Many tourists travel to Alberta to visit the Rockies — not Jasper, Banff or other communities in the mountains.
The Canadian Badlands is working to develop a similar broad appeal, with help from Travel Alberta and Alberta Tourism, Parks and Recreation. The regional marketing group, whose members include Stettler, Donalda, Halkirk, Three Hills and Trochu, wants to promote the region west of Hwy 2 and from Stettler to the United States border as a single destination.
“Strategically, they’re positioning the Canadian Badlands as a new tourism destination,” said Aubrey Brown, executive director of the Stettler Regional Board of Trade and Community Development.
He anticipates that the region will become the subject of “mega media campaigns” next year.
A prominent feature of the Canadian Badlands is its topography, from the sandstone cliffs of Writing on Stone Provincial Park near Milk River to the hoodoos of Drumheller.
“Some of the geological features are available to see on the highways leading from Stettler,” said Brown, noting that interesting formations even exist to the north in Donalda.
But the Canadian Badlands also has a wealth of community events and attractions, and other visual treats for travellers, he pointed out.
The Royal Tyrrell Museum at Drumheller and Alberta Prairie Railway Excursions in Stettler are huge tourist draws, but visitors often return home without sampling other nearby attractions. The goal is to educate people so they’ll stay longer or plan a return trip to the region, said Brown.
Alberta Tourism, Parks and Recreation officials recently met with the Stettler Regional Board of Trade to help strike a local committee called Destination Stettler. Consisting of representation from Stettler, Donalda, Big Valley and Rochon Sands, it will work to build tourism in the Stettler area as part of the broader Canadian Badlands initiative.
Erin Larson, a spokesperson with the provincial department, said a workshop conducted in Stettler last month emphasized the importance of “event tourism.”
“The major outcome of this session for participants was recognition of the need for an event tourism strategy for the area — looking at how to tie in similar smaller events, and generating ideas for drawing more people to events from the surrounding area.”
Brown said the Stettler region has lots to offer, including Buffalo Lake, Ol’ MacDonalds Resort and of course, Alberta Prairie Railway.
“In terms of tourist attractions, it is right up there,” he said of the steam train excursions. “It’s definitely in the top five in all of Alberta, and I think that brings a lot of people into this part of Alberta.”
Brown is optimistic Destination Stettler will help raise awareness of what the immediate area has to offer.
“If we have 20 hockey teams that visit us in February for a hockey tournament, what we want to do is give them information on things they can plan on doing when they come back in the summer.”
The committee will also try to get local residents to consider themselves as being part of the Canadian Badlands. That branding should encourage visitors, said Brown.
Destination Stettler and the Canadian Badlands will work closely with Travel Alberta, the province’s tourism marketing agency, to take advantage of shared resources and marketing. Brown pointed out that Alberta Prairie Railway is already receiving prominent play in a new Travel Alberta promotional video.
hrichards@www.reddeeradvocate.com