It's probably safe to say that tourism in Manitoba is going to look a little different this year because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Summer fairs and festivals in various communities, which normally attract large numbers of tourists into the region, have been scrubbed for this year due to the coronavirus.

Kaley Young, general manager for Central Manitoba Tourism, was asked if tourism facilities and sites in our region are preparing for the worst.

"They are cautiously opening and making plans to make it easier for people to social distance, but as far as any concrete plans so far, it's still very early days for opening, especially since the normal tourism season would just be getting started now. They haven't made a lot of decisions yet."

Young says it's rather disappointing to have to start the tourism season this way following last year's strong performance. In fact, Manitoba was cited as one of the top 10 places in the world to visit in 2019 as listed by the well-known travel guidebook Lonely Planet. She adds this year's tourism season was shaping up to be even better. "Gearing up for Manitoba 150 this year would have really put a spotlight on our province."

Like most other annual summer tourism events, Manitoba 150 celebrations have been postponed until next year with the hope that the COVID-19 pandemic will be behind us. Nevertheless, Young feels the cancellation of annual summer events creates an opportunity for people to rework their summer vacation plans and explore some of the other areas of the province that may not have been a part of their original travel to-do list.

"There are so many other tourism type promotions to see and do and just the outdoor features that are here and available throughout our province that can still be done while social distancing; lots of smaller events and places like museums and the like that have their doors open and are waiting to be explored."