Ali Howat, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter | [email protected]
The Tourism Industry Association of Alberta (TIAA) conducted surveys of fellow residents of Alberta on the impacts of the outdoor recreation economy.聽
Around 0.8 per cent of Alberta鈥檚 GDP is accounted for on recreational trips to Crown lands.
The employment rate resulting from this spending is 6.1 times higher than both the forest and logging industries.聽
On average, Alberta鈥檚 outdoor enthusiasts spend $258 per day trip and $757 per overnight trip.
Each year, these consumers spend $2.3 billion on trip-related expenditures and $376 million in equipment and accessory expenditures.
鈥淲hat the study helped to confirm is that outdoor recreation is much more than a favourite tradition in Alberta 鈥� it鈥檚 also a significant driver of regional economic wellbeing, and its importance to the health and well-being of citizens clearly took centre stage during the COVID-19 pandemic,鈥� said Darren Reeder, TIAA鈥檚 board advisor, in a press release.
The study was commissioned by the TIAA and had 19 outdoor recreation user groups contribute.
The intention behind the study was to quantify and report on the participation rates of outdoor recreation throughout Alberta.
They also wanted the study to capture the geographic and economic distribution of these impacts, following accepted models and methods.
In many other countries around the world, actions have been taken to invest and grow the outdoor recreation economy.
With outdoor recreation entering a new era, the TIAA says governments and the private sector are realizing the social importance and economic contributions of the outdoor recreation economy.聽
It added that if one looks at it from a different perspective such as land use, it can be deemed as a category that needs to be managed to minimize impacts on other industries and provincial environmental priorities.
This study proposed six specific actions to grow Alberta's outdoor recreation economy.
The six action steps are:
- A coordinated and unified voice
- Supportive Crown land Policy
- Investment in new and renewal of existing Crown land outdoor recreation infrastructure
- Inventorying of Crown land outdoor recreation resources
- Measure and monitor the outdoor recreation economy
- Office of outdoor recreation
鈥淎 deliberate focus to unlock the potential of our outdoor recreation will attract new investment and businesses to the province, create more opportunities for Albertans and visitors to vacation in Alberta, and slow the leakage of visitation and recreational investment that Alberta has been missing out on,鈥� Reeder added.
