Travel Currents: January 2013

And the Survey Says…

As part of our ongoing work to create a new brand for Manitoba, Travel Manitoba, along with our agency McKim Cringan George, engaged our industry through a survey to determine their perceptions of and experiences with tourism in Manitoba. Along with previous research we have conducted, this new information will contribute to the story that will lead to our new brand.

Two-hundred and fourteen tourism stakeholders completed an online survey while 11 individuals representing a cross section of tourism and community leaderswere interviewed over the phone, providing us with some helpful and interesting feedback. The following is an overview of the results provided by McKim Cringan George:

The surveys sought nuanced thoughts about what differentiates Manitoba as a travel destination, and how our brand could credibly be expressed to travellers. We were able to identify some interesting emerging themes in the responses of stakeholders, though responses were by no means ubiquitous and were most certainly influenced by each respondent’s unique perspective and area of interest.

Diversity was a frequently shared theme – in reference to culture, diversity of offer and diversity of geography and climate.
It was very interesting to note that many respondents correlated our hospitable nature to that of the Maritimes, which is renowned.
It was interesting to note how many respondents shared the idea of open arms, sharing food at mom’s or baba’s kitchen table as being an important aspect of Manitoba’s personality.

Aside from diversity and our welcoming, hospitable nature – which nearly everyone suggested in some form or other – no single unique selling proposition floated to the surface with any great significance, and of all the questions, respondents struggled most to express what makes Manitoba unique. Our outdoors, wilderness, arts and culture, urban experiences, festivals, summer and open spaces all earned multiple mentions, with water and polar bears perhaps being mentioned most frequently.

This serves to highlight the challenge of defining a brand for our province that is representative of what we have to offer, and most importantly, is compelling enough to earn the interest of potential travellers.

The opinions shared by industry stakeholders were highly insightful, often inspiring and will be valuable in informing brand platform development.

With the research phase almost complete, we are eager and excited to continue on this journey towards a new brand and we look forward to sharing theprocess with you along the way. Stay tuned for further developments, including the Explorer Quotient types we will be targeting. The new brand is set to launch in 2014.