WINNIPEG — Thousands of tourists are crowding Winnipeg for the FIFA Women’s World Cup. They are ready to spend money but some businesses aren’t ready for them.
Soccer fans from all over the world are in the host city to watch the games and many say they would like to see more attractions available.
“Maybe they should keep things a little bit open because there’s so many people who’ve never been here before who probably want to check out some of the tourist attractions,” said Carly Beyar who is visiting from New York.
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Even the city’s top tourist attraction was surprised by the number of visitors this week. Shops at The Forks closed at their regular weekday time 6:30 p.m.
“Because we weren’t an official location for FIFA activities, we maybe didn’t anticipate the increase like we are seeing,” said Chelsea Thomson of The Forks.
The Forks and the Canadian Museum for Human Rights are a couple of attractions that didn’t extend their hours during the event.
“If a museum or gallery hadn’t been open on one day perhaps that was a missed opportunity,” said senior vice president of Winnipeg Tourism Chantal Sturk-Nadeau.
Some businesses say they were over prepared for the Pan American games in 1999, the last time a sporting event of this scale was held in Winnipeg. So when hotels started booking up fast with international fans for the FIFA Women’s World Cup, some felt under prepared for the number of incoming visitors.
“I wish I had more boats running but we just were unprepared so we can’t do much more when we’re maxing out right now,” said owner of Splash Dash boat tours Gordon Cartwright.
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