Bringing Together Leaders From Winter Cities Around The World

WINNIPEG, MB, Jan. 26, 2023 /CNW/ - Travel Manitoba and Tourism Winnipeg are set to host the 2023 Winter Cities Shake-Up February 15 - 17, the first time the event will be held in Winnipeg. The event is an opportunity to share ideas and inspiration from urban planners and designers, entrepreneurs and businesspeople, artists, cultural leaders and community organizers on how to thrive in winter cities.

"In Manitoba, we embrace our coldest season," said Colin Ferguson, President and CEO of Travel Manitoba. "We're a city with some of the best examples in North America of how to get out and enjoy winter. But that doesn't mean that we don't stand to learn from what other places around the world are doing. This is an opportunity to bring together winter experts from all corners of the world and share ideas on how we all embrace the winter climate in our cities," he said.

The 3-day event will feature presentations from internationally renowned experts in winter city living and design, winter business and winter tourism. Notable speakers include Sheila Watt-Cloutier, Nobel Peace Prize nominee, on the business of transforming public opinion into public policy; Meik Wiking, bestselling author and CEO of the Happiness Institute, on the science, politics and architecture of happiness; Chris Turner, award winning author and one of Canada's leading voices on climate change solutions; and Sara Stasiuk, CEO of The Forks North Portage Development Corporation, which has been at the centre of Winnipeg's growing discovery of how wonderful living in a winter city can be.

"Winnipeg is a proud winter city, and we can't wait to show people from other winter cities what we're up to. We invite attendees to skate along our kilometres long Nestaweya River Trail, dine at a 22-day culinary extravaganza on a frozen river, or visit the largest winter festival in western Canada, said Dayna Spiring, President and CEO, Economic Development Winnipeg. "There is never a shortage of opportunities and activities when you live in a winter city."

The first Winter Cities Shake-Up was held in 2015 in Edmonton. The success and enthusiastic response to the conference led to it being hosted in Saskatoon in 2019. After a hiatus due to COVID-19 the conference is returning for a third time.

"The Winter Cities Shake-Up conferences were created to bring together leaders from national and international winter cities to share and learn from each other. We're very excited to see the next Shake-Up in Winnipeg this year," says Isla Tanaka, Winter City Planner, City of Edmonton. "This conference will provide a platform for sharing ideas, challenges and solutions to celebrate how we embrace winter in our cities."

For more information, sponsorship opportunities and tickets, visit wintercities2023.com

The Winter Cities Shake-Up conferences were born out of Edmonton's WinterCity Strategy, a holistic, 10-year plan to make Edmonton a great winter city. The first conference was shaped around the themes of Winter Fun, Winter Business, and Winter Design. It was a place for winter city leaders to gather and share challenges and solutions.

Travel Manitoba is a Crown Corporation under provincial legislation that leads and stimulates sustainable tourism growth in Manitoba's $1.6 billion pre-pandemic tourism industry. In partnership with the tourism industry, the agency is responsible for tourism marketing, visitor information services, research and public information.

Tourism Winnipeg is the city's official destination marketing organization and leads all efforts to attract visitors to the city through leisure travel opportunities, special events, sports, meetings and conventions. The team showcases exceptional experiences for visitors and residents, and encourages us all to be ambassadors for our city.

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SOURCE Travel Manitoba

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