MORE THAN 50,000 VISITORS TO SASKATCHEWAN PAVILION

More than 50,000 people have visited Saskatchewan's Pavilion in Vancouver in the first week of the 2010 Olympic Winter Games.

Initial projections were that about 5,000 people would pass through the pavilion each day, but numbers have exceeded organizers' expectations.

Opening day (Feb. 12) saw more than 7,000 visitors. Since then, daily attendance has ranged from about 6,000 to more than 9,000 people per day.

"We are telling more and more people about our beautiful province every day in Vancouver," Tourism, Parks, Culture and Sport Minister Dustin Duncan said. "People are lined up to see our Saskatchewan Experience Centre, taste our food and watch our fantastic entertainers."

Meanwhile the pavilion's website, www.saskpavilion.ca -- which has photos, video and stories about the pavilion -- has also been popular.

The site was getting an average of 411 hits a day before the Games, since then the site is getting an average of 2,510 hits a day. Tourism Saskatchewan's/Saskatchewan Pavilion's Facebook fans have been following along - resulting in a 15 per cent increase.

"The combination of telling Saskatchewan's story, both in person in Vancouver and online, is powerful," Director of Marketing and Production for the Saskatchewan Pavilion Trent Fraser said. "Both our attendance numbers and our website hit numbers indicate we are telling a lot of people what a great place Saskatchewan is to make a living and to make a life."

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For more information, contact:

Jennifer Johnson
Tourism, Parks, Culture and Sport
Regina
Email: jennifer.johnson@gov.sk.ca
Cell: 306-529-5805