Alberta鈥檚 Minister of Tourism, Parks and Recreation Richard Starke and West Yellowhead MLA Robin Campbell came to Jasper Oct. 24 to meet with key players in Jasper鈥檚 tourism industry.
According to Jasper Tourism CEO Mary Darling, the 鈥渢ourism round table鈥� brought the region鈥檚 major players together with the government representatives for a 鈥渇rank鈥� discussion about the issues facing the tourism industry.
鈥淚t really gave us some perspective on what some of the issues and challenges are as it relates to tourism in this region,鈥� Starke said after the meeting.
The main issue Starke identified was the trouble Jasper has attracting enough people to work in the community. A labour force that鈥檚 too small puts too much stress on businesses in the tourism industry, he said.
Although he didn鈥檛 go into specifics, he also said he and others also discussed how to get travellers to Jasper as efficiently as possible.
After the meeting, Campbell brought up Jasper鈥檚 labour force, as well.
鈥淲e need to look at some flexibility in the Temporary Foreign Worker program to meet the needs of people who are providing the services,鈥� he said.
Issues surrounding Jasper鈥檚 labour force are closely tied into the community鈥檚 housing shortage, he said, adding that the government needs to sit down with Parks Canada to come up with some 鈥渧iable solutions鈥� to the problem.
He admitted no specific date was set for such a meeting, but said he is confident it will happen soon.
While Starke also said no concrete decisions came out of last week鈥檚 round table, he stressed how important building partnerships is to the success of the tourism industry here in Jasper.
He said the level of collaboration between members of the tourism industry in Jasper is 鈥渇antastic.鈥� He was impressed with the fact that 鈥渧arious players would rather work together than compete with each other,鈥� and said that kind of collaboration is essential to the park鈥檚 success.
Darling said the meeting was 鈥渁 lot of handshaking,鈥� with no concrete plans for moving forward, but stressed that the discussion was an important part of putting everyone on the same page, and figuring out what issues are facing Jasper鈥檚 tourism industry.
As well as meeting with tourism representatives, Starke also presented Tourism Jasper with a grant from the Festivals and Events Tourism Growth Program. The funds were used in support of last weekend鈥檚 Dark Sky Festival.
聽Trevor Nichols
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