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鈥淩ecovery will be a long and fragmented process,鈥� said James Jackson, president of Tourism Jasper, as he presented the town鈥檚 tourism outlook.
Hotel bookings are the worst they have been in the history of data collection and the Canadian tourism economy is forecasted to lose at least $10 billion.
But it鈥檚 not all bad news.
In fact, Jackson suggests that after a 鈥渟oft鈥� summer in 2020, 鈥�2021 will be solid鈥�.
March saw a massive spike in rebookings in the leisure and family markets as families moved their spring vacations to the summer in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
And if Alberta hits its expected peak of COVID-19 cases in May, Jasper could start seeing regional visitors in June, expanding into longer haul across Canada in the later summer.
鈥淣ot necessarily Ontario, but maybe Winnipeg,鈥� said Jackson.
鈥淚 think we will see a resurgence in the old family station wagon road trip.鈥�
Jackson said the first to visit will be those with 鈥渃abin fever鈥� who will come as soon as they are allowed, followed by people in the regional market who take a few weeks to get there.
In the short to medium term family travel is expected to take the lead, with couples and solo travellers supplementing that.
But once tourists can finally get here, social distancing guidelines may still be in place.
鈥淏usinesses are operating within a lot of operational changes because of social distancing,鈥� said Jackson.
鈥淚f a restaurant might have to operate at 50 per cent capacity, it not only affects the recovery model but with 35 to 40 per cent bookings it鈥檚 a lot less people in the discussion.鈥�
Jackson said Jasper is now not only competing with other destinations, but also with fear.
鈥淗ope is not a strategy,鈥� he said. 鈥淔ear became our biggest competitor and it is important we have a strategy.鈥�
At Tourism Jasper that means getting campaigns ready now to send out as soon as they get the OK.
Jackson believes that next summer Jasper will have a 鈥渟ignificant return to some kind of normalcy鈥� and normalization is two years down the road.
鈥淚t is so important now more than ever that the entire sector come together as a team, as a community, to weather this storm,鈥� he said.
鈥淲e really want to act for the entire community and act on behalf of everyone so we can all prosper.鈥�
