The demise of Canmore Business and Tourism this summer as the town’s destination marketing organization has triggered the need for a community conversation on how to provide that important economic development function into the future.
As a result, the Canmore Hotel and Lodging Association has begun meeting with its members to have discussions about what is needed to establish and maintain a viable destination marketing organization.
Andrew Shepherd, the CHLA’s president, said local hotels recognize they would represent a major funding source for a destination marketing organization, but finding the right model is the first step.
“We as the Canmore Hotel and Lodging Association have had several meetings regarding the importance of the community of Canmore’s businesses to have a viable destination marketing organization,” Shepherd said. “The CHLA is committed to leading the industry and community to find a dynamic model that represents transparency, accountability and fairness to all involved.
“We have several meetings arranged, in which Travel Alberta will be assisting us with setting up a strong framework to move forward with. We anticipate much success in the future and will update as progress is made.”
The downfall of Canmore Business and Tourism was the direct result of that organization being unable to find sustainable funding sources from various sectors of the economy.
The majority of funding for CBT over the past eight years has come from a group of hotels out of CHLA that formed a destination marketing fund. The hotel members voluntarily charged a three per cent fee on room nights to visitors and used that money to fund destination marketing efforts by CBT.
But the voluntary group of hotels, which used to represent over 70 per cent of hotel rooms in the community, began to dwindle to the point that those who established the fund decided to call it quits. Without that funding, CBT’s board decided the organization was no longer financially viable and chose to dissolve itself.
The CBT board continues to work on the transition to ceasing operations. The downtown visitor information centre has closed as a result, as have Greyhound services in Canmore.
CBT will continue to fulfill its contract to Travel Alberta to run the visitor information centre off the Trans-Canada Highway until the end of the year.
But the transition to establishing a new destination marketing organization will take time, Shepherd said, because the hotel association wants to ensure what it proposes is a successful model that learns from the mistakes of the past and offers members transparency and accountability.
The buy-in needed for a successful DMO goes beyond just hotels, which was part of the challenge CBT faced – convincing local businesses to contribute to the marketing organization.
Shepherd said a successful destination marketing organization would be helped if businesses across sectors participated in supporting it.
“When people believe in progress, they want it and support it,” he said. “We hope to be able to put forward a framework with achievable dates.”
Shepherd said he would like to see as close to 100 per cent participation from the business community as possible and to put forward a transparent, accountable model that will have a return on investment for the entire community.
Cameron Spence, Travel Alberta industry development manager for the Rockies region, is leading a series of workshops with hotel association members to facilitate the process of establishing a new DMO and choosing a model for it to operate with.
Spence’s role with Travel Alberta – the provincial destination marketing organization – is to assist communities to develop collaborative marketing initiatives. That includes helping destination marketing organization formation.
Spence said his role is as a facilitator as he brings to the table information and research on DMOs across the country and globally, as well as the different frameworks involved.
“It creates a roadmap for decision making,” he said. “What sort of collective tourism marketing or tourism management plans and scenarios have worked around the world?
“It is an interesting process because it … creates an environment for the community to come together and determine the best way forward.”
A DMO collectively markets an area and Spence said that process is always evolving. With CBT having decided to cease operations, Spence said that does not mean the end of tourism for Canmore – it will continue.
“So what is the best way to move forward and take advantage of the visitor economy in the community?” he asked.
The viability of tourism as an economic driver is not exclusive to the Bow Valley – the provincial government has set out a target for tourism spending to reach $10.3 billion by 2020. Currently, tourism represents $8.3 billion and that translates into $345 million spent in Canmore in 2015, according to a recent economic impact study.
“Our perspective at Travel Alberta is that tourism holds great promise for the whole province, especially in light of what is happening now,” he said. “It is a core pillar of what economic diversification looks like in the province.”
CHLA will continue to meet with Spence to undertake the facilitated discussion on the future of destination marketing for the community.
As more details become available, said Shepherd, the association will begin to reach out to the rest of the business community to determine what a DMO will look like for Canmore.
