Manitoba Tourism Strategy Progress Report 2024–25
RIDING MOUNTAIN NATIONAL PARK
Manitoba encompasses Treaty 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 Territories and communities who are signatories to Treaties 6 and 10. Manitoba is located on the ancestral land of the Anishinaabeg, Anishininewuk, Dakota Oyate, Denesuline and Nehethowuk Nations and is the Homeland of the Red River Métis. Northern Manitoba includes lands that were and are the ancestral lands of the Inuit.
Travel Manitoba respects the spirit and intent of Treaties and Treaty Making and remains committed to working in partnership with First Nations, Inuit and Métis people in the spirit of truth, reconciliation and collaboration.
SNOW LAKE
Background
Travel Manitoba, the Manitoba Chambers of Commerce and the Manitoba government came together in 2019 to create a new vision for tourism in the province, recognizing that a whole-of-government approach and private sector input would be required to increase tourism’s contribution to the provincial economy. When the pandemic brought the global tourism industry to a standstill, an updated Manitoba Tourism Strategy was released in 2021 to recognize the far-reaching impacts of the pandemic and the need for immediate and bold action to re-energize the industry. The Manitoba Tourism Strategy became the roadmap to recovery. Delivering on the strategy was key to rebuilding a solid base for short-term recovery.
In 2023, the Manitoba Tourism Strategy was updated once more. As visitor confidence rebuilds and travel returns, the focus shifted from short-term response to rebuilding for long-term growth. The strategy’s goal is to increase visitor spending by 50 per cent over 2019 levels to $2.5 billion by 2030 and grow visitation by 19 per cent to 12.8 million visitors.
The purpose of this annual progress report is to provide an update on the progress made towards the strategic initiatives outlined in the Manitoba Tourism Strategy. This report highlights the major accomplishments and key performance indicators for the 2024-25 fiscal year. By documenting these achievements and identifying areas for improvement, this report aims to ensure continued progress with the overarching objectives of the strategy.
Major Accomplishments
STRATEGIC GOAL: LEAD BRAND & MARKETING
Key Initiatives:
Stimulate recovery and showcase Manitoba’s:
• Indigenous, Francophone and other cultural experiences.
• Unique and vibrant four seasons, including Canada’s home of world-class winter experiences.
• Exceptional water-based experiences such as fishing and paddling.
• Showcase diversity of wilderness and wildlife experiences, including support for Churchill as a leading international destination.
ACCOMPLISHMENT
Spring Summer Campaign Results:
• $1.2 million investment with our marketing partners
• 20,900 hotel bookings
• 5,800 airline tickets
• $4.7M gross bookings
• 85,515 business leads to partners
• 879,000 website views
• 50,500 Northern Lures distributed
• 52 hosted media and influencers
• 10,131 sign-ups and contest entries
• 121,000 clicks / engagements
• 8.8 million campaign video views
LEAD
Travel Manitoba
Fall Winter Campaign Results
• $1.1 million investment with our marketing partners
• 15,527 hotel bookings
• 3,471 airline tickets
• $3.86 million gross bookings
• 97,261 business leads to partners
• 402,000 website visits
• 50,000 Northern Lures distributed
• 15 hosted media and influencers
• 120 sign-ups and contest entries
• 86.8 million impressions
• 996,000 clicks / engagements
• 1.6 million campaign video views
Partnered with CTV Morning Live for 10 on-air live segments featuring museums and attractions in Winnipeg and around the province.
Teamed up with Matador Network to roll out GuideGeek, an AI Travel Assistant, to help visitors with their travel-related questions online. GuideGeek can recognize and respond in over 40 different languages through platforms like WhatsApp and a chat feature on our leisure travel website to assist visitors in planning their Manitoba adventures 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
Results:
• 3,810 users
• 13,900 messages
• 73% Canadian users
• 12% U.S. users
Supported operators impacted by restrictions at Riding Mountain National Park due to zebra mussel mitigation efforts by promoting the various non-watercraft activities targeted to Manitoba and Saskatchewan residents.
Results:
• 2.03 million impressions
• 13,100 landing page visits
• 331,375 clicks
• 1.3 million video views
• 727,513 Meta impressions
• 1.01 million YouTube impressions
Travel Manitoba
Travel Manitoba, Industry partners
Travel Manitoba
Travel Manitoba, Clear Lake Country
Promoted Assiniboine Park Zoo with a campaign aimed at boosting summer visitation and ticket sales outside of Winnipeg and in Northwest Ontario.
Results:
• 2.2 million impressions
• 21,772 clicks
• 1.93 million Meta impressions
• 269,269 TikTok impressions
Promoted Churchill through an innovative sponsor package with the Winnipeg Sea Bears during the 2024 season, including in-game promotional spots, video ads in Manitoba and Saskatchewan arenas, and online broadcast. We also provided a package trip for four to Churchill through Heartland International Travel and Tours for the ‘See the Bears’ contest.
Results:
• 86,275 impressions
• 2,081 contest entries/comments
• 1,514 engagements
• 1.75% engagement rate
Promoted the province and its many attractions through Bandwango passes or trails that visitors can access.
• Launched the Flin Flon Trail that featured 21 locations visitors can explore.
• The Kid’s Choice Museum Pass features discounted tickets to a selection of Manitoba museums.
Joined the Culinary Tourism Alliance (CTA), an association of stakeholders from across the national culinary tourism industry focused on food and drink to celebrate history, heritage and culture of a destination. Our page features some iconic culinary experiences in Winnipeg and Manitoba.
Worked with content creators Jay Siemens and Clayton Schick to make a total of 11 angling videos with over 700,000 combined views.
Travel Manitoba, Assiniboine Park Zoo
Travel Manitoba, Heartland International
Travel Manitoba, industry partners
Travel Manitoba, Culinary Tourism Alliance
Travel Manitoba
ACCOMPLISHMENT LEAD
Created Hunt Fish content videos with influencers featuring Manitoba locations and tourism operators.
Travel Manitoba, various Manitoba tourism lodges and outfitters
Support Winnipeg and Brandon as Manitoba’s leading destinations for national meetings, conventions, festivals and events.
ACCOMPLISHMENT LEAD
Introduced Winnipeg and Manitoba as the 2025 hosts of Rendez-vous Canada (RVC) during the 2024 event held in Edmonton. During our hosted luncheon on the final day, we held a Manitoba-themed bingo game with emcee and Virgin Radio personality, Ace Burpee.
Collaborated with Winnipeg Economic Development & Tourism and Brandon First to secure meetings, incentive travel, conventions and events business.
Attended the Global Meeting and Incentive Travel Exchange (GMITE) show in Florida and met with 25 prospective planners showcasing unique Manitoba experiences for corporate events and incentive trips.
Travel Manitoba, Winnipeg Economic Development & Tourism
Travel Manitoba, Winnipeg Economic Development & Tourism Brandon First
Travel Manitoba, Winnipeg Economic Development & Tourism, Brandon First
Engaged new Canadian and newcomers as potential travellers and ambassadors to their country of origin.
ACCOMPLISHMENT
Enlisted Probe Research to conduct two engagement sessions with the Filipino community in April 2024, which revealed significant insights into the community's travel motivations, barriers and preferences.
Conducted a Newcomer Travel Survey among members of the Chinese community who have been in Manitoba less than five years. Key findings included that 84 per cent of respondents have travelled within Manitoba since their arrival for leisure purposes.
LEAD
Travel Manitoba, Winnipeg Economic Development & Tourism
Travel Manitoba
ACCOMPLISHMENT LEAD
Participated in a Destination Canada initiative with Qantas Airlines to promote Churchill in the Australian market.
Results:
• 7.29 million impressions
• 9,826 leads
Partnered with Destination Canada, Northwest Territories Tourism and Travel Yukon to target high-value guests in key U.S. locations promoting Canada as the best place in the world to view the life-changing northern lights.
Results:
• 165 million total impressions
• 9.4 million views
• 18,000 clicks
• 470,000 views (target of 428,000)
• 34,000+ views on Travel Manitoba webpages
Completed the final year of the Destination Canada-led Prairie Angling Campaign in March 2025 with three flights each focusing on different fishing experiences, including fly-in, drive-to and hard-water.
Results:
• 43.5 million impressions
• 290,000 clicks
• 2.3 million video views
In collaboration with Destination Canada, participated in Focus Canada Mexico and Canada Showcase Europe, engaging in B2B meetings with key international travel trade partners and delivering Manitoba destination training to highvalue travel advisors across Mexico, Germany, the U.K. and France.
Travel Manitoba, Destination Canada
Travel Manitoba
STRATEGIC GOAL: ADVANCE DESTINATION MANAGEMENT
Key Initiatives:
Increase the number of market- and export-ready tourism businesses in Manitoba, with consideration of the following world-class demand generating experiences: trails, the North, winter, Indigenous, Francophone, human rights and reconciliation initiatives.
ACCOMPLISHMENT LEAD
Supported trail development by attending meetings and presenting at conferences including 2024 Trail Talks at Falcon Ridge Ski Slopes hosted by Trails Manitoba.
Secured $250,000 through Destination Canada in partnership with Tourism Saskatchewan for the development of an agritourism strategy, implementation plan and investment plan.
Supported Indigenous Tourism Manitoba’s planning session in January and follow-up discussions in February to update the Manitoba Indigenous Tourism Strategy. The strategy is expected to be launched in 2025-26.
Created a new Adventure to Understanding video showcasing Indigenous-owned Turtle Village during the winter season including ice fishing and glamping opportunities.
Supported Opaskwayak Cree Nation in their meeting with the ministers of Sport, Culture, Heritage and Tourism, Environment and Climate Change and Business, Mining, Trade and Job Creation in support of tourism-related projects.
Hired a Francophone Tourism Development Specialist to engage with francophone stakeholders, operators and communities to understand their unique features, challenges and needs.
Key initiatives:
• Enhancing business capacity to attract and serve broader audiences
• Collecting data and insights
• Developing shelf-ready itineraries
• Addressing RV traveller needs
• Engaging Francophone newcomers in tourism activities
Organized and hosted the Francophone Tourism Strategy Advisory Committee
Travel Manitoba, Falcon Ridge Ski Slopes, Trails Manitoba
Travel Manitoba, Tourism Saskatchewan
Travel Manitoba, Indigenous Tourism Manitoba
Travel Manitoba, Turtle Village, Indigenous Tourism Manitoba
Travel Manitoba, Opaskwayak Cree Nation
Travel Manitoba
Travel Manitoba, Francophone Tourism Strategy Advisory Committee
Ensure the tourism industry has access to business advice and training on intelligence, best practices, business case formulation, marketing readiness, business development and funding sources.
ACCOMPLISHMENT LEAD
Secured $250,000 through Destination Canada in partnership with Tourism Saskatchewan for the development of an agritourism strategy, implementation plan and investment plan.
Met with Tourism Saskatchewan and 20 operators in the Flin Flon, Denare Beach and Creighton Future Development Corporation (FDC) region during two rounds of consultations and site visits to assess operator needs. These one-onone meetings identified training needs, opportunities and barriers to development, as well as assessed overall tourism readiness.
• Supported the FDC to launch their Experiential Tourism Accelerator Program.
• Conducted an analysis of mobile phone visitor data to FDC to determine who is visiting the region and how to better target similar individuals going forward.
Informed industry members and related professionals with the latest tourism insights, research, news and grant opportunities through e-newsletter, Travel Currents.
STRATEGIC GOAL: FOSTER COLLABORATION
Key Initiative:
Travel Manitoba, Tourism Saskatchewan
Travel Manitoba, Tourism Saskatchewan, Flin Flon, Denare Beach and Creighton FDC
Travel Manitoba
Collaborate with Winnipeg Economic Development & Tourism on research, branding, marketing and experience development.
ACCOMPLISHMENT LEAD
Co-hosted the second annual Tourism Awards on April 17 at Club Regent Event Centre. The Honourable Glen Simard, Minister of Sport, Culture, Heritage and Tourism and His Worship Mayor Scott Gillingham were in attendance. Results:
• 389 attendees
• Over 70+ nominations in nine different categories
• $454,000 earned media value
Travel Manitoba, Winnipeg Economic Development & Tourism
Leverage Destination Canada to drive future opportunities in Manitoba.
ACCOMPLISHMENT LEAD
Held a webinar with Tourism Saskatchewan and Destination Canada to update industry stakeholders on the Field to Fork Agritourism Corridor project.
Travel Manitoba, Tourism Saskatchewan, Destination Canada
Build awareness of tourism as a key employer and dynamic career.
Accomplishment
ACCOMPLISHMENT LEAD
Created a This Is Tourism awareness campaign that drove traffic to a landing page on huntfishmanitoba.ca with resources and tips to help people land their dream job working in the fishing sector.
Results:
• 3.29 million views on YouTube
• 18.2 million impressions
• 602,000 clicks
Travel Manitoba
Create a public awareness campaign on the province-wide value of tourism including job retention and creation, residential tax savings, innovation and education, infrastructure improvements and quality of life.
ACCOMPLISHMENT
Launched the This Is Tourism public awareness campaign to coincide with National Tourism Week. The campaign ran in Manitoba newspapers, social media and through digital video ads from April 15 to 19.
Results:
• 958,011 Meta impressions
• 159,030 video impressions
• 46,677 total impressions on LinkedIn
• 11,659 total webpage views
Ran a second flight of the This Is Tourism campaign in October to reinforce messaging and potentially reach more of our target audience. Findings from a July 2024 study with Probe Research showed that two in five respondents said their view of tourism’s community impact improved after watching the first flight of This Is Tourism ads and one third said the ads influenced their support for tourism growth and investments.
Results:
• 7.5 million impressions
• 6,700 clicks
Created a This Is Tourism awareness campaign that drove traffic to a landing page on huntfishmanitoba.ca with resources and tips to help people land their dream job working in the fishing sector.
Results:
• 3.29 million views on YouTube
• 18.2 million impressions
• 602,000 clicks
LEAD
Travel Manitoba
Conclusion and Next Steps
As we concluded the 2024–25 fiscal year, Travel Manitoba continued to adapt to the evolving travel, trade, economic, and political conditions shaping our world. Despite these pressures, Manitoba’s tourism sector demonstrated resilience. Tourism expenditures increased by 4 per cent year over year, rising from $1.82 billion in 2023 to $1.89 billion in 2024. This growth was driven primarily by domestic travel, with spending by Manitoba residents increasing by 10.2 per cent and expenditures from other Canadian visitors rising by 5.1 per cent. In contrast, international markets continued to lag, with U.S. visitor spending declining by 18.1 per cent and overseas spending down 24.9 per cent—reflecting ongoing recovery challenges in these markets.
Visitation trends mirrored these dynamics. Total visitation grew by 2.6 per cent, from 10.38 million in 2023 to 10.65 million in 2024, led by a 3.5 per cent increase in visits by Manitoba residents. Interprovincial visitation declined slightly (-0.8 per cent), while international visitation fell more sharply, with U.S. visits down 4.6 per cent and overseas visits declining by 26.3 per cent. Together, these trends underscore the continued strength of domestic travel while highlighting the need for sustained, long-term investment to rebuild international demand.
Canada’s Heart is Calling is uniquely positioned to meet the moment— inviting visitors from across the province, the country, and around the world to experience Manitoba’s diverse landscapes, vibrant communities, rich cultures, abundant waterways, and iconic northern lights. Budget 2025 from the Government of Manitoba included $4.5 million in additional funding for Travel Manitoba, with $450,000 dedicated to Indigenous Tourism Manitoba. This investment reinforces tourism’s role as a key economic driver and affirms tourism as reconciliation in action. Amid global trade pressures and increased economic uncertainty, continued support for Manitoba’s tourism sector is both a prudent and forward-looking investment.