Jasper’s sidewalks, parking lots, grocery stores and restaurants have been unseasonably busy the last two months, with an influx of visitors keen to explore the park prior to the summer rush.
There was a 10 per cent increase in visitation during the month of May, with 17,000 more visitors passing through the gates than last year, for a total of 178,000 people.
Although the stats haven’t yet been tabulated for June, early indications suggest a similar trend, with high occupancy levels at campgrounds, hotels and approved accommodations.
“Everyone is exceedingly busy and happy about it,” said Pattie Pavlov, manager of the Jasper Park Chamber of Commerce. “Definitely we’re seeing increased traffic, increased visitation, increased access to attractions and hospitality—it’s busy.
“It’s not like the old days when you used to be able to show up in town with your carload of kids and pull up somewhere and find a place to stay—now you’re sleeping in your car.
“We’ve even had Hinton hotels join the chamber here, so we can help them with taking on some of this overflow.”
Pavlov said even her own approved accommodation is booked solid right through to the end of September.
As well as being good news for local businesses, the extra foot traffic is welcomed by Parks Canada, whose goal is to increase visitation by two per cent each fiscal year.
Jasper’s strong spring will help Parks meet that goal, said Pam Clark, JNP’s visitor experience manager.
Clark attributed this early season success to a number of things, including the exceptional weather we’ve had and the low Canadian dollar.
She also noted that Parks has added some new services this year in hopes of attracting more people to the park.
“We’ve opened the family canoe camp at Hidden Cove, we’ve got 10 new oTENTiks that are on stream and very busy and paddleboarding at the lake—so, we’re excited about the summer.”
Clark also credited the combined marketing efforts of Parks, Tourism Jasper, Travel Alberta and the Canadian Tourism Commission for Jasper’s continued success.
Tourism Jasper’s Sara Hamil echoed those same sentiments, noting that people are already responding well to Jasper’s new brand: Venture Beyond.
In keeping with the brand, Tourism Jasper’s latest campaign calls on visitors to use Jasper as their base camp for adventure.
In one advertisement, in a deep, sultry voice a man says, "From here the greatest personal expeditions begin. Welcome those prepared to Venture Beyond."
Pavlov cited many of the same reasons for Jasper’s busy spring, but also speculated that the park might still be reaping the benefits of the 2013 floods in southern Alberta.
“With all of the flooding that happened down south in the Banff area, that summer we saw an increase because people weren’t able to access their normal haunts, so to speak, for camping, etcetera, so a lot of people decided to come north to Jasper instead.
“What I hoped would come out of it—and what did to a certain extent—is that people would rediscover Jasper and then say, ‘why are we not going back to Jasper?’”
Looking ahead to the rest of the summer, Pavlov, Hamil and Clark all said they’re predicting a busy season.
“The business levels are looking really great so far and we’re anticipating continued success and likely a longer season this year as well,” said Hamil, noting that Tourism Jasper is anticipating the park will busy right through October.
“The forecast is looking pretty positive.”
Nicole Veerman
[email protected]
