Local businesses are feeling the effects of Valemount’s lack of through-traffic after Highway 16 was closed due to the Jasper wildfire complex.
While the highway is open to all traffic as of Friday, business owners told The Goat the roughly three-week long closure drastically lowered their number of customers.
“We’re probably 75 per cent down (in revenue),” said Patricia Thoni, who owns the Caribou Grill with her husband, Rudi. “Normally at this time of year we’d have a lineup. Last night we had pretty much an empty dining room all night… we had maybe 20 people, and usually we’d be putting through around 180.”
Thoni added that this year’s low snowpack contributed to a lack of tourists during the winter season, too – and since her business relies on tourists, she’s seen compounding effects from the slow winter and Highway 16 closure.
“If we have another winter like last winter, it’ll be pretty brutal,” Thoni said. “And right now, a lot of businesses don’t have hours for their staff. That’s a concern too, because in the fall we rely on locals after the main tourist season. So it’s a trickle down that affects everybody.”
Cindy Wong, a manager at Lucky House, agreed. The restaurant had to close its doors for a few days last week, and the buffet has been closed due to a lack of business, she told The Goat.
“There’s almost no customers,” Wong said. “It’s just locals coming in now.”
Marcie Downs, Executive Director of Tourism Valemount, said tourism has been slow throughout B.C. – not just in Valemount. However, the village has certainly been impacted by a lack of travel from Alberta, she said.
“We are really heavily affected by that Highway 16 closure, and also because Highway 93 (the Icefields Parkway) is still not open,” Downs said. “Normally there would be a lot of people taking that circular tour from Banff, through the Icefields, to Jasper, and around (through Valemount), and they’re not able to do that.”
Still, Valemount is ready to welcome visitors, she emphasized – and she’s working hard to make sure prospective tourists know that. For example, on the Thompson Okanagan Tourism Association launched a campaign which enters people to win $1000 if they post photos of their travels in the region, including Valemount, with the hashtag #TravelNowOnUs. Similarly, tourism associations located along Highway 5, from Kamloops up to Prince George, recently collaborated on a social media campaign to promote the Highway 5 corridor.
“I’ve been through a few of these types of incidents – evacuations, landslides and whatnot,” Downs said. “You learn to hit it really fast and think, ‘Okay, how can we navigate through this one?’”
Diversifying Tourism Valemount’s marketing strategies to target more demographics than just visitors coming from Alberta has helped develop some resilience, Downs added.
“We’re always making sure well in advance that we’re putting those marketing dollars all over, not just in one or two pools,” she said.
Leaders at different levels of government are also concerned about Valemount’s tourism sector. Last Friday, MLA Shirley Bond and Mayor Owen Torgerson had a meeting with local business owners to hear their concerns and determine the next steps forward.
In an email to The Goat, Torgerson said tourism is a vital part of Valemount’s economy and that he is working with Bond to build a case for assistance from the Government of Canada after Jasper’s wildfires weakened Valemount’s tourism sector.
Bond has been using Facebook to promote Robson Valley businesses, but she is also calling on the provincial government to support the area’s tourism sector, she said.
“I have raised the issue of support (for tourism in Valemount) with the government numerous times, including in a letter to the Premier,” Bond wrote in an email to The Goat. “There is more work to be done as we make the case for support to ensure businesses… can weather the economic consequences of the wildfire and highway closure. In the meantime, I will continue to remind people that the area is open for business.”
Dannielle Alan, director for Electoral Area H of the Regional District, was also at Friday’s meeting. In an interview with The Goat, Alan said she supports Bond’s efforts to raise awareness of the highway closure’s consequences to the provincial government.
“We want to make sure this gets on the provincial radar before (the October election), and we need provincial and federal support,” Alan said. “We depend on our tourism industry to keep us going, and something that has such a devastating effect on our major industry should have some support. When a mill closes, the Province and the feds are right there. During times like this, we’re calling on them to come down with some ideas on helping us, especially our small businesses.”
Alan said that financial support for tourism marketing could go a long way – for example, an ad campaign from Destination BC showcasing the Robson Valley.
“Last year things were challenging in the summertime because of the Macdougall Creek fire, and then came the winter season with the dismal lack of snow… it’s been a really challenging couple of years, and I think that should be acknowledged by the government,” she said.
Alan added that she will continue to work with Torgerson and Bond to find ways to promote the Robson Valley’s tourism sector.
For her part, Downs hopes that Valemount can recover from this summer’s setbacks.
“There’s good stuff that’s coming out of this: people are working together, businesses are working together. We’re doing the best we can to navigate through this,” she said. “We’re just getting the message out: Valemount is open for business and we’re open for outdoor adventure.”
