Top tourism honours

A lifetime of camping and canoeing has given René Talbot an appreciation for his home province.

“I think there’s a misconception that Manitoba is flat and boring — even amongst Manitobans — but you don’t have to go that far to see all the gorgeous lakes we’ve got and the beautiful nature,” he said.

Talbot and his partner, Megan Steen, aim to give people access to the outdoors via Wild Skies Resort, the resort and wedding venue they opened in 2021. The forested 10-acre property that is located 100 km northeast of Winnipeg in River Hills, includes glamping domes, tents and cabins for rent, as well as outdoor adventure opportunities.

Wild Skies averages 4,000 guests annually, around 20 per cent of whom are visitors from outside the province, Talbot estimated.

The resort won the Manitoba small business of the year award at the third annual Tourism Awards on Thursday.

“It’s been quite the hustle the last few years to get to where we are now, so it’s just nice to have those efforts recognized,” Talbot said.

Presented by Travel Manitoba and Tourism Winnipeg, the awards recognize the outstanding contributions of industry professionals. Eighteen winners were honoured in the grand ballroom at Fort Garry Place.

Nominations were received in 10 categories and the winners included tourism operators, businesses, employees, volunteers, campaigns and events in Winnipeg and from across Manitoba.

Ken Gangler is “not an award guy” but said he was humbled to receive the award of distinction for the three decades he’s spent building hunting and fishing tourism in the keystone province.

In 1998, he opened Gangler’s North Seal River Lodge and Outposts in northern Manitoba. Located more than 350 km from the closest dirt road, the fly-in fishing lodge offers access to more than 2.4 million hectares and 61 different lakes.

During its four-month season each year, the business hosts 700 to 800 guests. Gangler said that 75 per cent are from the United States and the rest are from other parts of the world, including England, Germany and Australia.

Gangler, who is originally from Chicago, Ill., is always eager to showcase Manitoba to tourists. Provisions include beer and cheese made in the province.

“We want them to have the full experience of being in Manitoba,” he said. “We’re very proud of Manitoba.”

The Agowiidiwinan Centre at The Forks in downtown Winnipeg picked up an Indigenous tourism award.

The brainchild of the Treaty Relations Commission of Manitoba, the centre opened in December 2022 in the space that used to house Muddy Rivers restaurant. It features educational exhibits where visitors can learn about First Nation treaty-making from the pre-contact period to the present.

The centre attracts tourists who are in Winnipeg for all kinds of reasons, according to Treaty Commissioner Loretta Ross, and offers a space where people can learn about how treaties impact everyone.

“The Forks has traditionally been a meeting place, so it’s a great place to come back and understand those relationships,” Ross said.

The Icelandic Festival of Manitoba was recognized with an award for Marketing Campaign of the Year for its efforts promoting last year’s festival.

More than 25,000 people attend the event, which takes place in Gimli during the August long weekend.

“It really is a family and friends get-together celebration time, so there are a lot of people that come from outside the province and outside the country even,” said Jenno Boholij, the festival’s director of marketing and partnerships.

Tourism is a key economic driver in Manitoba and that makes the awards important, said Ryan Kuffner, president and CEO of Tourism Winnipeg.

“It’s the people behind the tourism industry that make it all happen,” Kuffner said. “I always walk away from these tourism awards feeling inspired (and) feeling motivated to continue doing the great work we do at Tourism Winnipeg to grow the sector.”

According to Travel Manitoba, the province welcomed 10.4 million new visitors in 2023 (the most recent year for which data is available) who collectively spent more than $1.82 billion.

Meanwhile, Economic Development Winnipeg statistics show that the city attracted approximately 4.4 million visitors in 2024, resulting in an estimated $1.1 billion spent on tourism.

The tourism awards were held during National Tourism Week, a Tourism Industry Association of Canada initiative that concluded Friday.

aaron.epp@freepress.mb.ca