SUNDRE — The annual National Tourism Week campaign recognizing the country’s travel and hospitality industry is being observed in Sundre during a difficult period that has left looming uncertainty for the industry's future recovery.
On behalf of Sundre’s citizens and the municipality, council proclaimed May 24-31 National Tourism Week.
“I don’t know where we can travel too far, but we’ll certainly support when we are able to recover, and come back to greet all of our tourists that we’re hoping to come at a later time,” said mayor Terry Leslie after the motion passed during council's May 25 teleconference meeting.
Tourism, a vital part of the economy, was among the sectors hit hardest by the COVID-19 pandemic.
“This year, Tourism Week looks very different than most years,” reads a portion of correspondence included in Sundre council’s agenda package for the meeting.
“Canada’s tourism sector was first hit, and hardest hit, by the ongoing global COVID-19 pandemic, and will be one of the last sectors to recover,” continues the statement prepared by the Tourism Industry Association of Canada.
One in every 11 jobs is connected to tourism, an industry that contributes to about two per cent of Canada’s GDP, generating more than $102 billion in economic activity, combined with an additional $22-plus billion in service exports, the association says.
Chief administrative officer Linda Nelson said during Monday’s meeting that National Tourism Week provides an opportunity to recognize “the significant contributions of national, provincial and local tourism operators.”
Nelson also informed council that the municipality’s new Sundre Tourism Association had recently been registered, with meetings expected to soon be underway.
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Later during the meeting when Nelson presented departmental updates, she told council that the municipality’s economic development department had “received funding in excess of $40,000 from Travel Alberta as part of a 2019 cooperative marketing grant.”
A press release issued earlier this year said the grant funding spurred more than $2 million in local tourism activity, with the municipality as well as private partners sharing in the benefit of an extensive marketing effort conducted last year. The campaign was to promote Sundre in general, along with the www.exploresundre.com website.
“It’s good news,” said Jon Allan, Sundre’s economic development officer.
“We appreciate all of the help provided to us by Travel Alberta, and the faith placed in the campaign by our local private partners,” said Allan.
During the grant’s period, which ran from April 1 to December 31, 2019, the municipality’s department of economic development, which includes tourism, spent $73,355 on content creation, hiring travel writers, as well as marketing and advertising across multiple mediums such as TV, radio, magazines and digital, reads a portion of the statement.
“Of the $73,355, $6,100 came from at least seven separate private partners, $40,195 from Travel Alberta, and the balance of only $27,059 from the Town of Sundre.”
Additionally, the press release states that as part of the grant reporting and confidential key performance indicators supplied by the municipality’s private partners, the campaign was originally expected to help generate a total of less than $2.1 million in potential income and economic activity in Sundre and area.
That figure is relevant only to the campaign's private partners as well as the Sundre Visitor Information Centre, and is not a comprehensive assessment of total economic activity related to tourism.
“Based on the reporting back from our partners, an actual total of $2,123,807 in income and economic activity was generated, thus surpassing the goal by 2.17 per cent.”
