Tourism Moose Jaw is now seeing its seventh summer with Jacki L’Heureux at the helm. Speaking at the Tourism Moose Jaw Annual General Meeting on May 25, she talked about a recap of 2022, what is to come in 2023, and spoke about some of the interesting challenges brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Last year was a record-breaking year for Tourism Moose Jaw, which shattered the previous record-holding year of 2019, and was interrupted only by the COVID-19 pandemic of 2020-2021.
For the financial situation, L’Heureux mentioned that figures are almost entirely back to pre-pandemic levels as the organization continues to adjust to this unanticipated event.
Marta Woodrow, a Tourism board member covering finance, pointed out that the organization gained far less grant money than previously in 2021. Despite this, they have seen successes as merchandise sales are up almost $30,000, and trolley revenue is up almost $20,000. These increases reduce the organization’s dependency on grant funding.
“We by far made more just by being good salespeople ... and didn’t have to rely on those grants, and yet we were more successful than 2021,” says Woodrow.
Trolley revenue in 2022 was up almost $20,000 from previously in 2021 and earned Tourism Moose Jaw just shy of $100,000 alone.
Although visitors from out of town were reported to be down by 14 per cent from 2019, Sidewalk Days is just one example of a successful event.
“Sidewalk Days made a very successful comeback (from the pandemic) ... there were about 20,000 people who attended over the three days, so that was pretty great,” saidL’Heureux.
Membership for Tourism Moose Jaw grew slightly in 2022 and is now hovering around the 200 mark.
“Our goal this year is to create a fun, positive, and drama-free team environment. We are accommodating in support of each other ... our team actually came up with this themselves, this is their value statement for 2023,” L’Heureux explained.
“My personal goal for Tourism Moose Jaw is to continue growing the buzz we've created for Moose Jaw over the last 7 years.”
Tourism Moose Jaw is still aiming to replace the aged trolley that is currently in service.
“The federal government provided us with an extremely great grant to be able to bring in a new trolley, and then several months later that same federal government told us no, no, you can't bring in a trolley from the States into Canada. We don't make them in Canada, so it's been a bit of an epic journey,” L’Heureux explained regarding the trolley situation. “It's been an interesting journey with it.”
“So what we were able to work out is we have a new (to us) much better condition, 25-year newer trolley that is currently being wrapped and should be on the road in the next two to three weeks. It is wheelchair accessible; it is heated; it is cooled... the seats are very comfortable... oh, and it has a shock system,” L’Heureux said as she referred to the rough roads in town.
As for upcoming events in the 2023 season, considerations are based on the organization's strategic plan and available resources. “We decided we really need to keep the focus on the things that fall into our strategic plan,” says L’Heureux.
Sidewalk Days is scheduled to go ahead as per normal, and this Canada Day there will be a show in Crescent Park, with details to be announced later.
The meeting wrapped up by giving an honorary mention to staff and team members, ranging from their first year to their fifth year of service.
“And we created two brand new positions this year, a summer events coordinator and a sidewalk days festival coordinator,” says L’Heureux regarding their staffing situation.
Details including the programming schedule for this year’s Canada Day event in Crescent Park will be posted once bookings are confirmed and an official announcement is made by Tourism Moose Jaw.
