JASPER – With several campsites and hotels destroyed in last year’s wildfire, visitation is expected to be 20 per cent less than usual in Jasper this summer.
While interim housing has helped alleviate the accommodation shortage, some rooms meant for visitors are still being used to house residents and contractors, while other properties are undergoing renovations.
“We’re a four-hour drive from Edmonton or Calgary, so people don’t just come to Jasper for the day,” said Tourism Jasper CEO Tyler Riopel. “With decreased overnight inventory, we know that there will be a net decrease of people in the community as well.”
Since the Jasper wildfire destroyed nearly one-third of the townsite last summer, the community has slowly been recovering.
Riopel reported that considering the uncertainty around the destination and the less-than-ideal snowpack at the ski hill initially, the winter season went well overall, with visitation beginning to increase again in January.
“We saw momentum build through February and March as skiing conditions improved, and we saw a lot more group business in the destination with hockey tournaments and some of the UK school groups,” he said. “And then in April, we actually saw room nights sold in the destination be higher than in April of 2024, which is a really good sign.”
Riopel acknowledged that workforce shortages would be a challenge this summer due to a lack of accommodations in addition to the competitive labour market both within the destination and across the province.
“How we come together as businesses, residents and partners in our community will be key to delivering this summer’s visitor experience but also driving our recovery forward in the future,” he said.
Tourism Jasper has been focused on letting regional and global markets know that Jasper is open for business.
“Destination reputation is critical for ensuring that we have a strong summer season,” Riopel said. “We need to, in all conversations, ensure that we are not couching the message by saying things like Jasper is still beautiful. That’s inappropriate. Jasper is beautiful. That’s the message.”
Riopel emphasized most of the park remained untouched by the wildfire, and aside from Maligne Canyon, all its iconic experiences will be online and available to visitors this summer.
Amid the trade war and Canadian tourists opting not to visit the States this year, Riopel anticipated an increase in domestic visitation for Jasper, especially if Prime Minister Mark Carney holds true on his commitment to make national parks free for Canadians this summer.
However, Riopel emphasized American travellers made up a major portion of Jasper’s visitors, and Tourism Jasper was not seeing a declining interest in U.S. markets.
“In fact, sentiment to travel to Canada remains positive, and Jasper is really well positioned as a trusted and inspiring destination,” he said. “We’re committed to delivering the world-class experience that they’ve come to expect, no matter which border they’re coming from or where they start their journey into Jasper.”
‘I think we’re super resilient’
For many Jasper businesses, summer couldn’t come soon enough.
Estelle Blanchette, owner of Jasper Food Tours, blamed the “really slow” winter on the initial lack of snow, limited accommodations and the false perception that post-fire Jasper couldn’t handle tourists.
“Sometimes I get in those Facebook groups about visitors planning trips to Jasper and Banff, and there’s still a lot of comments out there that says that Jasper’s gone or Jasper’s burnt down,” Blanchette said.
Although she predicted this summer would be a bit softer than usual, Jasper Food Tours has already received plenty of advanced reservations, and unlike many businesses, she and her guides had accommodations.
With the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2022 Chetamon wildfire and the Jasper wildfire, Blanchette hasn’t had a “full bang-on summer” since she started her business. Nonetheless, she felt Jasper was going in the right direction.
“I think we’re super resilient, and the community is there for one another,” she said. “Everybody’s doing everything they can to have us back on our feet as quickly as possible.”
Ashley Kliewer, who owns the Raven Bistro with her husband Mike, said they were “in a holding pattern” for months following the fire but were able to reopen their restaurant in December and were now running at full capacity.
“It just is such a relief to have a piece of normality back for us and for our staff and for the community,” Kliewer said. “I think you need to have your regular places that you know and love and that you can gather at.”
The Kliewers had also launched the Peacock Cork and Fork last year with their business partner, Rachel Bailey, but this restaurant had only been open for 40 days when the building burned down.
“We had this magical, created experience that we poured our hearts and souls into that is now gone, but we’ve now thrown all of our efforts back into the Raven, which we’ve always absolutely loved,” Kliewer said.
Because the Kliewers want to focus on raising their children and managing the Raven Bistro, it is unlikely that the Peacock will reopen, but Kliewer felt good with where the Raven was at, noting their staff accommodations were spared from the fire and how they recently opened their patio.
For what Kliewer has seen so far, this summer will be as busy as ever, with local guests returning and plenty of international visitors coming.
“A lot of international [guests] don’t seem to really know or be aware of what happened to Jasper, so there’s been a big education piece happening as well,” she said. “I never had any doubt that guests would return to Jasper. It’s just too special of a place and such an epic destination.”
‘It’s a recovery of the mindset of our visitors’
Paul Butler, executive director of the Jasper Park Chamber of Commerce, described Tourism Jasper’s efforts as having helped restore visitation levels and convey the message that Jasper is ready to welcome tourists again.
“It’s a recovery of the mindset of our visitors, that it is good to visit Jasper, that Jasper wants that visitation and that we’re ready for the visitation because there was definitely a sense of reticence following the fire, and I think that extended, really, right through into the early winter,” Butler said.
Although there would likely be a 20 per cent reduction in visitation due to the loss of accommodations, Butler predicted the destination would be filled to its available capacity and believed visitor spending was strong.
He emphasized that there was a real concern about where service and hospitality staff would live this summer, and the community needed to start discussing what recovery would look like over the next decade.
The Chamber, along with Tourism Jasper and Community Futures West Yellowhead, is already looking at undertaking an in-depth economic assessment to understand Jasper’s fiscal realities post-wildfire.
“I think we don’t really have a solid idea of where this community stands economically,” Butler said. “We only really have a scratch-the-surface understanding, and I feel like until we have that, we’re not really well equipped to develop that roadmap toward recovery and future prosperity.”
