Red Deer County council has approved $100,000 for Red Deer Tourism over the next two years.
Council also approved $50,000 for the tourism organization last year on top of an annual $60,000 operations fee. The money will be used to “strategically invest” in major and regional events selected by an event advisory committee and Tourism Red Deer’s leadership.
The money will “fund the events that will drive our visitor economy and allow all stakeholders to benefit from the hosting of the major and regional events in our region,” said a report to council from county economic development officer Sandy Badry.
Red Deer Tourism helped line up a number of events last year, including the Red Deer Regional Airshow, the Senior AAA Men’s Baseball tournament, International Times Powowow and the 2023 WHL Cup. Those events, as well as Canadian Finals Rodeo and Agri-Trade Equipment Expo created more than $32 million in direct and $50 million in indirect economic spinoffs.
Red Deer Tourism says in 2024 it intends to implement a regional marketing strategy, put out a new version of the Visitor Guide, build a direct-to-visitor email marketing campaign, increasing its social media presence while expanding the membership base.
Council’s direction was that Central Alberta Sport Authority, known as Central Sport, will receive $25,000 for 2024 and will have to return to County Council for any future funding requests.
The organization was formed following the 2019 Canada Winter Games to position central Alberta as a sports leader. Central Sport helps local sports organizations attract revenue-generating events and activities as well as offering a program to train volunteers.
Central Sport has hired a CEO and executive assistant, opened up a Red Deer office and launched a volunteer drive that created a pool of more than 360 volunteers who can be drawn upon for events.
Editor’s note:
This is a corrected version of this article. In a previous version, it was indicated that Council also agreed to provide $50,000 in funding over two years to the Central Alberta Sport Authority. In fact, Council’s direction was Central Sport will receive $25,000 for 2024 and will have to return to County Council for any future funding requests.