Less tourists come to Jasper, Alta.
The numbers are the best thing they can be, considering approximately a fifth of the night accommodations of the city burned when a fierce forged fire spread last summer, said the CEO of Tourism Jasper, Tyler Riopel.
“There are as many people who visit Jasper this summer as at night, so I say it is a victory,” he said.
“We are seeing between a reduction in the real visitor number of 16 and 20 percent in general, and that is 100 percent directly attributed to loss in accommodation and fixed roof camps.”
The available points are almost completely full, said Riopel, adding that compression will last next summer as the city reconstruction continues.
‘An intriguing place’
Visitors seem to be spending less when they are in the city in stores and attractions, but Riopel is not sure if it is a generalized trend.
There is still much to do in the National Park, he said. That includes more than a thousand kilometers of hiking routes, rafting in bravas, the Skytram gondola, the golf course and the cruises in boats in the turquoise waters of Lake Maligne.
The 2025 forest fire season in Canada is already the second worst registered., With hundreds of evacuated communities and the resources are thin. Julia Wong of CBC analyzes the potential value and challenges of recruiting more volunteer firefighters.
“Jasper is such an intriguing place to be at this time. Parks Canada has worked very hard to ensure that there are some forests impacted by fire for which people can walk,” said Riopel.
Although summer can be a maximum tourist season in Jasper, Riopel said that winter will also be important as people go for skiing and other winter activities.
As Jasper’s recovery continues, tourism operators affected by forest fires in other places this year are fighting.
North Saskatchewan and Manitoba have been particularly affected, which has affected the equipment businesses that serve hunters and fishermen.
Roy Anderson, an interim CEO of the Professional Outfitters Commission of Saskatchewan, said his group is surveying members to quantify the financial impact.
“We are talking about millions of dollars in terms of at least lost income,” he said.
Many companies serve a small number of regular customers, mainly Americans, willing to waste to hunt large games.
These clients reserve very much, so operators have to buy supplies and staff in advance, leaving little flexibility when unexpected interruptions arise.
Anderson said that at the beginning of spring, the concern focused on the commercial tensions of Canada-United States and any blow effect on cross-border tourism.
“It wasn’t as shocking as we thought it could be,” he said.
“And then we moved directly to reality around forest fires.”
The fires that burn near a camp or hunting area, of course, would require the trips to be canceled for safety reasons. But even in non -affected areas, road closures, air travel interruptions and prohibitions in off -road vehicles have had great impacts, Anderson said.
He is asking for a discussion with government officials about how to deal more proactively with the threat of fire in the future.
“We know that this can be a unique year, but it might not be,” Anderson said.
Anderson said the government could reconsider the scope of totally land vehicles prohibitions, perhaps having some assignments for commercial operators or in certain areas. The sparks that leave the machines can cause fires when a forest is dry.
Saskatchewan tourism is still determining the impact.
“Anecdotally, some operators have experienced losses, while most have remained completely open. In addition to the fires, evacuation alerts and road closures contributed to the interruptions, including cancellations and reduced visitors trafficking in some areas,” said Alexa Lawlor, a spokeswoman for the provincial agency, in an email.
“Many accommodations took a step forward to provide emergency refuge for evacuated and fire extinction personnel, and we are deeply grateful for their contributions.”
The Canadian Indigenous Tourism Association has listened to members that it has been a particularly difficult summer, said executive president Keith Henry.
The effects have felt throughout the country. Some visitors have canceled because they did not want the smoke from forest fires to ruin their experience. The complete closures of the desert areas in the Atlantic of Canada have caused businesses to evaporate overnight.
The operators in northern Manitoba had been “waiting for a really exceptional year,” said Henry.
“Your business has dropped 30 percent.”
In 2023, Canada experienced its worst levels of air pollution since 1998, according to a report from the Air Quality Index of the University of Chicago. Scientists say that the average Canadian would lose approximately two years of their life expectancy if those levels are maintained.
However, forest fires have not been the only challenge. Labor interruptions on Air Canada have also caused possible travelers to postpone their trips.
Tourism is an important economic driver for indigenous communities, Henry added.
“Indigenous tourism is much more than the economy. It is cultural revitalization, it is local employment, it helps families, helps artists,” said Henry.
“We do not want to lose faith in what we are trying to build and what we have been building for many, many decades. We will continue working very hard to make sure that it survives and prosper.
“We have to discover how we adjust to this type of external factors that seem to have such subsequent impacts on us?”
