Jasper on display during trade show

If you were in search of Jasper the Bear during the last weekend in March, you would have needed to go all the way to Calgary, where he was a crucial part of the Calgary Outdoor Adventure Show at the Stampede Round Up Centre.

The infamous bear was part of a 20-ft. square booth that proudly displayed all that Jasper has to offer in hopes of getting more Calgarians to Jasper this summer, which is expected to be a slower than usual season, according to the report tabled at the March Jasper Tourism and Commerce meeting.

Pam Trofaneko, Jasper Tourism Commerce administration assistant, and five other representatives of Jasper attended to welcome Calgarians to Jasper. 

Trofaneko said she felt as though they reached a good percentage of the 14,500 attendants and received at least 600 ballots for their contest. She got the impression Calgarians were genuinely interested in visiting Jasper this summer.

“We would say ‘Hello, welcome to Jasper, come on in!’ to get people in,” said Trafaneko who said the Wii and animal display by Parks Canada was a great way to draw people into the Jasper booth, which was competing with other destinations such as Banff.

Trofaneko said that going by what they heard, Jasper was not a regular destination for Calgarians. “Jasper is almost a new destination to Calgarians, they regularly go to the closer mountain areas. Therefore, our growth potential is huge in the market,” she said, adding “most people we did talk to have been to Jasper in the past but haven’t been for years and would like to come in the near future. People were getting information about that [and] planning their trip for this next season.”

General manger of Jasper Tourism and Commerce Helen Kelleher-Empey was not available for comment.