2012 Travel Manitoba Tourism Conference Keynote presentations are now available on the Tourism Industry Website. Click below to see Greg Klassen and Kim Matthews power point presentations.

http://www.travelmanitoba.com/TI/IndustryToolbox

THE recognition of Métis hunting rights in Manitoba won't prompt a stampede of gun-toting enthusiasts heading out into the wild, says the head of the province's hunting and fishing tourism industry.

Paul Turenne, executive director of the Manitoba Lodges & Outfitters Association, said the just-signed deal between the province and the Manitoba Métis Federation to give Métis people the same hunting rights as First Nations should benefit the hunting tourism industry.

The agreement means Métis people can hunt and fish without a provincial licence but only in certain parts of the province....          ....Turenne noted the agreement wouldn't grant commercial licences to Métis hunters as part of their rights. Would-be Métis outfitters would have to go through the same process to sell trips to American hunters, for example, as any other outfitter would.

http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/local/metis-hunting-deal-harmless-official-says-172043661.html

Officials at True North Sports & Entertainment don't know when they'll host the next Winnipeg Jets game, but that doesn't mean their programming has ground to a halt.

In fact, the coming fall and winter is shaping up to be, perhaps, the busiest since the MTS Centre opened nearly eight years ago.

"This year, by good fortune, our event calendar is as busy as it has ever been," said Jim Ludlow, True North's president and CEO. "We have a lot of non-hockey entertainment. It's on par to be the busiest non-hockey season as we have ever had."

http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/local/no-jets-no-problem-for-busy--mts-centre-172042831.html

IT would be much easier just to buy meat in the supermarket than drive 1,500 kilometres to spend time in the woods hunting in Manitoba.

But that's what a Michigan couple does every year to hunt for bear.

Ivan Loveless, 87, and wife Barbara, 78, have been driving up to Manitoba for 12 consecutive years. He bagged one this year but she didn't. That makes 19 bears they've taken in Manitoba since 2001.

http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/local/us-hunters-make-their-annual-trip-172042941.html

MONTREAL - Air Canada (TSX:AC.B) said Monday it will expand its relationship with Sky Regional Airlines to include routes to the United States.

The Montreal-based airline said it will transfer 15 of its Embraer 175 jets to Sky Regional, which will fly them under the Air Canada Express banner on short flights mainly from Toronto and Montreal to cities in the northeastern U.S.

Sky Regional already operates flights between Montreal and Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport under the Air Canada Express name.

http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/business/air-canada-expands-relationship-with-sky-regional-airlines-on-us-routes-172081121.html

Thousands of Nova Scotians and visitors from across Canada were in Lunenburg today to celebrate the relaunch of the Bluenose II. Taking advantage of morning tides, the schooner was slowly winched into the water, link-by-link, from the 1,200-tonne marine railway at the Lunenburg Shipyard.

'The return of Bluenose II to water is a significant milestone in preserving Canada's and Nova Scotia's proud maritime history and a testament to the shipbuilding history of our great province,' said the Honourable Peter MacKay, Minister of National Defence and Regional Minister for Nova Scotia. 'Our government is a proud partner in the restoration of this historic vessel as we focus on creating local jobs, boosting tourism and spurring economic growth in Nova Scotia for years to come.'

'Seeing the Bluenose II return to the water where she belongs marks a proud day for Lunenburg residents, Nova Scotians, and all Canadians,' said Premier Darrell Dexter. 'The Bluenose II restoration has captured Nova Scotians' pride in our province's shipbuilding tradition and has boosted tourism and provided good, local jobs. Dozens of people have clocked countless hours to return the Bluenose II to the water, reminding us all that ships start here.'

http://www.sail-world.com/Australia/Bluenose-II,-a-Canadian-icon-returns-to-the-water/102459

NEW YORK, N.Y. - Lower Manhattan has blossomed from tragedy into tourist magnet in the years since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, a revival that's generating some growing pains along with celebration.

For local residents and businesses, the throngs of visitors have brought an economic boon and new energy to their stricken neighbourhood, community groups told City Council members at a committee hearing Friday. But there also have been downsides: crowded sidewalks, overflowing trash cans and local businesses being pressed into service as public bathrooms.

City officials say they're working to iron out the problems, for the sake of tourists as well as residents.

http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/travel/as-tourism-rise-so-do-complaints-about-crowding-in-lower-manhattan-hearing-eyes-solutions-171853051.html

BERLIN - This year's Oktoberfest folk festival has already attracted an estimated 3.6 million visitors, the city of Munich said Sunday.

Officials are expecting a total of about 6 million visitors to celebrate the 16-day extravaganza, now half over, but the beer festival's start indicates the final number might well be higher.

The Oktoberfest is best known for its bands of oompah music playing in cavernous tents, local men wearing traditional Bavarian Lederhosen leather shorts and women in bright costumes.

http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/world/germanys-oktoberfest-folk-festival-sees-36-million-visitors-in-first-half-171988621.html

(Excerpts from an article published originally in the WFP, Oct.  '64)

MONTREAL (Staff)—When you're planning a world's fair you have to think big. Planners of-Expo '67, the Canadian Universal and International Exhibition, to be held in Montreal in Canada's Centennial year, started out by thinking of filling in a couple of hundred acres of the St. Lawrence River. The filling has created the site for the fair. The site has the St. Lawrence Seaway on one side and a panorama of skyscrapers and mountain on the other. It occupies two islands and arm of land jutting out from the Montreal waterfront.  It stretches 3.5 miles from end to end. The distances involved have created a transportation problem and the fair's big thinkers have come up with the answer: A free rapid transit railroad to the site from downtown parking lots. The site will also be served by the subway which is now under construction and by new bridges and expressways. Massive mental gymnastics were involved, too, in the matter of a theme for the fair. "Man and His World" is what the brain –  trusters came up with. Translating this high-sounding phrase into steel and concrete and colored lights was another matter. The problem was dumped into the lap of lanky, ex-sea dog Commodore 0. C. S. Robertson. He has broken down the theme into these topics: Man the Explorer, Man the Creator, Man the Producer, and Man and the Community. Major exhibits and pavilions will expand on these themes by means of such subtopics as Man and Space, Man and His Machines and Man and the Ocean. The last-named takes us from the sublime to the silly: There will be refrigeration pipes under a ramp leading down to an "undersea" exhibit. Purpose: To give visitors cold feet, and thereby, somehow, create the impression that they're really under the sea….         …The project will cost $40 million which is to be put up by private enterprise. The $40 million hasn’t exactly been put up yet by anybody, but negotiations are said to be progressing well…..        ….If the fair-goer doesn't have to worry about being shouted to death, he won't have to worry, about being educated to death either. While there will.-be plenty to look at and learn about, the planners say they haven't forgotten that fairs are supposed to be fun. So they've set aside a large segment of the site for just that. They plan carnivals, games, rides and shows, and outdoor cafes where the family can relax, talk about the fair and sip a cool beer beside a quiet lake. Food is an important item in any man's world, so Expo will have besides the usual hot dog stands and snack bars, as many as 50 restaurants with a seating capacity of 20,000. All in all; the thinkers-big and small have come up with an enticing package for what will certainly be the biggest world's fair the world has ever seen.