Travel Drumheller has come out of a year of strategizing and planning, ready for the upcoming tourism season.
    Travel Drumheller held its annual general meeting at the Badlands Community Facility, on Thursday, October 6.  Board member for Travel Drumheller, Carrie Ann Lunde, laid out the future vision of the destination marketing organization.
    “This year it was time to look critically at who we were and what our purpose was. This included making the decision to put an advertising campaign on hold until we had a strategic direction and visual identity in order to make the best use of dollars for effective marketing,” said Lunde.
    Part of the changes this year included developing a strategic plan with a new vision, employing a marketing agency to take the vision and develop a brand strategy, and develop a campaign for this coming year.
    This includes developing its social media strategy, updating its website and publishing its travel guide.
    To build this vision, Lunde explained the board sat down with Alberta Tourism and Culture and Tourism to discuss the purpose and vision of the group and develop specific goals.
    “For marketing, this meant developing a brand strategy awareness campaign, develop and execute a marketing plan and increase tourist engagement,” she said.
    From this, they developed the vision statement, “Drumheller is a sought-after tourism destination in Alberta,” and its mission is to “Promote Drumheller as a premier year-round destination through quality marketing and stakeholder engagement.”
    Board chair Dan Sullivan said the initial years of Travel Drumheller have been challenging.
    “I want to recognize a very committed board of directors, many who have been part of this project right from the beginning, who faced any challenge that was thrown at us head on, and systematically worked through everything that was thrown in their direction,” he said. “This group has never really lost sight of the vision we all have for making Drumheller an iconic tourism destination in Alberta, further than that, in Canada. Drumheller is not just on the radar in Alberta, it’s really on the Canadian radar with two high quality historic sites in the areas and the unique nature of who we are.”
     He said the struggles of Travel Drumheller gave them the opportunity to take control of its destiny.
    “What we are accomplishing is going to show a great dividend down the road,” he said.
    There were three board directors elected at the meeting. Cindie Hughes of Quality Hotel returned to the board and Barb Steeves of the East Coulee School Museum and Jay Russell of the Atlas Coal Mine are new directors. 

    A feature film showcasing the Badlands of Drumheller is having a big week as it receives international recognition and will be featured in Landmark Cinemas in Calgary and Edmonton.
 Last summer The Mail brought readers the story of Benjamin Ross Hayden and his film The Northland, which at the time had the working title of The Edict.  In October of 2015, he was in the valley shooting the science fiction adventure. He wrote, directed and produced the film.
    Just a year later, the film is receiving critical reception home and abroad.
 "For Calgary and Edmonton it is the Western Canada premier, and more exciting, it is its official theatrical release,” Ross Hayden tells The Mail from the Feratum Film Festival in Mexico last Thursday, where the film had just received two encore screenings.
    This could be just the tip of the iceberg for the film. In March it was selected for the 69th Cannes Film Festival in the Perspective Canada Program.  It was an official selection at the Montréal Film Festival in September and from October 19 -23 it will be featured at imagineNATIVE, the largest festival of indigenous films and media arts, in Toronto.
    "There are about eight festivals in total,” he tells The Mail. “It feels like a real cinematic homecoming for The Northlander, to have its cinematic debut on its home soil in Alberta to start with. The amount of exposure and genuine appreciation and response we are getting for The Northlander is a testament to the hard work that Western Canada is really known for and to be celebrated in the part of Canada where I live feels like an honour.”
    He goes on to say the landscape where it was shot, which included the Badlands, Writing on Stone and wilderness areas of Alberta play a huge role in the film.
    “It is no surprise that Hollywood films choose Alberta to film in because of the landscape, but it is doing that landscape justice with great performances and design that went into creating an indigenous futuristic landscape in a very specific part of the world. This reminded me again that the characters and design of this movie is largely inspired by the landscape of Alberta.”
    The Northlander is a recipient of the Telefilm Micro Budget Production Program, and Ross Hayden was the youngest recipient of the award.
    The Northlander does not end with the film. Ross Hayden tells The Mail, they will see the story live on.
    “The Northlander is confirmed in development with Canada Media Fund, as a six-part television miniseries,” he said.
    The Gala Opening for the Northlander is at Landmark Cinemas Country Hills Studio on October 12 and 13 at 7 p.m.