Just so we have this straight in our minds…
When it comes to tourism in Canmore, only accommodation providers see the benefit of tens of thousands of visitors arriving in town?
We doubt it.
It’s long been the Outlook’s outlook that in the Bow Valley tourism benefits reach far and wide.
So we wonder why accommodation providers are the only ones being targeted with supporting tourism locally.
For quite some time now, the Destination Marketing Fund (DMF) group of accommodation providers has voluntarily been paying the bills for Canmore Kananaskis Tourism, now Canmore Business & Tourism.
We feel it’s safe to say that without DMF funds, today there would be no CB&T.
And not too long ago, the DMF brethren felt, and rightly so, that their volunteer efforts meant they were footing the bill for much too large a portion of the tourism marketing pie.
We agreed.
A few years ago, not long after DMF started its voluntary collection of a three per cent levy on its rooms to keep the tourism body and events afloat, organizers told the Outlook that ideally, businesses other than accommodation providers would also join in on funding as, in their opinion as well, tourism benefits the entire community.
Clearly, though, that hasn’t happened. There are the volunteers, and there are those that will not chip in to support the DMF, despite being able to take advantage, at least peripherally, of CB&T efforts to bring in more visitors.
So now, because other accommodation providers haven’t stepped onto the voluntary DMF bandwagon of a self-imposed levy on 700 rooms, the Town feels it’s incumbent on itself to start punishing all other providers at a $100 per room per year rate? So a 100-room operation not part of the DMF will now ante up $10,000, rather than its usual business licence of $400? Current DMF members, though, will have that fee credited back?
And the only reason the Town isn’t hitting other providers harder is that they worry about legal action being taken? That clearly suggests there’s a problem with the entire scheme.
We can’t understand why, rather than insisting accommodation providers be solely responsible for supporting tourism in Canmore, that fees aren’t collected under a wider net from a wider range of businesses in town. Rather than hitting accommodation providers hard, why not hit all businesses in town lightly?
After all, the Town’s own stats, provided by Alberta Tourism, Parks and Recreation, show that tourism province-wide puts $156,000,000 into provincial coffers annually. In a presentation to council, stats show that of that figure, 34.6 per cent goes to accommodation providers – but next in line is the food and beverage industry at 23.7 per cent, private auto at 14.6 per cent and retail at 11.4 per cent.
Clearly, then, what is needed is a far-reaching, but lesser fee structure that would be borne by all businesses in town to provide for tourism-generating activities.
Seriously, in a scenario where, say, a snow track is put down on a main street to attract hundreds or thousands of visitors, the only businesses that benefit are those that provide beds? Coffee shops, galleries, eateries and clothiers don’t benefit?
And in a scenario where, say, a mountain bike extravaganza is held at a nearby venue, none of the hundreds of riders who take part would walk into a bike shop to replace a ruined rim, holed inner tube or snapped brake cable? None would want to tip a pint in victory at a local watering hole, or buy a tank of gas to get home?
See where we’re going with this? It’s all well and good for council to hit up all the accommodation providers in town for tourism funding, but that lets many other businesses get a free ride on the coattails of the few.
