Tourism is rebounding at Jasper National Park, but the influx of visitors to the mountain park isn’t quite what it was before the wildfire of 2024, business owners say.
“I do feel like it’s slower than normal,” Robert Logan, co-owner of Jasper Motorcycle Tours, said in an interview last week.
He is one of several business owners who lost their brick-and-mortar spaces and are now working out of a pop-up village in a parking lot off Connaught Drive.
“I kind of judge the streets of Jasper by parking spots and if people are carrying bags from shops where they buy gifts and stuff. And I could tell there’s a bit of a drop in those numbers.”
Logan said he expects more tourists in Jasper soon, now that the Calgary Stampede has ended, including some who will want to see the aftermath of the wildfire.
“People are just curious, you know — disaster tourism,” he said.
But Jasper is lacking places for people to stay overnight.
Tourism Jasper estimates there are about 20 per cent fewer accommodations this season: hotel rooms, inns, short-term lodgings and campsites.
Two motels in the townsite, Mount Robson Inn and the Maligne Lodge, were destroyed in the fire.
Tekarra Lodge and Jasper House Bungalows off Highway 93A were also destroyed. Alpine Village lost some of its cabins and is now rebuilding.
Only 30 per cent of the Wapiti Campground sites are available this year.
Mike Day, a board member with Tourism Jasper and the owner of Evil Dave’s Grill, said the decrease in accommodations helps explain the dip in visitors.
“Twenty per cent for us, based on last year’s evacuation, that could be … 4,000 people,” Day told CBC News last week. “That’s a lot of seats in restaurants and that’s a lot of heads and beds that we just don’t have.”
Annaja Davis, a guide with Jasper’s Whitewater Rafting Company, said it’s been pretty quiet compared to previous years.
“Usually when you come down here, the streets are packed shoulder to shoulder,” she said from the shop on Connaught Drive.
“It’s like, maybe 100 people are on the street. Not like 1,000. So much much slower.”
Day said the hospitality industry in general has hired fewer workers this year, because it’s harder to secure housing for out-of-town workers since the town lost 800 residences in the fire.
Visitor support
On a sunny day in July, the sidewalks along Connaught Drive may not have been full, but some tourists were there to show support for the town.
Christine Kilb, a returning visitor from B.C., was camping at Wabasso Campground last July when the fire started. She was among the 25,000 people evacuated from the national park.
“I’m just proud to be able to come here and camp and enjoy the town,” Kilb told CBC News last week. “It’s beautiful. Even with the forests burnt, it’s still beautiful.”
Sandra Beresh, a visitor from Hamilton, was in Jasper for the first time. She didn’t know what to expect, but also didn’t hesitate to make the trip.
“My husband and I both wanted to support Jasper and we’re happy we did. It’s gorgeous.”
It was also an eye-opener, Beresh said in an interview last week.
“When I was driving and I saw the devastation of the fires, it broke my heart. It was really so sad — people lost their homes, the wildlife and everything.”
Future of tourism
Tourism Jasper is appealing to residents in Edmonton and Calgary to visit in the off-season.
They’ve calculated that every year about 800,000 people from Edmonton and Calgary don’t visit the national parks in Alberta.
“So we’re trying to get far more creative on how we’re going to attract people this winter,” Day said. “[With] a little plea for help from our friends in Edmonton.”
Logan, rebuilding his shop that used to be on Patricia Drive, is optimistic that things are on the right track.
“I’m hoping Jasper comes back. I can see it happening every day, new stuff happening and being rebuilt,” he said. “And I see the trees getting bigger every day.”
