Tourism minister’s cross-Canada tour includes stop in Churchill By: Martin Cash Posted: 7:00 PM CST Tuesday, Nov. 13, 2018

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This article was published 12/11/2018 (2191 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Earlier this month, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was in Churchill announcing the good news that rail service to the Hudson Bay community would resume at the end of this month.

On Tuesday, it was Mélanie Joly’s turn to visit Churchill. In her capacity as tourism minister, Joly has just started a series of cross-country round table discussions with industry players as part of a newly created Advisory Council on Jobs and the Visitor Economy to figure out ways to increase tourism across the country.

With Manitoba tourism getting a big plug last month from Lonely Planet — being named one of the top 10 destinations for 2019 — there is now even more interest from travellers around the world in experiencing the unique charms of Manitoba, including Churchill, the polar bear capital of the world.

"More than that," Joly said in an interview with the Free Press, "Churchill is a good example of many rural communities that have been able to develop new economic opportunities for their communities through tourism. That is exactly aligned with what we have in mind, and why we are developing a new federal strategy on tourism."

After @NiagaraFalls and @cityofwinnipeg, I am with the Mayor of Churchill, Manitoba, Mike Spence, to listen to the community of this Canada’s jewel of tourism. #tourism = good #jobs in all our communities. pic.twitter.com/BIyFeAe5UY

— Mélanie Joly (@melaniejoly) November 13, 2018

The international tourism industry is growing by about four per cent and Joly said Canada wants to be able to increase its share of visitors and climb in the international ranking — where, in recent years, the country has fallen from 10th most popular to 17th.

"Canada is beautiful and Canada is big… but we could play a greater role in developing the tourism industry here," she said, noting the former Harper government had slashed funding for Destination Canada, the crown corporation that promotes Canadian tourism around the world.

Like many other countries that have been smart about developing access and experiences for the world to go and discover their countries, she said Canada needs to do more of that.

She said it was noteworthy that in Ottawa’s $4.6 million funding assistance to Churchill — that has since been topped up to $7 million — through the Churchill Regional Economic Development (CRED) fund that was put in place just prior to the rail line washout and after the port was initially closed in 2016, about 25 per cent of the 46 projects that have been approved are tourism related.

One of the projects that received among of the largest contributions from the fund is Churchill Cruises, a new venture led by the Kothari Group, that hopes to run luxury Arctic cruise excursions from Greenland to Churchill with stops at some of the Nunavut communities.

Not all of the projects CRED is assisting are restricted to Churchill. Also on Tuesday, Blaine Pedersen, the provincial minister of Growth Enterprise and Trade was in Thompson along with about 25 business leaders from southern Manitoba on the first of six planned Northern Economic Development Tours (that is partially funded by CRED and the province).

Chuck Davidson, the CEO of the Manitoba Chambers of Commerce, and co-chair of the Look North task force, said the goal is to help southern businesses develop business partnerships and opportunities in the North.

"The hope is that these tours will provide business leaders with ideas about opportunities in communities they might not otherwise have looked at," he said.

The provincial tourism industry is also in the process of developing its own northern strategy.

Colin Ferguson, CEO of Travel Manitoba, said, "What we’re trying to do is designed to fit hand in globe with Look North. It is intended to drive tourism revenue in the province and create new products in the North."

He said the federal funding through CRED is very helpful.

"It is great to see new money in the North," said Ferguson.

In addition to Churchill Cruises which received $109,000 from CRED to develop the offering, the Thompson Zoological Society’s Boreal Discovery Centre received $136,000

Ferguson said it’s the development of those types of tourism assets that can generate revenue and create jobs for their communities and help build out the tourism infrastructure that will give international travellers another reason to stay and spend more money in Manitoba.

martin.cash@freepress.mb.ca

Martin Cash
Reporter

Martin Cash has been writing a column and business news at the Free Press since 1989. Over those years he’s written through a number of business cycles and the rise and fall (and rise) in fortunes of many local businesses.

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