By Abigail Popple, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, RMG
In anticipation of developing a new Resort Development Strategy (RDS), the Village of Valemount held a public consultation on October 30th to hear from residents and business owners about how Valemount’s tourism industry can improve.
The RDS is a plan which resort municipalities – small, tourism-based municipalities like Valemount – must submit to the Ministry of Tourism every three years to access funding from the Resort Municipality Initiative. The plan outlines a municipality’s long-term vision for its tourism industry, as well as projects the municipality can complete to improve tourism.
In previous years, Resort Municipality Initiative funding has been used for projects such as the Cranberry Marsh trail system and the new Valemount entrance sign.
The public consultation had about 20 attendees, including several local business owners. Participants discussed potential infrastructure projects, such as creating more spaces geared towards families or hosting more annual festivals like Valemountain Days.
In a follow-up email to The Goat, CAO Anne Yanciw said public consultation is a crucial part of drafting the strategy.
“I feel [the discussion] was valuable. The conversation had some thoughtful perspectives and is helping us shape the direction of tourism,” Yanciw said. “The discussion was broader than the RDS, and included aspects of broader economic development. It encouraged me that the community is interested in this, and that we will likely have a good response when we develop an Economic Development Strategy.”
Attendees said the event could have been better attended, but found the discussion to be valuable.
“Brainstorms need brains,” said Tamara Cinnamon, owner of the Rocky Mountain Speedway. “Everybody has unique strengths, so how do we help build our already-incredible foundation into the next step?”
Cinnamon said she appreciated the event as it gave her an opportunity to connect with Valemount-based businesses. The speedway lies just outside of village boundaries, but benefits from the support of Valemount locals, so she wanted to see if there was a way to reciprocate that support.
“Our community gave back to us huge this year… we had so many volunteers and so much help, so we wanted to find a way to give back and help with what’s happening,” she said. “And we want to find opportunities instead of obstacles.”
Valemount local Michel Ball likewise found the event valuable, and appreciated that multiple perspectives were welcome, even if they didn’t fall strictly within the realm of the RDS. However, he said the Village could find more ways to solicit public engagement.
“There’s a lot of work to be done there,” he said when asked about the Village’s public engagement. “There could be more valuable discussion on what people think and want.”
Yanciw said it is not possible to schedule a discussion time that every Valemount resident is able to attend. In an attempt to give everybody an opportunity to submit feedback, the Village is circulating a survey on its website. It asks respondents to make suggestions on what could improve the RDS, and which of the plan’s three core values – accessibility, sustainability, and Indigenous collaboration – should be prioritized.The survey is open until November 18th, and can be accessed at https://valemount.ca/resort-municipality-initiative-public-engagement-survey/.
