6. – Jasper business and tourism recovery placemat
Pre-fire tourism profile and current state
Visitors & revenue
2.48M visitors in 2023, growing an avg. of 2%/yr over the past decade
- 2/3 of visitors are international
- Jasper’s remoteness means that tourism is dependent on overnight stays.
- 22% are campers (2023)
- $446 M (est. 2023) in spending by visitors to Jasper
- Overnight visitors comprised 96% of the spending
- International visitors comprised ~80% of the spending
Key tourism attractions
Jasper National Park is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Highlights include:
- striking mountain landscapes
- glaciers
- canyons, rivers and lakes
- extensive trail network
- wildlife viewing
- Dark Sky Preserve
Key built attractions:
- Marmot Basin Ski
- Maligne Lake Boat Tours
- Jasper Park Golf Lodge
- Jasper Sky Tram
- Glacier Sky Walk and Columbia Icefield Adventure
Businesses
- 260 businesses with employees and 311 self-employed individuals
- 94% are small businesses (<100 employees)
- Tourism accounts for 48.9% of Jasper employment
Peak season visitation
The core population of under 5K expands to around 12K during peak summer tourist season, (May-Sept) and businesses make 60% of annual revenue
~600K visits in winter (Nov-Mar)
Post-fire status
Wildfire impacts
- 4 hotels are closed, including 2 that have burned down, a 25% reduction in accommodations (rooms available).
- Some campgrounds were also damaged/destroyed.
- Key year-round tourism asset, Maligne Canyon, was damaged extensively.
- Seven restaurants were destroyed / damaged; some remain closed for cleaning / restoration.
Re-opening to date & peak season outlook
- 80% of campgrounds will be available for summer 2025.
- Parks Canada Reservation Service will launch for camping bookings on January 28, 2025.
- As of November 2024, 81% of day use areas and 64% of trailheads reopened to date.
- Marmot Basin ski resort was not affected and opened on November 22nd and is critical to attracting visitors who support local businesses.
Destination Canada estimates that tourism spending will return to pre-Covid levels by December 2026.
Community Futures business survey
- 93% had insurance, but only 56% felt it was adequate for immediate needs
- 69% expect to return to normal operations within a year
- 50% anticipate needing to take on debt within the next 3 months
(134 respondents, Sept 12, next survey early December)
Preferred methods of support
- Operating grants
- Marketing support
- Staff accommodation & housing
Jasper tourism recovery
Key gaps to restore the tourism sector
- Small business challenges – short term challenges from loss of revenue due to reduced 2024 peak season could impact on-going operations and re-opening costs.
- Tourist confidence and destination attraction – Ensuring that tourists understand Jasper is “open for business” despite the fire damage.
- Tourism activation support and expansion of tourism experiences assets for attraction.
- Reduction in accommodation and campsite availability – Overnight visitors are necessary for recovery and growth of the tourism sector; therefore visitation is expected to be down this summer season due to limitations on available accommodations.
- Increasing accommodations to pre-fire levels will be important for full visitor recovery.
- Accommodations (e.g. hotels) could take a few years to rebuild.
- Remaining 20% of damaged campsites may be opened in summer 2026.
- Reduction in seasonal workforce housing – 2,000-3,000 seasonal workers (such as temporary foreign workers, international and domestic students, etc.) are required during the peak summer season. Employee housing is critical to recruit and retain seasonal staff working in the tourism sector.
- While large operators (Marmot Ski Hill, Pursuit, Fairmont) are better equipped, small business will struggle to find accommodation for their workers impacting their capacity to serve visitors. Therefore businesses are at risk of reduced capacity/closure.
Key areas of focus for summer 2025 peak season
- Support to businesses: ensuring that businesses can remain operational due to revenue shortfalls stemming from the fire until and during the summer season 2025.
- Tourist and Destination Attraction: targeted marketing, activation and tourism product development.
- Accommodations: opening as many campsites as possible to increase overnight accommodations as hotels will take longer to re-build/open.
- Workforce seasonal housing: discussions underway on housing supply for Jasper.
Actions to date supporting Winter and Summer season
Support to business
- Grants of $2,000 for business and non-profits in Jasper provided by Cdn Red Cross.
- Grants of up to $10,000 for ~300 businesses to help their viability until the summer season from PrairiesCan’s $3.4 million Jasper Business Recovery Program.
- Up to $15M in Rent Relief (PC) to business owners, tenants and residents impacted by the fire.
Tourist and destination attraction
- PrairiesCan provided Tourism Jasper $500K for winter activation activities.
- $3M from Destination Canada to support Travel Alberta’s visitor attraction marketing to key international markets, while ensuring Jasper’s capacity to absorb more tourists.
- Targeted funding from Travel Alberta to expand winter tourism offerings of current businesses. [Redacted]
Accommodation
- Work underway by Parks Canada to open 80% campsites this season to support more visitors.
Further actions to support tourism recovery
Support to business
[Redacted]Tourist and destination attraction
[Redacted]Seasonal workforce housing
- Housing discussion underway to address interim shortfall, however small business seasonal workers housing still an issue or gap to be targeted. [Redacted]