Longtime driver of Jasper’s economy, tourism now key to town’s wildfire recovery

Police and park rangers wait for residents at the park gates on the first day residents are able to visit their Jasper properties after having to evacuate because of the wildfires, on Friday, August 16, 2024. (Amber Bracken)

Jasper is not being shy about wanting to host as many visitors as it can this summer. In fact, those living and working in the town and national park are quite clear: A full summer tourism season is indisputably essential to their wildfire recovery.

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“We saw throughout the fire and afterwards a really strong outpouring of support from across the country and even outside the country,” municipal mayor Richard Ireland told CTV News Edmonton in a recent interview. “That support is needed on the ground now.”

The wildfire that breached the townsite on July 24, 2024, destroyed roughly one third of its buildings and burned 330 square kilometres of land in the national park – an alarming level of damage for a town whose economy revolves around people wanting to experience the surrounding vistas.

Among 350 destroyed buildings were 20 per cent of Jasper’s visitor beds in hotels and private rentals, effectively compounding a housing and accomodation shortage that predated the fire. Additionally, only 70 per cent of the national park’s camping inventory is available, either because of direct or indirect impacts of the fire.

Less housing means a hit to the town and park’s workforce, especially their ability to hire seasonal workers. While the municipality sources more temporary housing units, Parks Canada has converted part of the Marmot Meadows campground into an interim work camp which can house its nearly 280 seasonal employees.

Ultimately, the town and park are operating at reduced levels. According to Ireland, Jasper’s chamber of commerce estimates business in town has decreased 20 per cent. But the vast majority of the town, park and their services are unscathed.

“In some places, you would not notice that there’s ever been a fire: Maligne Lake looks just the same; many of our trails behind the townsite, those were unaffected by the fire; Pyramid Island,” listed Jennifer Dubois, Jasper National Park’s senior visitor experience product development coordinator.

Those CTV News Edmonton spoke to were unanimous: Jasper is ready to host its new capacity – and needs to in order to keep its economy as healthy as possible.

“We are so eager to welcome visitors,” Ireland said. “They are necessary and beyond everything else they can enjoy here – which is the magnificent scenery, the welcoming attitude of the residents — they can enjoy all that they’ve ever been able to enjoy here – they get the added benefit of knowing that their visit results in tangible, direct support for our recovery.”

‘Anticipation around a strong summer this year is really high’

Summer is far and away Jasper’s busiest season.

Jasper accounts for about one quarter of tourism expenditures in the Canadian Rockies. In 2022, the Rockies accounted for more than 65 per cent of Alberta’s $3 billion in travel spending, according to Travel Alberta.

About 950,000 people visit Jasper National Park in July and August, representing 40 per cent of the park’s 2.4 million annual visitors.

While Tourism Jasper, the marketing organization for both the town and national park, is still working on a full study of the economic impact of the wildfire and subsequent nine-week closure, it uses the Tourism Industry Association of Alberta’s August 2024 estimates.

The association estimated daily cumulative revenue losses in the town and park were as high as $4.5 million during the peak summer months.

It also estimated that three quarters of Jasper’s businesses make 60 per cent of their annual revenue during the peak summer months.

“Peak season is when our businesses and thereby our residents make the whole year financially viable. So losing nine out of 16 weeks of peak season represents a significant decrease,” said Tourism Jasper CEO Tyler Riopel.

“It was a struggle this winter for a lot of businesses. And so as a resut, the anticipation around a strong summer this year is really high.”

The owners of Indian restaurant Andaaz fit the profile drawn by the tourism industry association, with the majority of their revenue made during the summer.

The building that houses their restaurant, 612 Patricia Street, didn’t burn down in the wildfire, but was badly damaged.

“(The summer) is really important because we are looking at the renovations for our restaurant, as well,” said one of the owners, Shreyas Patel.

He and his partners want to reopen their sit-in restaurant by summer 2026.

“It’s not going to be easy, to be honest. We have to do everything from scratch again.... So it’s just better to have some funds in our pocket.”

Tourism Jasper say visitation levels in the fall and winter were slightly lower than expected, a little beyond the 20-per cent decrease in accomodations. Since fall and winter visitors are mostly regional residents who enjoy mountain snow sports, Riopel attributed the decrease to less snowfall early on, plus some hesitation amongst the public about going to Jasper so soon after the fire.

But visitation numbers are ticking up.

Preparation underway

Not only are bookings in town looking good, but May long weekend front country camping reservations in the national park were on par with previous years, minus 30 per cent — the same amount of lost invenory. And back country camping reservations were only down a couple of percentage points from 2024, according to Dubois, who leads a team focused on visitor experience.

“All that would bode for, I think, a pretty strong forecast for visitation. I think one of our key pieces is just to let people know that yes, indeed, we are open. Yes, indeed, we want you to come, and there’s lots to do,” Dubois said.

• Going to Jasper for the first time since the wildfire? Here’s what you should know before you go

The wildfire added all kinds of work to the usual routine of preparing for an influx of visitors.

Every year, Dubois’ team updates visitor communications, things like tourist guides and signs. But those updates this year needed to include closures and other wildfire impacts. Way-finding signage in burned areas needed to be replaced. The park’s amenities needed to be inventoried and reopenings prioritized.

Housing remains the municipality’s biggest challenge. According to Ireland, most interim housing that has already arrived has been filled by residents whose homes burned down. The town is working to secure more interim housing for seasonal workers and, in the future, the tradespeople who will rebuild the the community.

The municipality also dedicated space at 635 Connaught Drive to a pop-up retail village — an assortment of travel trailers, food trailers and shipping containers — to host businesses whose brick-and-mortar stores were destroyed. At the end of May, there was space for two more businesses to join eight others, from touring companies to restaurants like Andaaz.

With monthly rent set to a few hundred dollars, depending on the amount of space businesses need, Andaaz’ owners are hopeful about the arrangement.

“We are on the main street, so when you walk around or drive around, you find this spot,” Patel said.

Since moving in mid-May, the village has become a tight-knit community, he told CTV News Edmonton.

“Next to us, we have a bicycle shop. We have motorcycle tours, as well. So whenever somebody comes up to eat at us, they ask, ‘What’s going on over there?’ And we let them know.”

He noted, “That’s what used to happen at the restaurant.”

Capitalizing on wildfire education

Meanwhile, Tourism Jasper is handling international messaging and working with its travel trade partners to ensure groups outside of Canada are aware of the wildfire and its impacts.

“There’s a lot of people in our destination that come in and actually don’t have an awareness of what happened last summer. Not for any fault of their own, but simply because the world’s a big place,” Riopel said. “So they come in and they ask people what happened. Not in a nefarious way, in an interesty way. Clearly something happened — what happened? Our frontline teams are resourced to be able to answer those questions.”

None of those who spoke to CTV News Edmonton believe the wildfire detracts from Jasper’s beauty.

“This is a natural process and this is nature in motion. These things happen,” Riopel said. “Unfortunately, it happened to our community. It doesn’t define our community and it doesn’t define our destination.”

Instead, the Parks Canada and other tourism operators are leaning into the opportunity to create educational wildfire programming. Parks Canada will be offering a series of interpretive programs inspired by the fire: one on fire ecology, another on fire-adapted species, and a third on forest health.

“Some of those areas that have been affected are really quite fascinating now. There’s landscape features that have been revealed that you wouldn’t have seen before,” Dubois pointed out.

As an example, she offered fireweed, a pink flowery shrub that propogates quickly after forest fires.

“It’ll be different. Sort of unlike probably what anybody’s seen in the park in their lifetime,” Dubois said.

The wildfire has also reshaped the way Joe Urie gives tours as head guide and co-owner of Jasper Tour Company. While his tours have always educated tourists about the cultural burn practices of his Métis people, and challenged settler views of what constitutes a natural environment, Urie will be diving deeper into the topic of wildfires.

“There’s two different stories: There’s the tragedy of what happened in the town, and there’s the good aspect of what’s going to happen moving forward out in what they call the national park,” Urie said.

The other theme of his tours this year is a Cree Michif word: wahkohtowin.

Urie said it can perhaps can be best understood like English’s “kinship” or “interconnectedness.”

“Of your connection to everything, of your responsibility to everythig, and its responsibility to you,” Urie explained.

“When I introduce people to the animals that they’ve come to see, I get them to understand that they’re not something different than them, that they’re their brothers and sisters, that they taught us lessons in the past, and that if we begin to respect things in this standard — wahkohtowin — maybe we wouldn’t trounce the s--t out of the place anymore. People behave when they’re in a national park. Well, take that and take it home with you and try to respect the areas that you live in the same manner.”

It’s a knowledge Urie sees as applicable beyond Jasper. He pointed to the numerous Alberta communities devastated by wildfire, as well as Los Angeles in January, and La Ronge, Sask., whose residents just returned home.

Jasper’s draw as a tourist destination is an advantage to its recovery, he said — an advantage not all communities have.

“When are we going to smarten up and fix the problem, protect other towns that live in the wildland urban interface?” he asked.

Jasper’s mayor understands visitors will naturally be curious about the damage the town sustained, but he asks them to be respectful.

Ireland said, “They’re invited to attend and learn what they can — because what they learn here could help save their own communities.”