Red Deer’s visitor information centre is a long way from the Calgary International Airport. But staff there felt much closer after flood waters prevented air passengers from travelling on to Banff.
“You could almost tell when the flights landed in Calgary, because all of a sudden we’d have a cluster,” said Liz Taylor, Tourism Red Deer’s executive director.
“We’d have four or five parties facing the same situation.”
Those people, and many others, were looking for alternate routes to Banff — or even new destinations. Some simply wanted a hotel for the night, while others needed an alternative to river-side campgrounds that were no longer open.
“I know that the Westerner (Campground) was full but they were squeezing people in so that they could get a night’s sleep,” said Taylor, whose visitor information centre staff have been dealing with high traffic volumes since last Thursday.
“Friday we couldn’t even close the doors at 5 o’clock, just with trying to move people around. We had to double up the staff on Saturday and Sunday, helping people.”
With Hwy 1 east of Canmore closed until Wednesday afternoon, many people were taking a round-about route to Banff — driving west on Hwy 11 to Saskatchewan River Crossing and then into the national park via Hwy 93.
Hannah Peterson, a Rocky Mountain House and District Chamber of Commerce employee who works at the town’s visitor information centre, confirmed that there had been a steady stream of motorists passing in both directions.
“From Thursday on, it’s just been insane,” said Peterson, adding that visitors to the centre far exceeded the usual daily count of about 20.
“I think Monday they had 90 people in, and then Tuesday they had 70.”
Wanda McDermott, an employee at Grillers Steakhouse in Rocky, noticed a jump in customers there.
“It seems to be picking up quite a bit.”
Staff at the nearby Rocky Mountain House National Historic Site also observed an uptick in visitors.
“It has increased, that’s for sure,” said Kyla von Hollen, an employee with the Confluence Heritage Society.
Many, added von Hollen, were en route to Jasper and Lake Louise, eager to avoid those areas of the Rockies impacted by flooding.
The disruption has most certainly been a blow to Banff, said Taylor. She expects the resort town to aggressively market itself as soon as transportation links are restored, and is confident the tourists will return.
“Banff wasn’t flooded. They were fine.”
As for the likely impact on tourism in Central Alberta, Taylor isn’t worried. Even if inter-provincial and international travellers avoid Alberta for a while, this region draws visitors mainly from within the province, she pointed out.
Taylor anticipates that many people who had planned to spend time in Calgary this summer will make other arrangements — including travelling to the Red Deer area. But she doesn’t want this region to benefit from hardship elsewhere.
hrichards@www.reddeeradvocate.com