Travellers making their way back to Manitoba

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This article was published 18/12/2023 (629 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The number of international travellers entering Manitoba continues to rise in 2023, but has yet to reach pre-COVID-19 pandemic levels.

According to the Canada Border Services Agency’s recently released year in review report, more than 1.3 million people had entered Manitoba through its 34 land ports of entry, four marine reporting sites and six airports, from Jan. 1 to Oct. 31.

The CBSA logged almost 1.9 million such travellers in 2019. Pandemic public health restrictions cut those numbers to 672,000 in 2020 and 448,000 in 2021 — followed by a reopening rebound to 1.03 million in 2022.

“Travellers are starting to feel more confident about travelling again,” said Angela Young, chief of operations with the CBSA Prairie region. “People are driving across the border or entering by air… It isn’t at pre-pandemic levels yet, but it is getting there.”

The reasons for the slow climb back, Young said, include United Airlines’ 2021 decision to discontinue direct flights linking Winnipeg to U.S. hubs Chicago and Denver, and charter packages to sunny destinations that haven’t yet fully rebounded.

“But I’m confident to say that next year, 2024, the numbers will be even higher,” she said.

Meanwhile, Colin Ferguson, president and chief executive officer of Travel Manitoba, said the province is rounding into good shape when it comes to tourism.

“Despite some challenges, Manitoba’s tourism recovery is ahead of the Canadian average, according to Statistics Canada,” said Ferguson. “Manitoba’s 2022 tourism spending exceeded that of 2019 by 10 per cent, while Canada as a whole was only three per cent above 2019 levels.”

Many parts of Canada rely more heavily on international travellers than Manitoba and have thus been slower to recover, he said.

The recent CBSA report highlights some positive progress in the region, said Ryan Kuffner, president and CEO of Economic Development Winnipeg.

“These cross-border numbers are indicators of the ongoing recovery of tourism in Winnipeg, with the U.S. being Canada’s largest international market,” Kuffner said. “North Dakota and Minnesota are two of the U.S. markets our Tourism Winnipeg team targets in our marketing campaigns to drive leisure travel, along with welcoming business events from the U.S. to boost visitation to our city.

“This underscores the gradual progress and optimism for the city’s tourism sector.”

Kuffner said EDW received other information from Travel Manitoba earlier this year that predicts international travel to Manitoba will likely not exceed the pre-pandemic level until 2026.

Elsewhere among the CBSA yearly stats (up until Oct. 31), 2,644 Ukrainian refugees had entered Manitoba, as well as 490 people from Afghanistan.

“The Ukrainian flights and the Afghanistan flights are IIRC (Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada)-led,” Young said. “They do the majority of planning and they tell us when the flight is coming and we ensure we have the resources here. We always step up and do our best.”

On the law enforcement front, CBSA said it had logged 427 illicit drug seizures in Manitoba this year (up until Oct. 31), worth an estimated street value of $8.7 million.

The numbers include a total of $292,000 worth of opium, $340,000 of catha edulis (khat), $39,000 of marijuana, and $8 million of cocaine. (In July, border agents found an estimated $6 million worth of cocaine hidden in a semi-trailer filled with corn.)

In the period ending Oct. 31, 21 weapons had been seized by Manitoba-based agents this year, as well as 13 guns.

Not all were with criminal intent, Young said. “We do a seizure when someone does not declare something. With the guns, it could have been someone who drove up to the border, it could be a U.S. citizen, and they didn’t remember a gun was in their vehicle.

“It’s always important to declare firearms.”

kevin.rollason@freepress.mb.ca