Tour guide gap persists as southern Alberta tourism industry continues pandemic recovery

LETHBRIDGE — While it may be the off-season for many tourism destinations in southern Alberta, the hunt for tour guides is underway now to help fill a gap left by the pandemic.

"We're looking for more people to come on board to create those tour experiences so that we can connect them with the calls that we get from those who want to come," said Erin Crane, Tourism Lethbridge CEO.

Crane says the tourism industry was the hardest hit by the pandemic and the last to recover, which has led to the gap.

She says many were laid off during the pandemic and as the industry has recovered, numbers in the region have remained lower than normal.

"Transportation is a really big part of that when we look at providing tours out to the amazing things that we have in this region," Crane said.

"How do we get people from place to place? How do we engage the people that can tell the really great stories in order to leave a fantastic experience with visitors?"

Crane encourages entrepreneurs with a passion for tourism to come forward and work with Tourism Lethbridge to create more opportunities for travellers.

Darrin Martens, CEO of the Galt Museum and Archives and Fort Whoop-Up, employs between five and seven museum attendants each summer, with many pursuing education in history, sociology and more.

"Those that want to be tour guides are looking for really hard skills that they can learn and that they can adapt to what they're learning in school," Martens said.

He says while the artifacts are one thing, it's the stories and history that make museums and tourism destinations come alive.

"They really are, I would argue, probably the most important people that we have on staff," Martens said.

"Now we're doing a lot of self-guided driving tours, but that's difficult because you don't get that one-on-one experience with a tour guide."

"When you think about the places that you've travelled to in the past, what's made it really special? It's those connections with the people and hearing the stories."

Crane says the organization is currently working with its provincial partners and launching a business development and accreditation project to help fill the gap.