Travel Manitoba reports record visitor spending in 2024, warns of slower 2025

Tourism spending in Manitoba hit a record high in 2024, shattering records set during the two years prior — but the upwards trajectory may be paused.

Travel Manitoba announced a milestone $1.89 billion spend Wednesday. However, it warned this year’s wildfire season could have halted the tourism sector’s growth.

“We have obviously had a very challenging summer,” said Colin Ferguson, president of Travel Manitoba.

Wildfires forced evacuations in northern communities, affecting some 100 tourism assets, Travel Manitoba estimated earlier this year. It doesn’t yet know the full effect on the industry.

The Crown corporation turned its eyes to 2024 during its annual general meeting Wednesday in Winnipeg.

As in years past, Manitobans accounted for the bulk of tourism, with 9.28 million of the total 10.6 million visits. Spending grew 10.2 per cent year-over-year to $1.19 billion (or $129 per person).

Spending from other Canadian provinces grew 5.1 per cent, to $478 million.

Meantime, United States and other international tourism dropped: visits declined by 18.1 per cent and 24.9 per cent, respectively. (Some 314,000 Americans visited in 2024, while 73,000 came from other international countries. Spending hit $123 million and $98 million, respectively.)

“Pre-COVID (pandemic), we were doing exceptionally well amongst U.S. visitors,” Ferguson said. “COVID cooled that off dramatically and it’s going to take a while to rebuild.”

Currently, Manitoba seems to be faring better than other provinces in attracting U.S. traffic, Ferguson said. Travel Manitoba pointed to Statistics Canada data: U.S. visitation by land is up 6.6 per cent over last year when comparing the first nine months of 2024 and 2025.

Americans seem to be booking Churchill expeditions and hunting and fishing trips despite the ongoing political dispute between the United States and Canada, Ferguson said.

Travel Manitoba has increased marketing hunting and fishing locales to Americans over the past three years. In 2024, it clocked a record number of non-resident fishing licence sales.

Florida, Texas, Illinois, Wisconsin and Michigan are among the states the agency is targeting. Direct flights from Denver and Chicago — introduced in 2024 — have helped, Ferguson said.

Meantime, roughly two-thirds of local lodges were impacted by wildfires this summer, said Don Lamont, executive director of the Manitoba Lodges and Outfitters Association.

Evacuations and property damage affected some, though no association member’s place burned down. Companies dealt with longer flights for customers because partner airports had been evacuated.

Some handled confusion from clients who didn’t know if they could vacation in Manitoba amid wildfire season, Lamont said. “I think we’ll be better prepared, from now on, for whatever Mother Nature brings us.”

Manitoba’s tourism industry is “remarkably resilient,” said Karly McRae, president of Lakehouse Properties, which owns hubs in Wasagaming townsite in Riding Mountain National Park.

She’d clocked an increase in American visitors this summer. Some from the U.S. travelled north because of their political views, shared McRae, who co-founded the Tourism Industry Association of Manitoba.

The tourism sector generated roughly $375 million in tax revenue for the province this year. Travel Manitoba got a provincial government funding boost of $4.5 million in April; part will be spent on further hunting and fishing marketing, Ferguson said.

The record-breaking tourism spend can partly be attributed to inflation, he added.

gabrielle.piche@winnipegfreepress.com