Winnipeg Focuses Its Marketing Efforts Southward

<H1> Winnipeg Focuses Its Marketing Efforts Southward</H1>By Carolyn Green

<I>Winnipeg </I>- Bolstered by a $4 million facelift to the city's convention center, local officials are taking a much more aggressive marketing stance and setting their sights on the virtually untapped American meetings market.

"It's growing in importance; it's a market with a huge potential because of sheer numbers," said Penny McMillan, executive director of Tourism Winnipeg, the city's tourist promotion agency. "It's one of those markets that is just so big that as we penetrate it and create awareness we'll continue to see growth."

While McMillan and others acknowledge that the U.S. market represents a small component of overall meetings business, they believe that growth can be achieved, particularly from Minneapolis and Chicago, because both cities have excellent air service to the Manitoba capital.

In addition to easy air access, Winnipeg-with a population of about 650,000 from at least 40 different ethnic groups-is attractive to these U.S. destinations because of its central location and low costs compared with other destinations of similar size, said Klaus Lahr, general manager for the Winnipeg Convention Center.

Lahr believes that major renovations to the 22-year-old convention center are an additional enticement. Completed last year, the refurbishment included upgrades to carpeting, upholstery, wall treatments, security systems, lighting and signage.

The three-story convention center, located in the heart of downtown, offers 115,000 square feet of exhibit, meeting and banquet space on three floors. The largest exhibit hall features 78,000 square feet of pillar-free space.

"It's a far more salable facility now and a facility that conference organizers can feel very comfortable in knowing that their delegates are going to be very well looked after," McMillan said.

Lahr said that renewed marketing efforts will increase group business. "The Canadian government and industry are working together, and I see great things in the future," he said.

Laurie Bowering, president of The Bowering Group, a local meeting planning and destination management company, said she's already noticed positive results from stepped-up marketing efforts. "This year, we have a lot more proposals that we've clinched or are in the works than at this point in 1995. It seems there's more business coming to Winnipeg and more business that requires the services of a meeting planner or a DMC."

McMillan said promotional efforts-by Tourism Winnipeg alone or in conjunction with the federal Canadian Tourism Commission-include participation at trade shows, a print advertising campaign and a direct mail program, aimed primarily at corporations.

In addition to citing stronger Canadian and U.S. economies, industry watchers also are optimistic about Winnipeg's future because the city will host the 1999 Pan American Games.

McMillan said the games will not only bring more overall tourist dollars to the city, but also will put Winnipeg on the map. The city, set on the banks of the Red and Assiniboine rivers, lies in the very heart of Canada and is sometimes described as the place where the West begins.

Named for the large and shallow lake to the city's north which the Cree Indians called "win-nipuy," or murky water, the city has a diversified economy and has developed a distribution and financial center for western Canada.

In terms of group business, most suppliers report modest increases in meeting and convention business this year. In addition to a 10 percent increase in business at the convention center, 1996 convention business has increased about 3 percent to 4 percent this year at the 272-room Delta Winnipeg, said Lorne Perrin, director of sales and marketing for the hotel.

"We've had a bit of a strengthening in the general economy, so businesses are doing a bit more with their meetings and conferences," Perrin said. "This fall looks good, and I think that 1997, by the looks of what we've got on the books for group business, will be up again."

While conceding that Winnipeg may not rank as a first-tier meeting and convention venue, McMillan said the city offers planners a multitude of perks for small and medium-sized events.

Winnipeg has about 6,000 hotel rooms, 2,500 of them in the downtown core. For leisure-time activities or spouse programs, it offers a multitude of choices. Gamblers can while away the hours at the Crystal Casino at the Fort Garry Hotel, Canada's first stand-alone casino.

McMillan said the city's six-year-old downtown urban redevelopment project, called The Forks, offers a plethora of venues and activities. Located at the junction of the Red and Assiniboine rivers, the project features an open-air amphitheater, play and picnic areas, a marina, a year-round market in a former stable, and boutiques and shops in an old warehouse.

Besides inner-city activities, Winnipeg is an ideal locale for pre- and post-conference programs that can include fishing, white-water rafting, horseback riding, "the whole nature experience literally within minutes driving distance of downtown," McMillan said.