Businesses in St. Albert are trying to draw tourism back to the city through educational opportunities and festivals after COVID-19 hamstrung the tourism industry in the region.
The St. Albert and District Chamber of Commerce hosted the region's first tourism roundtable on Feb. 14, with James Leppan, Travel Alberta Edmonton region destination development manager along with Grant McCurdy, Explore Edmonton board member, and Tam Anderson, Prairie Gardens and Adventure Farms owner and horticulturist as panellists.
Garry Wetsch, former local chamber board chair said a particular draw for families travelling in the area is education, like the opportunity to learn about Indigenous history and tradition, and the history of the area. The chamber aims to highlight the ongoing work of the museum and other local sites to bring in visitors.
The chamber also hopes to entice visitors St. Albert's many festivals and activities.
“We're going to work with the community to make sure that there's awareness of all our events from festivals to the farmers market,” Wetsch said.
A 2014 study showed the St. Albert Farmers' Market, now one of the largest in Western Canada, creates millions of dollars in local revenue, Wetsch said.
The chamber intends to a form committee including its members, local business owners, and representatives of the broader community to take part in the conversation about local tourism.
“We want to see how we can make St. Albert a destination,” Wetsch said.
“We're really going to work hard with Travel Alberta, as a partner, and they're just terrific. We had a great afternoon."
Travel restrictions during the COVID-19 pandemic halted much of the tourism industry around the world. In an October 2021 report, Travel Alberta estimated in 2020, lost traveller spending amounted to $4.7 billion, which in turn led to $6.1 billion in lost business sales; $2.5 billion in lost GDP; $1.6 billion in lost income; 26,792 lost jobs; and $335 million of lost provincial and municipal government revenue.
Wetsch said the chamber wants to not only focus on attracting visitors to the St. Albert area, but also supporting tourism across the province.
“Our goal is to see what we could learn that would help not only St. Albert, since we're the district, but the broader district area where we could attract more tourists for a longer period of time,” he said.
Alongside its ongoing work to support Alberta's visitor economy, the chamber will host a post-budget address from provincial Finance Minister Travis Toews on March 6, as well as a luncheon with leader of the official opposition Rachel Notley on March 8.
