Volker Beckmann is going to get a big chance to showcase Spirit Way May 7 as Rendez-vous Canada (RVC) international buyers, who sign up for the "pre conference experience" before RVC 2010 at the Winnipeg Convention Centre May 8-12, will see them spend two days in Churchill and a day in Thompson on the way back to Winnipeg May 7.
The international buyers, tourism and travel writing heavyweights, will stay in a hotel in Thompson the night of May 6 and be back out on a plane to Winnipeg at 2 p.m. the next afternoon.
But while they're here they'll get to see what Sprit Way and its current 16 Points of Interest are all about; meet one of the artists who painted the wolves; use a GPS receiver to find several ofthe wolf sculptures, locating apersonalized
wolf treasure geocache by tracking them down and finding the title (each wolf's title is a secret) on steel plaques as part of the hunt for the 49 wolf statues, which weigh 5,500 pounds each and stand 7.5 feet tall, and are found in Churchill, Thompson and Winnipeg.
"The reason Thompson was chosen was because of the Spirit Way attraction and our Wolf Capital of Canada campaign," Beckmann said.
There will also be a "sunrise ceremony" and some drum and Cree teaching before a pickerel shore lunch before the buyers decamp to Winnipeg at 2 p.m.
Rendez-vous Canada (RVC) is the Canadian Tourism Commission's major Canadian international co-operative sales marketplace for the buying and selling of Canada's tourism products. The Canadian Tourism Commission has been responsible for the event since 1977. As of 1998, Rendez-vous Canada has been staged by the Tourism Industry Association of Canada (TIAC) on behalf of the Canadian Tourism Commission, including provincial, territorial and municipal or regional tourism authorities and the private sector.
Every year, in a different Canadian destination, Rendez-vous Canada brings selected international buyers and travel trade media together with invited suppliers of Canadian tourism products, services and information. This year the 33rd conference is in Winnipeg.
Rendez-vous Canada's principal objectives are:
to provide an efficient opportunity for international buyers to meet suppliers of Canadian tourism products, services and information in one place annually for four days of programmed business;
to increase the awareness in international target markets of Canada as a first-class international travel destination;
to increase the range and number of internationally competitive new Canadian products, services and packages offered for sale;
to provide an opportunity to inform the tourism industry both international and Canadian of Canada's international marketing activities and plans.
The business is conducted tourism industry sellers, in cooperation with destination marketing organizations (DMOs), and international buyers, who are foreign tour operators, wholesalers and packagers. Participation in the event is by invitation only.
Beckmann said Thompson should stage a " dry run to get it right. This is a very unique opportunity for Thompson. They will want to know who we are? What are we offering? And what can they sell? They are also waiting for some preliminary promotional material on Thompson."
