Winnipeg tourist card offers admission to 8 attractions

Visitors to Winnipeg will soon be able to buy a single card to gain admission into arts and cultural attractions.

The Winnipeg City Pass, inspired by tourism cards in other cities, will offer admission to the Canadian Museum for Human Rights, Manitoba Museum, the Royal Canadian Mint, Fort Whyte Alive, Winnipeg Art Gallery, Winnipeg Railway Museum, Dalnavert Museum and Maison Gabrielle Roy for a single price.

"Those eight attractions will be participating in this edition and certainly there's room to add more year-round attractions as we continue moving forward," Winnipeg City Pass managing director Enver Naidoosaid Monday in an interview.

Future editions of the card may also include transit fares, Naidoo said. Some passes in other cities include public-transit access.

The cards will be goodfor one, three or five days. The single-day cards are intended for travellers who come to Winnipeg for business meetings or conferences.

"Youhavea lot of meetingdelegates who come into town and they only have one day before they have to catch their flight, Naidoo explained.

The passes will be unveiled Tuesday at Travel Manitoba's visitor centre at The Forks. Mayor Brian Bowman pledged to create a single-admission pass to multiple attractions duringthe 2014 mayoral race. He called it the "Winnipass."

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The new passes are not a city creation. Winnipeg City Pass is a private business that takes a cut ofthe sale of each pass. The attractions do not pay to be included, Naidoo said.

One-day passes retail for $35 for adults and $25 for kids 17 and under. Three-day passes sell for $45 and $35, while five-day passes sell for $56 and $39.Naidoo said the potential savings work out to up to 53 per cent.

Tourist passes in other cities work in a similar manner.

In Minneapolis-St. Paul, the three-day Big Ticket Adventure Passprovides 30-per-cent discounts on adult admissions tothe Minnesota Zoo,CrayolaExperience, Nickelodeon Universeand four other attractions for USD$99.

The Toronto City Pass, which is good for nine days, offers adult admission to the CN Tower,Royal Ontario Museum, Casa Loma, Ripley's Aquarium of Canada and either the Toronto Zoo or Ontario Science Centre for $76.

And in Edmonton, the one-year Edmonton Attractions Pass offers adult admissions to four attractions for $35 or 14 for $70. Their options include Old Strathcona, Jurassic Forest and the University of Alberta Botanic Garden.