With the 13th Annual Manitoba Tourism Awards now behind us, it is time again to begin thinking about nominations for the 14th annual awards. With this in mind we thought now would be good a time to address some feedback that was received after this year’s event. So, we took a look at the historical breakdown of the awards in terms of nominations for nominees whose activities were based outside of Winnipeg vs. those that were based in Winnipeg. We have summarized those results below. We also thought this might be a great time to clarify the nomination and judging processes.

To get a better sense of where the nominations were coming from we looked back at all of the finalists and winners, breaking them down by rural Manitoba or Winnipeg, as noted above.  The combined result of finalists and winners are as follows:

The judges base their decisions on the information that is submitted in the nominations and, on occasion, they may add personal insight to the discussions.  If responses are incomplete, or lack relevance to what is being asked for that specific category, the resulting score will not be as favourable as one received by a response that is well written with relevant and specific information.

It is important to stress that without fail, judges have always shown the utmost in fairness in reviewing submissions and excuse themselves from judging and discussing results in categories where they may have a conflict of interest.  In view of that, the results presented above, reflect the decisions of past judges on their considerations of submissions received and their respective merits.  The judges’ task is a difficult one and more often than not the difference between finalist and winner is small, but the judges always make that determination to the best of their ability.

It is also important to note that Travel Manitoba staff assists with receiving, collating and distributing nominations to judges and record their decisions, but do not shape or otherwise influence their decisions. More about the judging process is outlined below.

If you are interested in submitting a nomination we encourage you to keep reading this article and to stay tuned for an article on nomination writing closer to our official call for nominations.

Who Can Put Forth a Nomination?  Simply put - anyone.  Be it a self-nomination, one submitted by your local tourism or economic development representative or even your neighbour, all submissions are welcome.

Who Can be Nominated?  The Manitoba Tourism Awards are open to any individual, business or organization that is working in Manitoba’s tourism industry.  Even if you have never won an award from any other recognition program you are still eligible for a Manitoba Tourism Award.

How Can You be Nominated?  The person submitting the nomination must complete and submit a nomination form for the appropriate category.  Each nominee must then submit a signed Acknowledgement of Nomination Form (even self-nominations).

Late submissions or ones not submitted in the PDF files provided will not be considered for judging.

How Many Times Can You be Nominated?  You can be nominated in more than one category, and we encourage it if the fit is right.  Each nomination must pertain to that category and meet the category-specific criteria, not be copied from another submission.  You can also be re-nominated for an award in a subsequent year, but the new submission must be original or it will not be considered for judging.

The Judging Process:  

• Individuals on the judging panel are selected from your peers with the aim to have one representative from each region and sector of the tourism industry
• All nominations that were received prior to the deadline and in the correct format are then sent out to all judges
• Travel Manitoba provides general and category-specific eligibility criteria, the definition for each award and key characteristics
• Each nomination is then graded by points assigned to each question based on the responses given
• A judges’ meeting is then held where the panel discusses the scores they assigned and the merits they saw with each nomination
• Finalists and winners are then selected based on the scores that were given

If you have any questions about anything covered, or more importantly not covered in this article, either leave a comment below or email travelcurrents@travelmanitoba.com.

We recognize that submitting a nomination takes a considerable amount of effort, but appreciate all nominations that are submitted. The Manitoba Tourism Awards program is able to continue due to the tireless efforts of those who took the time to recognize their peers for their contributions to the tourism industry in Manitoba. Thank you!