Manitoba reveals new tourism slogan to attract visitors to the province

WINNIPEG -

Manitoba's tourism industry has a new slogan and marketing campaign to try to lure more visitors.

Travel Manitoba, a provincial Crown corporation, has changed its marketing tag line from "Canada's heart beats," adopted eight years ago, to "Canada's heart is calling."

There are also new advertisements and new lettering that features a polar bear inside the "A" in Manitoba.

Travel Manitoba president Colin Ferguson says the new brand is aimed at a more emotional connection to travel.

He says that could mean having your heart race during an outdoor adventure or having a reflective moment at a museum.

The corporation spends about $9 million a year on marketing and Ferguson says one of the target areas now is California, where direct flights to Winnipeg recently started.

"When you look around this province and some of the things that have happened in the last 10 years, there's been some amazing new additions," Ferguson said Monday, pointing to examples such as Qaumajuq, a large Inuit art gallery in downtown Winnipeg.

The Manitoba government committed in 2019 to spend five per cent of all tourism tax revenues on Travel Manitoba initiatives, up from the previous four per cent.

Ferguson said the corporation is aiming to increase total tourism spending from the pre-pandemic high of $1.6 billion to $2.5 billion by 2030.

   This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 9, 2023