Pair of Southeast attractions win tourism awards

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This article was published 07/11/2023 (911 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Whether you’re running through a maze or skiing down a slope this year’s Tourism Awards winners show there’s plenty to do in Manitoba.

The awards are a joint initiative between Travel Manitoba and Tourism Winnipeg to recognize tourism operators and volunteers in the province. Winners in the southeast were A Maze in Corn, which won for Business of the Year, and Falcon Ridge Resort and Falcon Ridge Ski Slope, which won for Business Excellence in Diversity, Equity and Inclusion.

“It’s a wonderful recognition of the value of tourism and what it brings to communities across the province,” said Jessica Hassard, communications specialist with Travel Manitoba.

A Maze In Corn in St Adolphe is a two season attraction. From August to October they operate a family friendly corn maze and a haunted forest and then from January to March they operate the Guinness Book of World Record’s largest snow maze with a snow bar and a restaurant.

“It was pretty exciting (to win). We’ve been nominated once before but for being in the large category there’s a lot of stiff competition in the large category. People are spending millions of dollars and doing major expansions and it was pretty exciting to get the nomination and of course to win was awesome,” said owner Clint Masse.

Last year, Masse said the snow maze received visitors from 10 provinces, 20 of the 50 United States, and 11 countries.

“We had one couple drive up from Pennsylvania and (they said), ‘The only reason we came to here was because we saw it on the news and we had some time and we wanted to come to a snow maze.’ They never would have discovered Manitoba otherwise,” he said.

Masse said it was a big motivator to be in the Guinness Book of World Records by being the largest snow maze.

“If we do it that large it kind of gets worldwide credence,” he said. “It’s the world’s largest, then it must be good, let’s go! Guinness stamped it as the world’s largest and that’s important to brand when you’re not just marketing to Manitobans, but you’re marketing to the world.”

The maze is 180,000 sq.ft. of intricately winding paths with snow sculptures and buildings placed along the way. Masse referred to it as an art walk. He said there is about 40 minutes of entertainment in the maze which can take up to two hours to complete.

“It was a whimsical idea. Both of them (the corn maze and snow maze) were. I decided the same moment that I saw the idea for the corn maze and that was back in 1998. My wife’s a school teacher. She has summers off and her family sold the cottage at the lake and so I said, ‘Hey what about this idea?’ And she said, ‘OK.’ We just got married and she said, ‘OK let’s try it.’ And Glen who works with us in the haunted forest is an artsy guy said his hometown has the world’s largest snow maze and it’s in the Guinness Book of World Records and I quickly calculated it out and (said), ‘That’s buildable, man. We can totally build that!’ So, we just said, ‘Yup, we’re doing it.’ I knew it wasn’t easy, but it wasn’t impossible. So, we just went for it.”

Falcon Ridge Resort and Falcon Ridge Ski Slopes

When it comes to making strives for inclusion, Falcon Ridge Resort and Falcon Ridge Ski Slopes in Falcon Lake is doing everything it can to make staff and guests feel comfortable. General manager and co-owner of the family run business Caleigh Christie said the resort has won various awards over the years, but this award was special because they put their “heart and soul into it in recent years.”

“It’s a special award and we’re humbled that we’ve won it and honoured. It’s affirmation that what we’re doing is on the right track. It’s not the end of the road. It’s a milestone along the way along our journey,” she said.

To get the award Falcon Ridge hired an organization to develop a safer places policy for guests and staff. And they got a consultant to come and train staff on steps to get to a safer spaces policy. They publicly display the Pride flag and they are one of two businesses in Manitoba to get accreditation through the Rainbow Registered program run by the Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce. They also teamed up with an Indigenous knowledge keeper to make the Ima ode kamajeegik (Where the heart grows) fat bike trail.

Christie said people might be nervous to say the wrong thing or doing something the wrong way when trying to create an inclusive environment, but what’s important is that “you start the journey with an open heart and an open mind and you’re ready to listen.”