Two major skiing world cup races are set to occur in Canmore in February and March of 2016 and the municipal government is looking at putting $247,000 towards it and a six-week festival to occur alongside the competitions.
Council voted to direct administration to include the funds in the next two budgets for developing the World Cup Festival and sponsorship of the sporting event along with Canmore Business and Tourism.
CBT President and CEO Andrew Nickerson said the process to develop the signature event will also benefit Canmore as being an attractive place to hold major events.
“It is fantastic to see the Town recognize the importance of this type of event, both in terms of the immediate impact the event will have, but also seeing these types of events coming to Canmore and actively wanting to encourage it for the future,” Nickerson said.
“If we look at the Nordic Festival that we did back in 2012, the goal of that was to engage the community to really welcome the athletes and to show the community of Canmore is truly welcoming of this type of event and also being able to show the world the community loves this type of event.
“The more we are able to do this kind of thing, the better it is going to be for us to attract this world level of event in the future.”
The biathlon World Cup is proposed for Feb. 1-7, 2016 and the three races will be the first world cup for the sport in Canmore since 1987.
The FIS World Cup is proposed for March 8, 9 and 12 in Canmore and on March 11 in Lake Louise. It is the last event on the circuit for the season and the first time it has been located outside Europe. Four other races for the tour will be held in Quebec, with the final awards being presented in Canmore.
Council directed administration to budget $50,000 in both 2015 and 2016, the same amount it contributed to the Alberta Winter Games. There was also $100,000 towards sponsorship of world cup events contingent upon CBT finding matching funds through Travel Alberta or an alternate source. Finally, council supported using $47,000 contingent upon CBT continuing to support the 2016 Winter Carnival with $40,000 plus regional marketing.
Nickerson said world cup events in Europe are combined with major efforts to create a real festival atmosphere. Locally, it would not only show that the community embraces the event, but provide residents and visitors with the ability to participate and enjoy what Canmore has to offer.
“What a rare occurrence this is to be getting two World Cups coming to the same venue in such an incredibly short space of time – it is a very unique opportunity and it becomes an amazing opportunity for us to do something to support that,” he said, adding the expected exposure of Canmore on TV is between 60 million to 100 million.
What exactly will be part of the six-week festival, however, is still to be developed in a partnership between CBT, the municipality and the organizing committees for both races. It is expected to include Snow Tracks on Main Street and a winter carnival – similar to the event held in 2012 alongside the Alberta World Cup.
A staff report to council noted that event was considered a success as it drew strong participation from locals and visitors and received favourable comments from athletes and FIS officials.
In May this year, the provincial government published an economic impact assessment of that World Cup and found there was $3.52 million in direct visitor spending and event operational expenditures and reached an international media audience of 42 million.
“Based upon the economic impact assessment for the 2012 Alberta World Cup, it is estimated that the combined Nordic World Cups in 2016 will generate a huge economic impact – projected between $5 million and $6 million direct spend during the World Cup events alone,” stated the staff report to council. “In addition to enhancing community atmosphere and pride, the proposed expansion of the 2016 Winter Carnival to become a six week festival encompassing both biathlon and cross country events offers an opportunity to enhance this impact by stimulating significant additional visitation and spend.”
