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鈥淭hat's the money shot!鈥� Those four gleeful words were yelled, Sept. 5, as spectators gathered around a television screen at Marmot Basin to watch 120 professional cyclists pedal past Athabasca Falls. The view was without a doubt beautiful: snowcapped mountains dominating the sky, lush green trees lining the road, rushing white water crashing down into a calm blue pool below鈥攊t was quintessential Jasper and it was viewed by millions of people. The broadcast was part of the third annual Tour of Alberta professional bike race, which saw cyclists climb up to Miette Hot Springs and the Marmot Basin Ski Area over the course of two days, all while being filmed and broadcast to viewers around the world. Looking back at the footage, there's no denying Jasper makes for some damn good television; the park's pristine nature and towering mountains are nothing short of picture perfect. Tourism Jasper estimates 126 million viewers tuned in over the course of the tour. That's 126 million cycling enthusiasts that now know what Jasper has to offer鈥攚e have the roads, we have the views and we have the amenities, now we just need the visitors, and the hope is they will soon be here in droves. The Tour of Alberta was never meant to be an immediate cash cow. It's always been about the long game. It's hard to quantify the impact of broadcasting to 126 million viewers, but the hope is over the next 10 years, the community will reap the rewards of that amazing advertising opportunity. If you judge by the video footage alone, it's clear Jasper got what it paid for. But, of course, the event also came with some challenges. For Jasper, the Tour of Alberta was a huge production鈥攚ell beyond what the community has coordinated in the past鈥攁nd, as a result, there were some major logistical failings. The most obvious being the excessive road closures, which resulted in a loss of revenue for many downtown businesses. The closures were put in place on Thursday and grew each day the tour was in town, making it impossible to park downtown and keeping people away from storefronts on what is historically one of the busiest weekends of the summer. The issue, at least on Patricia Street, could have easily been remedied had there been vendors and activities taking place on the street, rather than just closing the road and turning the whole commercial district into a ghost town.

It's a lesson the town should learn from because events like this, although beneficial in the long run, shouldn't hurt businesses' short term goals.

With this in mind, we look forward to the event returning to Jasper in the future with all of the bugs worked out, and we also enthusiastically await the positive effects of broadcasting to 126 million viewers. Bring on the visitors!

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