A new long-term plan aims to optimize the visitor economy to best steward the future of Jasper as a destination.
The Destination Stewardship Plan is a 10-year roadmap with strategies that develop a more predictable and prosperous year-round tourism economy.
The development of the plan was led by MMGY NextFactor and Tourism Jasper, in collaboration with Parks Canada and the Municipality of Jasper.
However, Tourism Jasper CEO Tyler Riopel emphasized how the plan was developed based on input from the community.
“It's a collective thing. It's not something that is singularly owned by Tourism Jasper. We're facilitating it. We're taking the lead on it to make sure that it's not just another strategy that sits on a shelf and collects dust.”
The plan outlines over 50 initiatives that support the products, people, planet, prosperity and policies that are central to Jasper.
The concept came out of COVID-19 when Jasper Municipal Council assembled an economic recovery task force consisting of leaders from community stakeholder organizations.
One of the task force’s recommendations was to develop “a guiding visionary style document to connect all the dots in the report, consult partners and stakeholders, and act as an ambitious vision for the future of Jasper's visitor economy,” according to Tourism Jasper’s website.
This was initially conceived as a Tourism Master Plan but morphed into the Destination Stewardship Plan following consultations.
Riopel noted how many local groups each have their own plans and strategies in place, everything from a municipal parking management plan to an affordable housing strategy.
“The stage that we're at right now is that we're developing a matrix about where all those plans lie and what work is being done by who, so who leads, who supports, [who] can complement each other,” he said.
“And it will just give us a high-level framework to understand that all the work we're doing collectively will propel the destination forward, will propel Jasper forward.”
Riopel noted how visitors often see Jasper as a singular entity, despite how many groups and organizations work together to make Jasper what it is.
“It's important to understand where all this work in our community being done, and how it works together and make sure we're not duplicating or we're enhancing all those efforts and getting everybody pointed where they need to go.”
The Destination Stewardship Plan is available to download at Tourism Jasper’s website.
