Tourism is multi-billion dollar business in this province, the attraction of Alberta is not to be under-valued. But many feel the outside optics of how the politicians are operating in the midst of a third wave are ruining the province’s reputation.
“I think this is damaging the Alberta brand,” said Doug McArthur with the School of Public Policy at BC’s Simon Fraser University.
“I’m not sure it resonates as deeply as ‘Anti-Alberta’ as a place people would be willing to go and socialize but but it does make people frustrated and angry about the Alberta government and the idea the government is trying to paint itself as a victim and hasn’t been able to step up and take responsibility.
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“The majority of British Columbians believe Alberta has made some errors.”
Other marketing engagement agency experts like Cult Collective’s Bradley Foster, said it’s not necessarily the politics of the pandemic. He said it’s more about the ability to capitalize on a timely return of tourists.
“One of the primary requirements for branding is you have to have a product and I think that’s what’s getting in the way of everybody. They haven’t had a product to market,” Foster said. “If Alberta is lagging in being able to communicate what it has to offer and lagging in restrictions, there’s potentially some issues where they may miss out on early demand for travel.”
Foster believes Canadians are paying more attention to re-opening rather than missteps.
“People are watching the regions that are opening up. When we look at Las Vegas, they made an announcement about a music festival coming in September. This is the kind of think from a marketing perspective, we look at the regions that are getting their product ready.”
That’s the edge a struggling hotel industry is counting on. Sol Zia is the president of the Calgary Hotel Association.
“I think we all worry about reputation risk, but most of us are honoring restrictions and all businesses are doing that. It’s a few Albertans breaking the rules but they know for the most part businesses are honoring all the rules,” Zia said.
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His hope is that any perceptions beyond our borders don’t linger, giving tourism a chance to recover in time for the summer.
“We are down 80% in 2020 and $150 million dollars in lost revenue for the city of Calgary and we have 3 thousand people still laid off,” Zia said. “We hope for an active summer for Calgary and the region.”
