\u201cIf people can\u2019t get into where they want to go, they\u2019re not going home,\u201d Canning said. \u201cThey\u2019re going somewhere else.\u201d<\/p>\n
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(Michelle McCann\/CBC)<\/p>\n
Understanding people movement \u2018monumentally important\u2019<\/p>\n
Canning said understanding how people move throughout the region is critical to managing the area since it has a “dramatic impact on our landscape.\u201d<\/p>\n
He said there\u2019s existing collaboration among agencies when it comes to wildlife<\/a> and wildfires<\/a>, but less so with visitation.<\/p>\n Canmore Coun. Tanya Foubert said it’s necessary to have a \u201cshared vision\u201d among area partners, with tourism being a \u201csignificant part of council\u2019s strategic plan<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n The plan has early support from the Town of Canmore, Tourism Canmore Kananaskis and Alberta Parks. Other partners identified are Parks Canada, the Kananaskis Improvement District, the Town of Banff and Municipal District of Bighorn.<\/p>\n Canmore Mayor Sean Krausert said destination stewardship would be \u201cabsolutely monumentally important to this valley.\u201d<\/p>\n Concept successful in United States<\/p>\n The idea isn\u2019t new. It\u2019s already used in American tourism hot spots.<\/p>\n One group called NoCo Places<\/a> has existed for about a decade in northern Colorado.<\/p>\n The region is covered in public land such as Arapaho and Roosevelt National Forests and Rocky Mountain National Park, which get a combined 12 million visitors a year.<\/p>\n \u201cThe challenge was so many people going to these locations, they were loving Colorado to death,\u201d said Steve Coffin, the first executive director of NoCo Places. \u201cWe wanted to protect the recreation experience, while also protecting environment and wildlife.\u201d<\/p>\n As is the case with the Canadian Rockies’ proximity to growing Calgary, Denver and its metropolitan area of about three million led to high use of trails in nearby parks.<\/p>\n Coffin said he was \u201cworried about losing what makes Colorado special, with its outdoor experience.\u201d<\/p>\n He started meeting with different leaders at all levels of government and public sector service to \u201cbreak down bureaucratic boundaries\u201d and foster collaboration. Each has different regulations, areas of focus and institutional structures that can be conflicting.<\/p>\n The group has since helped mitigate tourism’s impacts and built collaboration throughout the region with a vision of a \u201cNorth Star we\u2019re all aiming for,” said Coffin.<\/p>\n WATCH | Where one of Canada’s most popular national parks goes from here:<\/p>\n Banff, Canmore ‘ground zero’ for tourism growth<\/p>\n The Alberta government wants the tourism sector to be a $25-billion-a-year industry<\/a> by 2035.<\/p>\n The All-Season Resorts Act<\/a> has identified three key areas<\/a> for growth in the Bow Valley region.<\/p>\n
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