Travel Alberta is working to create a new destination development strategy for the Medicine Hat to Lethbridge area.--NEWS FILE PHOTO
kking@medicinehatnews.com
A new initiative led by Travel Alberta and partner organization Twenty31 Consulting Inc., aims to enhance tourism in the Medicine Hat to Lethbridge area through community engagement, collaboration and strategic development.
Part of a larger province-wide tourism development plan, the initiative is focused on the creation of a cohesive strategy – called a destination development plan – for promoting the Medicine Hat to Lethbridge area as a distinct travel destination.
The first phase in developing the destination development plan began in October of 2022 and centred on information collection and area assessment. The second phase, focused on community engagement, launched in November, and is expected to conclude in March.
Following its conclusion, information collected during the first and second phases will be consolidated and used to inform creation of the destination development plan and identify next steps of the initiative.
“There’s a lot of research (involved in developing the strategy),” Twenty31 partner Joe Naaman said of the strategy development process. “But we’re not going to say, ‘Here’s a high level strategy. Here you go, good luck.’
“We also are planning on making sure that we have a road map for Travel Alberta and other tourism stakeholders across the province to activate (the strategy) as quickly as possible (because) there are so many communities across Alberta which have a competitive advantage for tourism.”
Still in the second phase of plan development, Naaman and other project co-ordinators are currently focused on engaging with area residents and stakeholders.
“Engagement is just one of many ways that we can understand what the community itself wants,” Naaman said Thursday during a Medicine Hat-focused virtual town hall.
Roughly 25 Medicine Hat and area individuals took part in the town hall to share insight on the area’s current tourism landscape and offer suggestions regarding promotion strategy.
Most participants expressed confidence in the area’s ability to attract tourists, especially those interested in nature, outdoor recreational activities, arts and culture, etc. However several participants also voiced concerns over the community’s desire to become a tourism hub.
“We’ve noticed that there’s a little bit of an inability to think bigger, and that could be due to years of sort of not having the funds, the resources or the capacity,” said Naaman. “But there’s an opportunity now (as) Travel Alberta has demonstrated its interest in finding assets to invest in and enhance.”
Naaman says enhancement efforts, like creation of a the destination development plan, not only benefits the local tourism industry, but the community as a whole as as tourists could introduce additional revenue within the local economy, create new opportunities for business, generate new jobs and preserve the area’s unique culture.
