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Canmore creating task force to look at future of tourism

As municipal and elected officials focus the next steps of reopening the local economy under Alberta's phased relaunch strategy, efforts to begin a community-wide conversation on the future of tourism are taking shape
Canmore
The Town of Canmore will establish a task force in 2020 to have a conversation around the future of tourism for the community. RMO FILE PHOTO

CANMORE – Even before COVID-19 arrived in Alberta at the beginning of March, Canmore's municipal and elected officials wanted to have a conversation on the future of tourism for the community.

With a new 10-year community tourism strategic plan introduced by Tourism Canmore Kananaskis last year, and the fact that tourism represents a significant part of our local economy – Mayor John Borrowman said there was already need for that conversation. 

"In a way, we are positioned well [for this conversation]," Borrowman said. "This is an opportunity to redefine once again our tourism industry ... I am really looking forward to that conversation for a number of reasons.

"Reopening our community is a natural segue-way into a broader community conversation on tourism." 

General manager of municipal services Sally Caudill said COVID-19 delayed administration bringing an update on the conversation around tourism to council.

She said the objective, once reopening of the local economy has advanced further, is to create a task force to lead the conversation and bring back a terms of reference for council to consider. 

"Our community's economic recovery will have to start local as we move our way out of the pandemic," Caudill said. "There is a unique opportunity to connect and engage with the community on tourism." 

The work is aligned with TCK's efforts. Caudill said that organization's 10-year strategy sets out there should be a "purposeful and deliberate effort on the part of the community and businesses to find common ground and work towards a shared vision for tourism." 

"Administration feels it is really time for council to pick up that mantel and do some good work in this area," she said. 

While the neighbouring municipality of Banff was established through federal legislation as a service centre for visitors to the national park, Canmore's history as a visitor-based economy is more recent.

For many, Canmore was a pit-stop on the highway on the way to and from Banff until economic development efforts began to develop tourism, particularly after the coal mine closed in July 1979. But it was the 1988 Winter Olympics, which saw events held at the Canmore Nordic Centre, that put the community on the destination map.

The subsequent pressures from the community's growth, both in terms of visitation and a new market for second homes, grew over the following decade until residents insisted on a growth management strategy in the mid '90s. That was followed by the Mining the Future shared vision in 2006. 

"The community has redefined itself and shifted to tourism in a very short time ... during which a significant amount of change has happened," Caudill said. "Now, here we are calling for a shared vision of sustainable tourism."

She noted the rate and nature of the changes the community has seen over the past 40 years is something residents continue to wrestle with. Caudill said the work of the new tourism task force would look at the role of tourism in the community and defining what that means. 

She said the tension around tourism, and the negative effects, are not unique to Canmore either. 

"The success of travel and tourism is built on the good will, hospitality and support of local residents," she said. "Once those things start to get eroded, tourism is less successful."

Caudill said the tourism industry is having this conversation globally at the moment, as it recognized it has not done a good job at building that good will over the past two decades.

"What the overlooking of those things has done, not just in Canmore but everywhere, is created opposition to tourism and opposition to travel. It has focused locals on the problem of visitors and visitor growth and detracted away from the benefits of it," Caudill said. 

Before the pandemic, Canmore was experiencing tension in the community around the growth of tourism, particularly during summer months. Caudill said the future of tourism post-COVID-19 will look different than what was experienced before, which does not change the need to find common ground and a shared vision for the local visitor-based economy moving forward. 

Failure to act collectively, she said, will lead to decreased quality of life for residents and negative environmental effects. 

"As we start to talk about reopening the community, this work is really called for," Caudill said, noting it is a conversation happening at the provincial level as well with the development of a 10-year strategy for tourism in Alberta currently in the works. 

"It is clear, it is time for a new approach and the good news is we do not have to make it up, there is a lot already happening in the industry ... there is a call for travelling responsibly and conscious travel, where tourism is something that makes the world a better place and is meaningful." 

The UCP government and Minister of Economic Development, Trade and Tourism Tanya Fir announced last year it would set a new target for visitor spending in Alberta of $20 billion a year by 2030. The previous target was to reach $10 billion by 2020. 

“Our government is listening to tourism stakeholders to explore how we can work together to grow Alberta’s tourism sector," Fir said earlier this year while the government was engaging the public on the new strategy. 

"This valuable industry is a cornerstone of our economy and creates jobs and economic growth across the province. I encourage all tourism operators and companies to share their ideas as we build this transformational strategy.”

TCK's strategy sets out a vision to use a triple a bottom line approach to become a leader in sustainable tourism by 2029 – and that hasn't changed.

"We still want to be a leader in sustainable tourism by 2029 and I think the issues around COVID-19 has not changed that," said operations manager Rachel Ludwig. 

"It has made it more apparent that a change is necessary within the tourism industry and that sustainability piece will be more important than ever." 

The municipality has estimated Canmore's unemployment reached between 50 and 65 per cent as a result of shutdowns to non-essential businesses over the past 10 weeks. 

TCK board chair Andrew Shepherd said this demonstrates the vital importance of this industry to the local economy. He said the crisis has resulted in greater collaboration as a result. 

"When you look at the positive side of what has come out of this, what I see the most is collaboration," Shepherd said. "I think the collaboration aspect is going to be huge." 

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