More listening and strategizing essential to Crowsnest tourism success, NDP says [Video]

The Municipality of Crowsnest Pass deserves a better shot at becoming a significant tourism hub than the UCP government is giving it, an NDP shadow minister said as the southeastern Alberta community gears up for a coal mining plebiscite.

Done properly, tourism development is a better long-term approach to economic revitalization than an anticipated boost from mining nearby Grassy Mountain, said Sarah Elmeligi, environment and protected areas critic.

The municipality in the southwestern corner of Alberta is within one of 10 nodes the province has identified for tourism growth. Although Alberta has a “very ambitious” strategy in place to double its annual tourism spend to $20 billion by 2030, the UCP is not doing enough, Elmeligi said. 

“They really want to focus on the growth of rural tourism. But it’s as if tourism is a side gig, right?” said the member for Banff-Kananaskis.

In emailed statements to The Gazette, two provincial ministries outlined government spending …