Tourists visiting the community of Canmore in 2015 spent almost $1 million a day, with more than half of that being spent on food and accommodation.
In 2015, according to a recently released Tourism Economic Impact Study which looked at Canmore, Banff and Jasper – visitors to the three communities spent $1.5 billion.
Canmore’s share of that was $345 million, which averages to $945,000 a day. That economic snapshot can be broken down even further to provide a sector by sector analysis to better understand Canmore’s visitor based economy, its direct and indirect effects.
Chief administrative officer Lisa de Soto went through the Tourism Economic Impact Study results with council at the beginning of September.
She said the economic impact of a dollar spent by a tourist is a local impact in that it circulates and recirculates within the economy, multiplying the effects of the original expenditure.
“Economists will tell you that money circulates again and again and in an economy that creates direct, indirect and induced impacts,” de Soto said. “The additional impact on an annual basis (in 2015) in Canmore is $273 million over and above the directly spent money.”
The indirect and induced impacts of visitor spending are calculated using provincial economic models, she added, and showed that the provincial income impact above the local one was increased by another $405 million.
A breakdown showed that 25 per cent of visitor spending was made directly in hotels, totalling $86.2 million in 2015, and de Soto said administration has confidence in the accuracy of that number because it was provided by the provincial government, which collects a four per cent tax on hotel room nights.
Public or local transportation represented 4.3 per cent, or $14.8 million; private automobile rentals represented 14.15 per cent, or $48.8 million; food and beverage 30.65 per cent, or $105.7 million; recreation represented 13.36 per cent, or $46.1 million and retail spending represented 12.54 per cent, or $43.3 million.
When tourists spend money in Canmore they are also paying taxes, and de Soto said the economic impact study analyzed the taxation impact for all three levels of government. She said the study showed the federal government takes 64 per cent of all taxes collected – $104.8 million in 2015.
The provincial government collected $54.1 million, or 33 per cent, of all taxes, while the Town of Canmore collected two per cent, or $3.5 million.
Other local government – which represents requisitions for regional management bodies – was $1.4 million of the total $163.8 million in taxes paid by tourists spending money in Canmore.
“The lion’s share of revenue from taxation across all levels of government goes to the federal and provincial levels,” de Soto said. “The Town is limited to property taxes and business licencing fees.”
The consultants that prepared the study – WMC and Econometric Research Limited – calculated GDP using 2011 census data available for the province and local employment data. The conclusion, said de Soto, was that tourism represented 89 per cent of gross domestic product for Banff, 48 per cent for Jasper and 18 per cent for Canmore.
She said the way the calculations were done underestimates the total impact of tourism on Canmore’s GDP.
The study showed employment impacts of visitor spending equalled 5,038 jobs in Alberta, of which 4,022 jobs were generated in Canmore “making tourism the dominant local employer” according to the report in front of council.
The purpose of the economic impact study was to accompany a benchmarking and competitiveness study commissioned by the Towns of Banff, Canmore and Jasper. The studies are part of an effort by all three communities to lobby the provincial government to recognize the special needs of tourism communities and that in Alberta they are at a competitive disadvantage without additional revenue sources available to them.
“Essentially, we are advocating for revenue tools to allow us to collect a greater share from visitors,” de Soto said, adding those additional revenues would go towards meeting capital and operating needs created by visitation. “We will continue as mayors and CAOs to meet with the minister.”
