Opportunity presented to grow tourism

By Miriam Ostermann, Associate Editor

With a continuous downswing of provincial government funds allocated to the municipalities’ tourism and uneasy fluctuations in the resource sector, Canadian Badlands Tourism presented Strathmore with a proposal to partner with other Alberta communities and generate tourism dollars without impacting the local economy.
Dan Sullivan, director of destination development for Canalta Hotels, Brian Varga, president of Canadian Badlands Tourism, and Terri Kinsman with Rocking R Guest Ranch approached council during its regular council meeting two weeks ago, encouraging Strathmore to consider implementing a voluntary Destination Marketing Fee (DMF).
The project consists of local hotels voluntarily – as no legislation exists to enforce such taxation – implementing a user-pay system by collecting a three per cent tax.
Two of the three per cent would funnel into a locally established destination marketing organization and be used for marketing purposes while the remaining one per cent would be allocated to an umbrella marketing campaign – an autonomous marketing body comprised of funding partners that make decisions on how to use the funds to strengthen the region’s marketing programs.
“Alberta government is not giving out the funds that they used to with tourism or anything else that’s involved with cities, or towns, or within our communities, it’s very tough to see that money come forward,” said Varga.
“We have a new incentive moving forward to make sure that the badlands is going to become sustainable in the future and not have to depend on the government of Alberta to help us out much longer.”
Canadian Badlands Tourism is a 63-member non-profit partnership engaged in developing and promoting the region. However, not all 63 members are a part of this initiative, and Canadian Badlands Tourism would administer the project by hiring a trustee. According to Sullivan, Calgary, Edmonton, Red Deer, Medicine Hat, Lethbridge Drumheller and Newell are among the municipalities that already have a DMF in place or their own version of it. He also explained that hotels are chosen to collect the fee as it lessens the impact on local residents and collect the money from business coming from outside the community.
“We’re not going to the government and whine, ‘we need handouts, we need money,’ we have come up with a way to help ourselves,” said Sullivan.
“Hotels would collect three per cent and it happens in probably 70 or 80 per cent of the hotels in Alberta, and it happens virtually everywhere else in the world. This is about leveling the playing field so that we can have the marketing resources to start combating with others that currently take tourism business away from us. The longer we don’t do anything, the longer we get nowhere. And every day that we wait and don’t have the hotels collect this user-fee the further behind we’re getting.”
When asked whether the additional three per cent charge was affecting business for those hotels that opted to adopt the tax, Sullivan assured council the charge was so minimal it had no impact on the competitiveness of the hotels involved.
Strathmore renewed their Canadian Badlands Tourism membership in 2016 after much debate surrounding what some councillors felt was a lack of follow through and empty promises by the organization. Others saw value in the membership stating it brought in $160,000 to the community through the Canadian Badlands Tourism Conference, helps to grow Strathmore’s tourism industry, and work closely with other communities.
While the initiative is separate this organization, Mayor Pat Fule noted his disappointment when he toured around family members this year and Strathmore wasn’t represented on the Canadian Badlands signage and brochures and questioned the benefits associated with being a member of the organization at a cost of just over $6,000.
In response, Kinsman stated Strathmore has to become more proactive within the organization, and that Canadian Badlands Tourism previously dedicated $5,000 for a sign to be placed at Strathmore’s entrance – which was never done. She also added the organization hosted the Roger Brooks event as well as a conference that included 130 delegates and poured money back into the local economy by renting local establishments, using local catering services as well as staying in Strathmore hotels.
“Strathmore really has to take responsibility for what they want to be and how they want to be perceived in the things that they have to put in that tourism baskets and we will definitely help with that,” she said.
Council was told in order to move forward they would have to establish a destination marketing organization. Council said they would take the presentation into consideration and begin discussions in the near future.
“It sounds like a big ambitious plan, but I know one thing – if we don’t do anything about it, nothing will happen,” Sullivan said. “We’re starting and we’re going to push this forward and some day we’ll look back and say (boy that was the smartest things we ever did to put this all in place). If we do this and we start building tourism as a viable revenue generator in Alberta maybe we won’t feel so bad when the resource sector dries up.”