City of Brandon Asks Potential Users: Where Do You Travel To?

Brandon, MB – In its continued quest to be selected as an expansion market for WestJet’s new regional air service, the City of Brandon has launched an online survey aimed at determining the travel preferences of those in the southwestern Manitoba region.

The survey, crafted and administered by Economic Development Brandon, has been designed so that a user can respond to the survey from either a business or individual perspective, or both if it is applicable to them. The survey can be found at http://brandon.ca/air-travel-survey.

Today’s survey launch follows the City’s recent launch of an online petition in support of WestJet service at the Brandon Municipal Airport. Since its introduction on Feb.8th, the petition has garnered in excess of 10,200 signatures.

“The online air petition has shown us that thousands upon thousands of people would benefit from regular air service based in Brandon, but now we need to drill into those people’s travel preferences - we need to know where Westman travels to and where visitors travel from,” says Sandy Trudel, Brandon’s Director of Economic Development. “The petition momentum certainly demonstrated demand for air service and caught WestJet’s attention; we now need to use the same energy to gather meaningful data about the travel patterns of those in the area, which will help WestJet to truly understand the southwestern Manitoba market.”

The City is particularly reaching out to its business and community partners, such as the Brandon Chamber of Commerce and the Association of Manitoba Municipalities, to inform their members of the survey and encourage them to submit their information. “This information will be very valuable in allowing WestJet to understand where our residents fly to or where folks that visit them are travelling from,” Trudel added. “Having that information available to WestJet as it continues to study the viability of various expansion markets will further strengthen Brandon’s case.”

For those who do not have access to online services, the survey can also be filled out over the phone by staff in the Economic Development Office by calling 729-2132.