Tourism in Drumheller may have taken a slight dip, but is not a cause for concern say area operators. The opinion given from the tourist attractions in the valley is the un-seasonal weather in early July may have played a part in the decrease in the numbers of tourists.
The World's Largest Dinosaur (WLD) had 16,781 visitors between July 1 and July 17 of this year.
“We are down a little compared to last year, but we feel there’s no cause for concern,” explained Kathy Little, Drumheller and District Chamber of Commerce Manager.
Little said the slight drop could be seen when the Passion Play was running; weather also had an effect on their numbers.
“Crews from CTV were at the dinosaur on July 15 for the filming of a commercial promo for the London 2012 Summer Olympics,” said Little.
Overall it's a positive improvement for July at the WLD.
The Royal Tyrrell Museum is holding pretty strong, but had a slight decrease in visitors due to the unusual summer weather.
The Tyrrell is working with the Drumheller Marketing Organization (D.M.O.) to attract visitors on-line with promotions and mobile advertising with links to the Tyrrell’s website.
“We are working on attracting northern Alberta, drawing from the Edmonton area,” said acting director of Exhibits and Communications Lisa Making.
Southern Alberta travellers are doing more day trips to the museum.
The Atlas Coal Mine is celebrating the Mining Centennial. Jay Russell, program director at the Atlas, said, “This year we have seen an increase of visitors from the Western Europe area, France and Holland, and that’s been really neat.”
The Atlas Coal Mine also provided an outreach program for youth and it's been cool to see them back with their parents, Jay Russell commented.
