Case Study |

Tourism Winnipeg likes to joke that the city doesn’t offer the sexy beach experience of sunny Florida or other typical spring break destinations, but that was no reason not to market the city as a spring break stop for American university students. They thought the University of North Dakota would be a good target as it is only a two-and-a-half hour drive south of Winnipeg and, conversely, thousands of miles away from the nearest beach, making it unlikely that many students would have spring break plans. The challenge was to figure out how to reach this demographic who might otherwise not have considered Winnipeg as a travel destination. Winnipeg has a lot of attractions to appeal to young adults, especially in the bar and restaurant scene at The Forks. Tourism Winnipeg wanted to achieve an increase in cross-border tourism and an awareness of the city’s offerings. With one of the smallest tourism budgets of the major Canadian cities, it was really important that they could be efficient and precise with their spending.

Tourism Winnipeg is a division of Economic Development Winnipeg and is the city’s destination marketing organization. Tourism Winnipeg’s mission is to promote and influence economic growth in Winnipeg and to facilitate the future of a healthy, prosperous, fully integrated, responsible tourism industry.