Tourism Winnipeg

Economic Development Winnipeg // YES! Winnipeg // Tourism Winnipeg 17 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 or an event spectator, or to attend sport attractions. 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. The sport tourism industry in Canada surpassed $6.5 billion in spending in 2015, according to custom data tabulations from the Travel Survey of Residents of Canada (TSRC) and the International Travel Survey (ITS). This represents a 13 per cent increase in visitor expenditures associated with sport tourism over the 2014 total of $5.8 billion. The largest source of sport tourists continues to be the domestic market, accounting for 72 per cent of all spending, followed by overseas markets (18 per cent) and U.S. visitors (nine per cent). The primary contributor to the growth in 2015 sport tourism revenues involved the U.S. market, which saw a year-over-year spending increase of 20 per cent. Sport tourism spending attributable to the domestic market increased by 12 per cent. 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 Winnipeg. A focused sales approach, with compelling messaging as well as enhanced promotional materials and an engaging website, assist in meeting the various goals and objectives. Industry Collaboration Tourism Winnipeg continues to collaborate with Manitoba Sport, Culture and Heritage (specifically the Manitoba Sport Secretariat), the City of Winnipeg and sports stakeholders in a coordinated approach to acquire major 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 will attend the Canadian Sport Tourism Alliance's annual congress to promote Winnipeg as a desirable destination for amateur and major sports events. In addition to attending the conference, Tourism Winnipeg invites national sport organizations located in Ottawa to Team Winnipeg's client events to increase the Winnipeg's profile as a sports destination. 2018 Date March 7-9 Sport Events Congress, Halifax, NS Winnipeg Sport Tourism Advisory Committee Tourism Winnipeg will continue to collaborate with local leaders to target high-profile sports and special events that will yield a high return. The committee takes 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 will continue to meet 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 attract 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 management system, Simpleview, provides an efficient means of submitting RFPs and bids through an extranet site. This system has improved the process and increased effectiveness. 2017 Canada Summer Games Heritage Classic: Classenc - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0

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