Drumheller was paid a visit on Thursday, May 2, from two provincial ministers aiming to engage the community.
The Mail had a chance to speak with the Honourable Dr. Richard Starke, Minister of Tourism, Parks, and Recreation about tourism issues affecting the area.
Two weeks ago, Canadian Badlands Ltd. was shaken up and announced the departure of Bob Davis as executive director of the tourism group.
Starke felt there were challenges ahead for the group, but felt Canadian Badlands has considerable potential.
“You have a group of municipalities and stakeholders working together to promote an entire region as opposed to a piecemeal approach by a number of individual entities. One of the biggest challenges in tourism promotion is alignment; getting everybody to work for a common purpose in a unified way. That’s what Canadian Badlands does and they do it effectively,” said Starke.
The Honourable Dr. Richard Starke, Alberta Minister of Tourism, Parks, and Recreation
“We feel Canadian Badlands is a model other parts of the province should try to emulate in a way that works for them. We’ve been very impressed with what they’ve been able to achieve (and) the buy in they’ve had.”
One of the challenges facing tourism throughout the province is enticing people from both within and outside of the province to head to rural destinations.
Part of increasing tourism is communities to increase what they offer so people will stay longer and therefore spend more money.
“Thirty per cent of the tourism in the province happens in rural Alberta, outside of Banff, Jasper, Edmonton, and Calgary. There is potential for growth. In order to grow the tourism there, we have to look in all parts of the province,” said Starke.
“I think the community has done a good job leveraging the success of the Tyrrell Museum, but there are always more ideas that could come forward. It’s important to diversify the range of tourism product in any area, so tourists will be encouraged to stay longer.”
Drumheller in particular is a favourite spot of Starke’s, for himself and as a place to bring visitors to the province.
“I drive through Drumheller fairly frequently. I love coming through this part of the world. I’ve been here many times with visitors from out of province and country and show them around the Dinosaur Trail,” said Starke. “I really enjoy it here.”
