OLDS — Investing in infrastructure, amenities and events that can attract tourists just makes good sense for the community economically as well as socially and culturally, a consultant says.
Justin Rousseau, managing director of Expedition Management Consulting Ltd., made that case to council during his presentation of the Mountain View Regional Parks, Recreation and Culture Master Plan to council late last month.
“There’s obvious links between recreation and sport tourism, nature-based tourism as well; festivals and events, which we identified as a strength of Olds,” he said.
Rousseau said cultural tourism is also a strength in Olds.
"There’s certainly some strong heritage and cultural assets in the region,” he said.
Rousseau also saw an opportunity for "agri-tourism and culinary (tourism) in the community, due to the existence of Olds College, which has the Smart Farm as well as its hospitality and tourism programming."
Other tourism opportunities include business meetings or conferences, families visiting, as well as friends and family coming to town for sporting events.
“We expect, coming out of COVID, that some individual visitors are going to want to reconnect with loved ones. So, there’s an opportunity there,” he said.
A report presented by Rousseau detailed how hosting tournaments and games can also boost the local economy.
“A family travels to the Mountain View region to take part in a sporting event. They purchase fuel, stay in a local accommodation, and purchase food from local restaurants and grocery stores,” the report said.
“This is the 'direct' impact of the visitor economy: local businesses receive money from tourism spending.
“As a result of this spending, the businesses offering these services are able to make a profit and hire more staff. This ‘indirect’ impact of tourism spending produces a multiplying effect as an economic driver by increasing wages, salaries, and profits.
“Also, as more visitors come to the community, more work is generated in the supply chain, as wholesalers, food and beverage suppliers, tour planners, retailers, manufacturers, etc., are called upon to meet customers’ demands.
“The new employees hired by the tourism industry now have money to spend on clothes, food, transportation, entertainment and to pay taxes.”
However, there’s work to do.
Rousseau said the research conducted by the consulting firm indicates a “lack of market-ready tourism experiences for visitors.”
He also recommended establishing a regional tourism development task force.
“The region lacks a formal mechanism for partner municipalities and tourism stakeholders to organize their tourism development efforts and collaborate on initiatives,” the report said.
“Establishing a regional tourism development task force would help to fill this gap.
“The purpose of this group would be to implement the recommendations in this report and lead destination development activities in the region.
“Ideally, the task force would have representation from each of the private, public, and not-for-profit sectors. It is envisioned that local tourism working groups would also be established for each partner municipality.”