Industry eyes Manitoba tourism program expansion

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This article was published 27/07/2023 (827 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

On the packing list: fishing rod, winter coat and pyjamas.

Beginning this winter, fishers and tourists might be able to spend a night on the ice of 20 Manitoba lakes.

The province announced a tourism program expansion Wednesday. Last year, it inked contracts with three local businesses to set up overnight lodgings on Lake Winnipeg in the winter.

The expansion is both lauded and met with uncertainty in the industry.

Brett Baynton is champing at the bit. He’s hoping his company’s aurora pod — a glass-laden hut used for viewing the northern lights — can become an overnight stay on Lake Athapapuskow in Flin Flon.

Bakers Narrows Lodge, which owns the pod, has too few beds; this would add to business, Baynton said.

“We’ve been anxiously waiting,” he said of the government’s program expansion plans. “It’s been done in other provinces in Canada quite successfully… It’s definitely a good move in the right direction for the province and for tourism.”

Last winter, 106 on-ice overnight stays happened on Lake Winnipeg, a Manitoba spokesperson wrote in an email. The province didn’t track the revenue generated from the visits; those are private businesses’ numbers, the spokesperson continued.

There were no complaints or enforcement actions during the nights, a provincial government evaluation found.

“They did note the three operators, Kannuk, Gaune (Fishin) and Stringers were known to be reputable operators,” Linda Whitfield, Travel Manitoba’s vice-president of communications, shared in an email.

Kris Gaune worries the expansion will lead to a drop in customers at his Lake Winnipeg ice-fishing enterprise.

He serviced at least a dozen stays in his Yetti ice shacks overnight. People ice-fished near leather couches, satellite TV and a microwave.

“It’s basically like fishing from your living room,” Gaune explained.

He’s got another dozen in his books for overnight stays this winter, he said. Many fishers are coming from the United States.

“(The on-ice accommodation expansion) is going to… impact my business, probably,” Gaune said. “It might take some clients away… but it’s good for the province.”

Each of the 20 lakes, except for lakes Winnipeg and Manitoba, will be restricted to currently licensed tourism operators for on-ice night stays this year, a provincial government spokesperson wrote in an email. Lakes Winnipeg and Manitoba are open for new ventures.

Tourism permits are issued on a case-by-case basis, the spokesperson continued.

Kannuk Outfitters’ two ice castles were regularly booked last winter, said Carly Butland, a company office administrator.

“That’s awesome for other businesses that want to get into it now,” Butland said. “This is a super cool experience, so it’s nice that it can be offered to other lakes.”

Before last winter, ice fishing customers would have to drive from Selkirk to Lake Winnipeg daily, Butland said.

The province has tweaked its program, including increasing the buffer distance between on-ice lodgings and developed areas.

“There is demand for overnight accommodations on ice in our province,” Mat Hobson, president of Manitoba Lodges and Outfitters Association, was quoted saying in a news release.

The association did not respond to requests for comment by print deadline. Hobson’s quote continues to say the lobbyist is “overjoyed” the provincial government worked with them on the framework.

Operators are required to meet safety and environmental standards, according to the government.

gabrielle.piche@winnipegfreepress.com