By Peter Shokeir, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
A $5.5-million investment is expected to help Jasper’s tourism industry recover following the devastating summer wildfire.
The federal government has pledged $3 million, and the Alberta government is contributing $2.5 million.
“That money’s going to go towards marketing to continue to tell Alberta’s story to the rest of the country and the rest of the world but also to help businesses to ensure that they have the supports they need as they go into the fall and the winter season,” said Joseph Schow, Alberta’s Minister of Tourism and Sport, during a Friday (Oct. 18) announcement.
Destination Canada and Travel Alberta are integrating their marketing strategies to showcase the mountain town.
“It’s important to know that a quarter of the economy in Jasper is tourism,” said federal Tourism Minister Soraya Martinez. “We have to make sure that, to rebuild, not only are we rebuilding, physically, Jasper, but we also rebuild the reputation side of Jasper to make sure that the visitors will come back.”
The announcement followed Ferrada and Schow’s co-hosting of the annual Canadian Council of Tourism Ministers meeting in Banff and subsequent tour of the region.
In collaboration with Travel Alberta and Tourism Jasper, Destination Canada is organizing Canada’s largest global tourism media event in Jasper in September 2025. GoMedia Summit 2025 will host over 80 top-tier travel media outlets from around the world and Canadian tourism industry representatives.
One of Alberta’s major tourism destinations, Jasper receives two million visitors per year and accounts for 25 per cent of tourism spending in the Canadian Rockies.
Jasper Mayor Richard Ireland said this funding would be critical for the recovery of the community and help let the world know that Jasper is still able to receive visitors even after the wildfire.
“We have to let the world know that we are here, we’re resilient, we’re ready to welcome them,” he said. “We recognize that, in some respects, our offering is a little bit limited, but we will get back.”
Visitors are steadily coming back to Jasper. Ireland noted that licence plates from across Canada and from the United States could already be seen, and downtown parking was once again starting to become challenging, which he described as “the best problem we can have.”
“Tourism is returning,” he added. “There is an air of optimism. Businesses are reopening – not all, of course, but those that do, everyone is celebrated. It’s one more step forward for the community.”
Mike Day, who owns Evil Dave’s Grill, noted he lost a home in the fire, but his business was spared and is now back up and running.
“At first, it was a lot of local support, and then over time as visitors started to arrive. We started to pick up some different bus tours that had to change their itineraries,” Day said. “A lot of people were very interested in what happened, some people were unaware and now what we’re seeing a lot more is people that are actually here to support the community.”
Day acknowledged it would be a long recovery for many residents but was pleased to see a good portion of the community had returned. He also said the announcement was needed to help local tourism recover.
“Federal and provincial support is critical at this time, because, on our own, I don’t think we have the resources to just come out of this as quickly as we’ll be able to,” he said.
