Financial instability and an economic downturn couldn’t prevent Tourism Moose Jaw (TMJ) from having a record-breaking year in 2023, which included a near-return to pre-pandemic visitor numbers.
“We did not know what to expect this year,” executive director Jacki L’Heureux-Mason told city council during its third-party budget meeting on Nov. 29.
TMJ and the Canada Day Committee want $100,610 and $6,000, respectively, for next year, which is $2,930 and $3,337 more than this year, respectively.
It was great that over 28,000 people visited the visitor centre this year, which is comparable to 2016, when more than 31,900 people visited, she said.
Total revenue last year was $505,000, which included $99,000 from trolley sales that made L’Heureux-Mason “one happy camper.” This year, revenues boomed to $599,000 and trolley sales brought in $134,000. She noted that if the weather holds up, trolley tours will continue, including the ever-popular Christmas lights tour.
Overall expenses also grew, to $589,943 from $443,772, mainly due to higher building costs, to $50,300 from $38,500. While TMJ also added two employees, it was able to acquire grant funding to pay for those positions. One staffer helped with organizing summer events, while a second focused on helping organize Sidewalk Days.
“We look at cost savings anytime we can. If there’s any way to do something less expensively, we do it,” said L’Heureux-Mason.
Meanwhile, 30 new members joined, which bumped the total number to 210. She noted that this is the most members the organization has seen in the last 20 years.
Most members include restaurants, hotels, mom-and-pop shops, and some chain stores, while others include businesses in Lafleche and Assiniboia.
Many challenges still face the tourism industry, said L’Heureux-Mason.
One challenge includes continuing economic uncertainty that affects visitors’ travel. However, she said that Prairie people usually stay close to home and typically drive through Moose Jaw.
Conversely, the visitor centre has not seen a resurgence in U.S. tourists, while international numbers are “way, way down.”
The centre is an aging building that requires major interior and exterior work, L’Heureux-Mason said. It needs renovations because it’s a “jewel on the No. 1” highway that sees about 400 people a day in the summer.
Furthermore, wages, building costs, utilities — especially the carbon tax — and daily operations have major effects on the bottom line, and while the newest downtown tunnel has been great, L’Heureux-Mason said the community needs another major attraction to continue bringing back people.
Crime and disruption downtown this summer were also problems because the organization was unable to reach tourists like usual. TMJ was unable to run its ambassador booth program because street people were harassing the youths too much.
Instead, TMJ shared space with the student-run The Good Scoop on Main Street.
Some victories included bringing in a new trolley, hosting a successful Prohibition Days that netted $4,000 in profit, seeing the biggest increase in members in decades, and co-hosting a successful second annual Greek Night.
TMJ also co-hosted a record-breaking Sidewalk Days with the Kinsmen Club that attracted over 200 vendor spaces, 25,000 people and more sponsorships than ever.
Tourism Moose Jaw plans to “stay the course” next year to encourage growth, which includes increasing visitors, finding efficient funding, acquiring more partnerships, engaging the community, having flexible services and being adaptable.
L’Heureux-Mason added that tourism is the No. 3 industry in Moose Jaw and employs roughly 1,700 people.
Coun. Crystal Froese applauded the increase in visitor numbers but pointed out that data doesn’t capture the people who visit the tourism office to take photos of Mac the Moose or the Snowbird plane.
Meanwhile, she appeared on a podcast recently, where the host said that he thought Moose Jaw had the friendliest visitor centre with the most knowledgeable staff.
Coun. Dawn Luhning suggested the organization charge people a destination-type fee of $2 or $3 to ride the trolley — similar to what hotels charge — that could support TMJ’s revenues.
The next budget meeting is Wednesday, Dec. 6.
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