Peter Shokeir | [email protected]
Northwest Alberta’s tourism industry convened for a town hall conversation about industry collaboration in Hinton on Jan. 18.
Hosted at the Best Western in Hinton, the event included a panel discussion followed by roundtable discussions.
“I often say that there are a few places in the world to which a thriving tourism economy comes more naturally than in Alberta,” said Miranda Rosin, provincial parliamentary secretary of tourism and MLA for Banff-Kananaskis, during her opening remarks.
“There are places all over the world that pride themselves in the visitor economy in manmade attractions, but here in Alberta our visitor economy is truly rooted in the God-given beauty around us.”
Rosin described how quick the tourism rebound has been, noting how Banff had an 85 per cent unemployment rate at the onset of the pandemic.
“I think we’ve largely come out of it, and there’s still a lot of room to grow and maneuver and come back to our pre-pandemic revenue levels, but, nonetheless, I think we are so fortunate to live in a place for which tourism has rebounded so naturally.”
After some other opening remarks and a video, three leaders in Alberta’s tourism industry later discussed the state of Alberta’s tourism industry.
Darren Reeder, CEO of Tourism Industry Association of Alberta, noted how Alberta tourism has embraced “the connection of people to place” such as nature-based experiences, outdoor recreation and Indigenous tourism.
“A large part of this discussion is trying to advance the idea that we are responsible users of the land base, and there needs to be a sustainable and supportive policy framework where tourism operators can use the land base the same way we’ve empowered other sectors in the economy.”
Indigenous Tourism Alberta CEO Shae Bird described how Indigenous tourism can play a role in reconciliation.
“We know that, traditionally, Indigenous stories or histories haven’t been shared necessarily through an authentic Indigenous voice or an Indigenous worldview,” Bird said.
“And that’s really what Indigenous tourism is about. It’s about sharing. It’s about educating. It’s about welcoming visitors to learn alongside our Indigenous tourism businesses and entrepreneurs across the province.”
Travel Alberta CEO David Goldstein explained how his organization was devoting more resources to Edmonton and northern Alberta, which was essential in order to achieve the province’s goal of doubling tourism revenue.
This is one of several development zones that would encourage tourism outside of Calgary, Edmonton, and the Rocky Mountains.
“We’re not going to get to $20 billion in tourism revenue by just relying on the legacy destinations that we have,” Goldstein said.
“And we’re not going to get to $20 billion in tourism revenue unless there’s products along these corridors and clusters that we have developed that are going to be something that people are going to want to experience.”
Alberta’s tourism typically generates $10 billion per year—and the industry is nearly back at that level following COVID—but Goldstein noted half of that came from Albertans travelling within the province.
