Travel Manitoba is producing two Vacation Guides in 2013 – one to go out in April (Spring/Summer), the other to go out in September (Fall/Winter). There are great advertising opportunities in each guide. The 2013 Guides will be based around experiences – there will be no directory with business listings, so securing your ad space ensures your visibility in the guide. Contact Lindsay Egan at LiEgan@travelmanitoba.com to book your ad today.

http://www.travelmanitoba.com/images_tr/pdf/2013_vacation_planner.pdf

Some restaurant owners are unhappy and many residents are confused, but the city has no plans to change its new snow-clearing program.

For the most part, snow-clearing crews have plowed away the first big storm of the season from Winnipeg streets and now the city will evaluate its new system of snow zones...   ...Some restaurant and business owners in zone G, where parking was banned on Tuesday from 7 p.m. to 7 a.m., weren't happy with the new snow-clearing system. Zone G includes everything from Osborne Village, Corydon Avenue's Little Italy district, Crescentwood and River Heights to Waverley Street.

Miles Gould, owner of The Grove at Stafford Street and Grosvenor Avenue, said sales at the licensed restaurant were down from a typical Tuesday night because people were worried about parking on nearby residential streets and having their vehicles towed.

"People were calling us asking if we can park nearby and we said no, the ban was in effect, so they didn't come," Gould said.

http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/breakingnews/city-plowing-ahead-with-its-snow-zones-179436491.html

BRANDON -- An announcement for an $180-million expansion of the Winnipeg Convention Centre left supporters of Brandon's Keystone Centre wondering why western Manitoba's events centre had to settle for a smaller slice of the government pie.

Although three levels of government recently pledged a combined $3.3 million for Keystone Centre renovations, if Brandon's facility were to get a per-capita share of the $180 million pledged for Winnipeg's main convention hall, the Keystone Centre should have got $43 million, based on a trading area of 180,000 people.

"That's a startling figure and that would solve a lot of the problems the Keystone Centre has," said Brandon Coun. Garth Rice, a city representative on the Keystone Centre board. "I don't necessarily feel shortchanged, but those figures speak to the fact that Winnipeg is the bigger centre and it gets catered to a lot more than the second city, which in this case is Brandon."

Even if Brandon's population alone were considered, a per-capita share of the $180 million would have garnered the Keystone Centre approximately $11 million.

http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/local/convention-centre-grant-spurs-questions-in-brandon-179436711.html

Dauphin has been selected as the host community for the 2014 Crescent Point Energy Western Canada Cup, the new junior A hockey regional championship tournament which will decide the Western regional representatives for the RBC Cup National Junior A Championship.

Dauphin will host the five-team tournament on April 26-May 4, 2014. The 13-game tournament will include a host team -- the Dauphin Kings -- and the champions from the four Western junior A leagues in B.C., Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba.

Both the champion and the runner-up in the Western Canada Cup will advance to the RBC Cup national championship. The Western Canada Cup will replace the former ANAVET Cup (Manitoba-Saskatchewan) and the Doyle Cup (B.C. Alberta) where the winners of those two tournaments had earned RBC Cup berths.

http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/breakingnews/Dauphin-to-host-new-Western-Canada-Cup-hockey-tournament-179152681.html

Winnipeg city council has shot down what one councillor calls a "downright dangerous" proposal to sell a prime chunk of downtown land once touted for a water park.

On Wednesday, Couns. Justin Swandel (St. Norbert) and John Orlikow (River Heights) introduced a motion calling on the city to sell Parcel Four to The Forks North Portage Partnership for $6 million. The land is next to the Canadian Museum for Human Rights at The Forks and was previously slated to be developed as a 50,000-square-foot water park, hotel and parkade by an Alberta hotel chain.

The water-park deal fell through in May after councillors were bombarded with negative feedback from constituents who worried The Forks wasn't the place for a water park and the design was not a good fit for the area.

Council asked the company for detailed site plans, prompting hotelier Canalta to walk away from the proposal.

Swandel, one of council's biggest supporters of the water park, said The Forks North Portage did not approach him about any specific proposal for the land.

He said The Forks should be given an opportunity to buy the land and develop it, rather than having it sit as an "ugly" gravel surface parking lot.

http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/breakingnews/land-at-forks-incites-squabble-179436361.html

Another big-name retailer is coming to the Polo Park area, and two more may be close behind.

Marshalls, the U.S. discount retailer, which entered the Canadian market about 19 months ago, is opening a 28,000-square-foot store in the Polo North development under construction on the former Winnipeg Arena site next to the Polo Park mall.

Michael Stronger, a commercial leasing agent with Shindico Realty Inc., told a commercial real estate forum in Winnipeg Wednesday the Marshalls store will open next spring.

Marshalls is one of three large retail tenants who will set up shop on the main floor of the three-storey, 210,000-square-foot complex, Stronger said in an interview. Western Financial Group will be the anchor tenant, leasing all of the second and third floors, as well as 4,000 square feet of space on the main floor.

"We're in deep negotiations with two other high-profile national retailers for the balance of the main floor," which is about 50,000 square feet, he said.

http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/business/a-shopping-revolution-179436661.html

After three months of hard work, "Km 49" on Highway 10 through Riding Mountain National Park is officially open to motorists.

Travellers and visitors will experience safer conditions and scenic vistas resulting from the realignment of the one-kilometre stretch of the highway near the park’s north boundary.

"This upgrade is important for the safety of the residents and economic vitality of communities on both sides of the park that Highway 10 connects," said Robert Sopuck, member of Parliament for Dauphin-Swan River-Marquette.

"I also want to thank the construction workers that have worked hard to complete this project in time for winter."

The federal government committed a total of $5.7 million in flood funding to assist in repairing damaged infrastructure throughout the park.

Km 49 experienced severe erosion and cracking, which caused a 200metre section of pavement to drop more than a foot in 2011.

A number of options were considered for its repair; however, after completing the geotechnical investigations, the decision was made to realign the road, based on safety, environmental factors, and road longevity.

Although the paving is complete and the highway is open to motorists, Mother Nature has not been as co-operative as she was last year and the weather has halted any further work at Km 49, leaving a considerable amount of finishing work to be done.

http://www.brandonsun.com/local/realigned-highway-10-in-riding-mountain-now-open-179463431.html

The Host Committee for the 2013 Tim Hortons Roar of the Rings – heading to Winnipeg’s MTS Centre, December 1-8 – today announced the release of full event passes for the epic showdown that will determine the two teams Canada sends on to represent our country at the 2014 Olympic Games in Sochi, Russia.

The Old Classic full event pass has been introduced first as a courtesy to the vast number of curling fans that want to reserve the best seats in the house for all 18 draws.  It includes 14 draws of round robin action plus the men’s and women’s semi-finals and finals on championship weekend at a price of $429.

This package also comes with an earlybird bonus – a pair of tickets to one of the first two draws on opening weekend – wrapped in with every full event pass purchased before December 24.

The Old Classic Earlybird will be on sale to the public Monday, November 19 at 10:00 am Central Standard Time.

http://www.travelmanitoba.com/images_tr/pdf/2013_throtr.pdf

EDMONTON - Federal cuts to tourist marketing and the launch of an American advertising campaign will make it tougher for Alberta’s tourism industry to follow up on a good year, says the head of Travel Alberta.

“It’s really unfortunate that at the most important time, when the big giant in the south is starting to wake up, that we’re seeing this budget cut,” Bruce Okabe, president and CEO of the province’s tourism marketing agency, said Wednesday during an open house with Edmonton-region travel operators.

“My personal opinion is they need to rethink that budget cut.”

He was referring to the federal government slashing funding to the Canadian Tourism Commission by $14 million. The budget for the national agency that promotes travel in Canada is expected to decrease to $58 million in 2013-2014 from $72 million in 2011. The commission’s budget was about $100 million just a few years ago.

http://www.edmontonjournal.com/business/Federal+belt+tightening+campaign+double+blow+Alberta+tourism/7549601/story.html

OTTAWA - Canadians are prepared to embrace the idea of a tax incentive for travelling within Canada, a new poll suggests.

A private member's bill tabled in the House of Commons by Liberal MP Massimo Pacetti proposes a tax credit for air, bus or train fares on non-business trips that cross at least three provincial borders.

Some 70 per cent of respondents to a recent Canadian Press-Harris/Decima poll expressed support for the idea. Regionally, almost eight in 10 respondents in Atlantic Canada liked it, with 75 per cent of those in British Columbia and Alberta in favour.

About four of every 10 people surveyed said they would be more likely to travel within Canada if the tax break was in place, the poll found.

http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/breakingnews/tax-break-for-travelling-in-canada-would-be-welcome-poll-suggests--179436911.html

TORONTO - A RBC holiday outlook suggests Canadians may be a little more frugal this festive season.

The RBC Canadian Consumer Outlook found that while the majority of Canadians appear to be in a gift-giving mood, they plan on spending less over the holidays than they did last year.

The survey suggests Canadians who celebrate year-end festivities will spend $1,182 on gifts, decorations, entertaining and travel — a figure which is down six per cent from last year's anticipated amount.

The bank says this season's holiday spending plans appear to be more in line with Canadians' 2010 holiday purchasing plans.

http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/business/finance/tis-the-season-to-be-frugalcanadians-to-spend-less-over-the-holidays-says-rbc--179448711.html

SALT LAKE CITY - More than 100 outdoor-recreation companies riled Utah's Republican establishment Tuesday by formally petitioning President Barack Obama to designate a national monument surrounding Canyonlands National Park near Moab, a major tourist hub for everything from mountain biking to navigating the area's famous slot canyons.

Leaders of the outdoor industry — including Mountain Hardware, The North Face and Patagonia — say they know they're going up against political opposition in Utah and want to take the idea to a national level...   ...The proposal clashes with Utah's political leaders who are demanding more control over energy development on federal lands. At issue is legislation signed in March by Gov. Gary Herbert giving the federal government until 2014 to relinquish control over nearly 47,000 square miles of land in Utah — national forests, federal range lands, national recreation areas and the vast Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, which President Bill Clinton designated by fiat in 1996.

"We certainly hope we don't have another Bill Clinton approach to creating a monument," Herbert said Tuesday in a statement issued by his top aides. They said nobody had pitched the latest monument proposal to Herbert personally.

The outdoor companies have been pressuring Herbert to support land protection by threatening to take a lucrative trade show out of Salt Lake City. At the last Outdoor Retailer show in August, corporate titans sitting on the board of the Outdoor Industry Association asked Herbert, a big proponent of energy development, about his "vision" for outdoor recreation.

http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/travel/100-outdoor-companies-ask-obama-to-designate-national-monument-at-utahs-recreation-centre-179288281.html

(A complete article published originally in the WFP, Nov. '67)

TORONTO (CP) — Air Canada's 2,200 ticket and reservations clerks could strike before Christmas if demands for wage increases are not met, an employee spokesman said Thursday.

John Hayen, president of the Canada Air Line Employees' Association, said negotiations are deadlocked and conciliation board hearings were held Thursday night in Ottawa.

The union would be free to strike seven days after the board’s report is submitted to the labor minister.

The employees are seeking 15 to 17-per cent wage increases to match those won by pilots and air traffic controllers earlier this year.

The present minimum wage is $325 a month for passenger agents and employees processing reservations and $260 a month for switchboard operators.

Saville Hambleton, Winnipeg union local chairman, said in an interview Friday that a mail vote, sent out to the 2,300 union members across Canada, had indicated that 83 per cent were in favor of strike action, if necessary.

There are 113 members of the Canadian Air Line Employees Association (CLC) in Winnipeg.  Thirty-four passenger agents work at the airport office of Air Canada and 79 are stationed at the downtown Portage Avenue office.

Asked if the union would be likely to strike, Mr. Hambleton said.

"Yes, if we're not satisfied."  The demand is for a two-year wage and benefits package agreement retroactive to Aug. 1, 1968.

"We are adamant on the two years. We don't want anything longer than this," Mr. Hambleton said.