The Royal Tyrrell Museum is an iconic destination for the young and old across the province and around the world. Just make sure you get there before 5 p.m. on weekdays this summer.
The museum, which plays a large role in anchoring Drumheller as a tourism destination is not immune from the Alberta Government funding efficiencies. In the 2019 provincial budget, the Museum saw its budget cut by 22 per cent, and in this current budget, another one per cent was cut back. While in the previous summer season the Tyrrell was open until 9 p.m. for the thousands of visitors that come to take in the museum. This year its hours will be 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday through Friday, and open evenings until 9 p.m. on Saturdays alone,
The admissions will also go up, with an increase of $2 for adult admission and $2 for family admissions.
As a major draw for the valley, Ryan Semchuk of Travel Drumheller says this is concerning.
“Our position is this is a little bit concerning because you have the provincial government who just recently announced they want to focus on tourism and growing the industry…within the next 10 years which is fantastic. We have seen some great changes with economic development and tourism being brought under one arm, some positive moves from the government that way. On the other hand reducing the budget with the Royal Tyrrell Museum, which is reducing hours, the amount of staff they can hire during the summertime,” he said. “It makes you start to wonder, is the government focused on tourism or is it just focused on saving money?”
He also noted Travel Alberta’s Cooperative Marketing program appears to be no more.
“Right now there is no cooperative marketing from Travel Alberta until further notice. It was a huge program because for both Travel Drumheller and Canadian Badlands, that was a 1-1 matching program,” said Semchuk, noting other operators in Drumheller have taken advantage of the program.
He sees the Tyrrell hour reduction as a little bit short ‘sighted and has an effect on many businesses in the valley.
“It does concern us when they say they are supporting tourism and then you start seeing cuts like this that are going to affect not just hotels and restaurants and gas stations but the other tourist attractions because people will be only coming out for day trips and reducing their stay because they can’t go there late in the evening and on certain days,” he said.
“It is a concern, but we hope to work with Nate Horner, Travel Alberta and The Tourism Industry Association of Alberta, to keep the government accountable on growing tourism and not being short-sighted by cutting budgets,” said Semchuk.
In some ways, he says Travel Drumheller is looking at how to make a positive from the changes.
“We are taking it into consideration on how do we work with some of our other tourism partners to take advantage of the opportunity of the Royal Tyrrell not being in operation, looking at expanding and having some new tourism businesses opening in the areas to offer some more things to do, and making sure the community is ready and market ready so we can deliver a positive experience when they do come here,” he said. “Maybe if they are just coming for a day trip, we can impress them so much they plan to come back.”
Mike Fabrick of the Drumheller Business Association is concerned about the changes at the Tyrrell, but notes this might be an opportunity.
“Maybe this is a chance to look at something to do in the evening,” he said, “such as shopping or looking at other attractions.”
He says they are continuing to look at getting more businesses on board with staying open later in the evening.