BANFF – In an unprecedented move, Banff and Lake Louise Tourism has stopped marketing Banff National Park as a place to visit during the current COVID-19 climate.
The Banff and Lake Louise region remains on enhanced status, with 67 active cases as of Tuesday (Dec. 15), down from a high of 192 on Nov. 30. There are 20,649 active cases province-wide, with 742 people in hospital, including 137 in intensive care.
“It is very important for people to understand that we have made the conscious choice to stop marketing in this environment,” Leslie Bruce, president and CEO of Banff and Lake Louise Tourism (BLLT), told council on Monday.
“When we did our assessment of our marketing and the effectiveness of the marketing, and the timeframe in which people were travelling after our marketing, we recognized that it was critical that we take this pause.”
BLLT is no longer promoting to Albertans a free outdoor lighting experience In Search of Christmas Spirit, which starts from Banff Avenue Square, and is a Christmas story told by the wildlife of Banff National Park.
In addition, the Town of Banff has cancelled New Year’s Eve celebrations, given the provincial government has banned all outdoor social gatherings until at least Jan. 11.
Bruce said visitors continue to contact the BLLT team to ask questions about Banff and Lake Louise.
“We’re giving people the facts and that we do have business members that are open, and so we want people to have the information,” she said.
“But we do not want to be at this point in time aggressively promoting, and so we shut the marketing channels off and we will reevaluate as this particular wave of the crisis unfolds.”
Alison Gerrits, the Town of Banff’s acting director of emergency management, said Banff has continued to drop in active cases since late November, however there was a slight uptick over the weekend.
“We are tracking these on a weekly basis just to get a sense of what those active new case counts are,” she said.
Two outbreaks in Banff National Park were recently reported by Alberta Health Services – one at the Banff Springs Hotel and the other at the Lake Louise Ski Resort.
Banff’s positivity rate was 513 active cases per 100,000 on Monday, slightly up from 484 per 100,000 on Dec. 10. It’s still above the provincial average of 470 per 100,000 population.
“Obviously, this is still high compared to the rest of the country where the active case rate per 100,000 was 197 yesterday (Sunday),” Gerrits said.
Alberta’s COVID-19 death toll was 744 as of Tuesday.
“I feel it’s really important to share that yesterday (Dec. 13), Alberta reported its highest number of deaths over a one-day period, with 22 being reported,” Gerrits said.
“Gratefully, while none of these have occurred in the Banff ID9 region, it is important to remind locals why it is important that we must take this virus seriously.”
Alberta’s high case count is the reason the Alberta government announced new restrictions on Dec. 8, giving notice that all restaurants and bars were to close for in-person dining for at least four weeks, starting Dec. 13.
Various other personal and wellness businesses and cultural and entertainment services were also ordered to shut their doors; however ski hills and hotels are allowed to remain open.
In addition, the province has banned all indoor and outdoor social gatherings and imposed mandatory work-from-home measures.
“The Town of Banff has been very proactive in the working-from-home front throughout the pandemic; however, has made further decisions to relocate most of our staff working in office settings to home environments,” Gerrits said.
“Only those who require access to specialized equipment, or who are needed to give or receive items from the public, will be given access to town hall for that purpose.”
Councillor Corrie DiManno wanted to make sure the message was getting out to residents and visitors about the importance of following all of the provincial health orders, particular with the upcoming Christmas holidays.
“Sadly, here we are again where a lot of residents are going to be laid off for the next month – and it’s also the holidays,” she said.
“I think there’s going to be a real desire to want to see your friends and hang out with your friends, and so I am wondering the types of messaging that’s going to be going out there in terms of how people can do that safely.”
Gerrits said important messaging will continue to be done daily throughout the Town of Banff’s various communication channels.
“We are reminding people all the public health measures that are in place are going to be absolutely paramount, and reminding folks to persevere through this next four-week period,” she said.
Jason Darrah, the Town of Banff’s director of communications, said the municipality is working with Banff and Lake Louse Hospitality Association, Parks Canada and BLLT to make sure messages are aligned.
“From the Town of Banff’s perspective, we are, I suppose, not discouraging nor encouraging travel,” he said.
“We are relaying information and providing support services to people who plan on visiting, or are visiting within the community.”
To that end, Darrah said there are signs continuing to go up daily in town reminding people to socially distance and to wear a mask.
He said the Town puts out a lot of messages on social media to Bow Valley residents.
“A lot of those messages are really about opportunities for our resident population to explore and enjoy the great outdoors and how to do it safely,” he said.
Coun. Chip Olver expressed concern for the potential of parties or social gatherings on New Year’s Eve, asking what kind of communication strategies are in place to discourage this.
“It has traditionally been a big, busy night on our streets and in our town,” she said.
Darrah said the Town of Banff has cancelled many activities for New Year’s Eve because they are not allowed under the province’s ban on all social gatherings.
“The Town of Banff has ceased promoting any activities because we cancelled many activities that were not allowed because they would result in gatherings, which is not, of course, permitted under AHS guidance," he said.
“In the next few days, we will be actually communicating more to our residents about online activities that can occur on New Year’s Eve. We’re very resident-focused for our communication.”
Meanwhile, testing for COVID-19 continues at local doctors’ offices in Banff and Lake Louise as well as the new provincial testing site at the Banff community health centre at 303 Lynx St.
Gerrits said that approximately the same number of tests were conducted over the past seven days compared to the previous week.
“Right now we’re averaging about 725 tests per week,” she said.
The isolation centre at the Banff Centre has been used by 14 people since opening on Nov. 30. As of Monday morning, 10 people had completed their quarantine period and four remained in isolation.
Banff YWCA is currently using six of its eight available isolation spaces.
“We intend to use all available isolation spaces at the YWCA first, and will only use isolation space at the Banff Centre when demand exceeds supply at the Y to ensure we’re using our resources as efficiently as possible,” Gerrits said.
Gerrits thanked all those involved for the isolation spaces in Banff.
“This has been an absolutely tremendous effort that has ensured that people in our community who have needed isolation have been able to access it,” she said.
“I really want to thank all of those involved who have made and continue to make this a reality.”
