19.6 billion.

http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/saudi-prince-buys-hotel-in-canada.aspx?pageID=238&nID=34924&NewsCatID=349

NEW YORK — Garbage trucks, hulking military vehicles and mud-caked cars move slowly through a Staten Island waterfront neighbourhood still reeling from Superstorm Sandy’s storm surge. Then comes an outlier: a spotless SUV with three passengers peering out windows at a mangled home choked with sea grass.

Residents recognize the occupants right away. They’re disaster tourists, people drawn to the scene of a tragedy to glimpse the pictures they’ve seen on television come to life.

Two weeks after the superstorm socked the region, cleanup continues in New York and New Jersey, which bore the brunt of the destruction. At its peak, the storm knocked out power to 8.5 million in 10 states, and some during a later nor’easter. About 73,000 utility customers in New York and New Jersey remained without power late Sunday, most of them on Long Island.

But the storm didn’t just bring darkness and despair; it also brought the gawkers.

http://news.nationalpost.com/2012/11/12/disaster-tourists-gawk-at-neighbourhoods-devastated-by-superstorm-sandy/

(Reuters) - With fighting in the Gaza Strip entering its fifth day and Palestinian rockets landing deeper into Israel than ever before, travellers who had hoped to visit the holy land are starting to think twice.

A number of hotels in Israel, along with flagship carrier El Al (ELAL.TA), have already seen some cancellations and believe the number will grow if the violence rages into a second week.

"The continued firing on the south ... is expected to exact a heavy price on the tourism industry which is one of the central anchors in the region," said Tourism Minister Stas Misezhnikov said on Sunday.

Israel unleashed an intensive air campaign against the Gaza Strip on Wednesday with the stated intention of stemming Islamist-militant rocket fire out of the coastal enclave.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/11/19/uk-palestinians-israel-tourism-idUSLNE8AI00Y20121119

For years, Icelanders have welcomed foreigners with open arms.

But as tourism dollars flow into the Arctic country and the government promotes glaciers, geysers and spas on the international stage, there are signs Iceland’s love affair with tourists could be cooling.

The brewing national concern was summed up by MP Thor Saari, who said in a radio interview that his country was being overrun.

Saari said that the nation’s solitary natural beauty had become too busy to truly enjoy, “because there are thousands of foreigners there, disturbing you in your own country.”

While tour buses have become the norm at sights such as the Gullfoss waterfall, nowhere is the influx of visitors more prevalent than in Reykjavik, a city of only 120,000.

http://www.thestar.com/news/world/article/1289055--is-iceland-cooling-to-its-tourism-boom

(A complete article published originally in the WFP, Nov.  '54)

A four-lane highway between Winnipeg and the Lakehead within the next ten years was predicted Friday by George Collins, deputy minister of public works. (The Trans-Canada highway, now under construction, is a two-lane highway). Mr. Collins, speaking in a panel discussion at the morning session of the Manitoba Tourist association convention at the legislative building, based his prediction on the fact that completion of the St. Lawrence Seaway would greatly increase road traffic between the two points. The deputy minister also told delegates that it was almost a certainly that the multiple lanes would be constructed in Manitoba on the present new Trans-Canada highway route. He said this entrance to northern Ontario was the only possible route, due to the nature of the country. A. H. Laing. president of the Tourist association, in remarks prior to the panel discussion said that the provincial government received in gasoline tax alone $2 for every $1 it spent on tourist publicity. Mr. Laing said that for every dollar spent on tourist promotion, $200 came into the province from pockets of tourists. G. W. Malaher, director of the game and fisheries branch, urged the association to consider improving the standards of Manitoba guides working out a set of standards. Mr. Malaher said the number of licensed guides in the province had increased from 233 in 1951 to 326 in 1954. He intimated that the standard of guiding in Manitoba was not as high as it should be. The convention winds up Saturday.