Tourism Winnipeg

14 Tourism Winnipeg | 2017 Destination Marketing Plan & Partnership Opportunities SPORTS AND SPECIAL EVENTS Winnipeg is a city with a passion for sport and a rich tradition of hosting successful sporting events. Sport tourism is any activity in which people are attracted to a particular location as a sport event participant, an event spectator, or to attend sport attractions. It is a $5 billion segment of Canada's tourism industry, showing a 5.3% increase from 2011, based upon data from the Travel Survey of Residents of Canada and the International Travel Survey (2012). The domestic market continues to be the largest source of sport tourists accounting for 84% of all spending, 10.8% for international and 5.3% for U.S. visitors. There are an estimated 200,000 sporting events that occur annually in Canada. Sporting events create media attention, contribute to economic and sports development, increase sports participation, raise the civic profile, engage the community, increase infrastructure investment, and foster civic pride. Target Markets Executive directors and general managers of provincial and national sport organizations, special event groups, local advocates, and/or event rights holders Geographic Markets Primary Manitoba, Ottawa, Canada Secondary U.S. and International Tactics Tourism Winnipeg has developed strategic sales activities in collaboration with stakeholders to increase the number of sports and special events held in the city of Winnipeg. A focused sales approach with compelling messaging, as well as enhanced promotional materials and website, assist in meeting the goals and objectives. Industry Collaboration Tourism Winnipeg collaborates with Sport Manitoba, Manitoba Sport Secretariat, the City of Winnipeg and sports stakeholders in a coordinated approach to acquire sports and special events. Tourism Winnipeg will leverage hosting opportunities for sports and special events. Sales Activities Tourism Winnipeg's sales activities include prospecting, in-person sales meetings, follow-up calls and sales kits, presentation proposals and bids, site inspections, economic impact studies, advertising programs and event servicing. A concerted effort has been made to increase prospecting calls to attract business. Tourism Winnipeg will also focus sales activities in the sports and cultural arts communities. Trade Shows, Marketplaces and Client Events Tourism Winnipeg attends the Canadian Sport Tourism Alliance annual congress to promote Winnipeg as a desirable destination for amateur and major sports events. As well as attending the conference, Tourism Winnipeg invites the national sport organizations located in Ottawa to Team Winnipeg's client events in order to increase the profile of Winnipeg as a sports destination. 2017 Date March 20-22 Sport Events Congress, Ottawa, ON Winnipeg Sport Tourism Advisory Committee Tourism Winnipeg collaborates with local leaders in an effort to target high profile sports and special events that will yield a high return. The committee promotes a cohesive approach to event attraction to further position Winnipeg as a world-class host city that offers robust coaching and professional sport expertise, superior sport infrastructure, and a broad volunteer base. Sport Manitoba Tourism Winnipeg meets with Sport Manitoba's individual sport executive directors on a regular basis to strengthen relationships and foster ongoing communications. Tourism Winnipeg will also host a sports forum workshop for the executive directors of provincial sports organizations to share industry updates and tools that can be used to bring major sports events to Winnipeg. Tourism Winnipeg will attend local sports events and annual general meetings to encourage organizations to bring their regional and national competitions to Winnipeg. Request for Proposals (RFPs) and Bids Tourism Winnipeg's customer relations system, Simpleview, provides an efficient means of submitting RFPs and bids through an extranet site. This system has improved the process and increased effectiveness.

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