Article content
On Thursday morning the feds came to town with money to help Saskatchewan’s tourism sector, emphasizing Indigenous offerings and experiences.
“Tourism is a key player in Saskatchewan economy, generating over $2 billion a year in spending and employing almost 70,000.”
On Thursday morning the feds came to town with money to help Saskatchewan’s tourism sector, emphasizing Indigenous offerings and experiences.
Randy Boissonnault, federal minister of tourism, was in Regina to announce $5,814,879 in new funding from Prairies Economic Development Canada to bolster the province’s tourism sector as it looks to recover.
This influx of cash will go toward 14 projects in the province.
Tourism Saskatchewan will receive $2 million, the Meadow Lake Tribal Council gets $500,000 to “create an Indigenous-led marketing and management organization” to better attract tourism to the north, $500,000 to the Globe Theatre, $228,106 to the Western Development Museum, $498,000 to the Saskatoon Visitor and Convention Bureau Inc. and many more.
An emphasis for many of the recipients is that there be an Indigenous competent to their tourism offerings.
Boissonnault said there’s a real demand for those kinds of “authentic Indigenous-owned and Indigenous-led experiences.”
“Tourism is a key player in Saskatchewan economy, generating over $2 billion a year in spending and employing almost 70,000,” said Boissonnault.
Tim Reid, CEO and president of Regina Exhibition Association Ltd (REAL), told the press conference “the importance of tourism should be equal to that of agriculture.”
Reid said coming out of the COVID-19 pandemic the tourism industry was hard hit and only now is there a sign of recovery. REAL will receive $297,000 from the feds to create a “central hub and common space in the REAL District.”
For Reid the hope is that this announcement can move the industry out of recovery back into being an economic driver in Saskatchewan.
Jonathon Potts, CEO of Tourism Saskatchewan, said the money will help to “speed the recovery of Saskatchewan’s tourism sector and help us build a robust visitor economy across the province.”
One concern though, is how people are going to get here. Already the province is subsidizing flights run by WestJet, and Air Canada has halted some services coming out of Saskatchewan.
“It’s been a real tough time,” said James Bogusz, president and CEO of the Regina Airport Authority. “We’ve had over $20 million in losses over the last three years and the federal government has provided us some support but more is required.”
Part of the funding to Tourism Saskatchewan will have a “refreshed tourism booth” at the airport showcasing events and activities and things for guests to see what’s on offer.
Bogusz said business, events and attractions will draw tourism to the province and hopefully, from there, the market will respond and new flights will come.
“I want to see airport CEOs making sure that as all this new interest comes in that we’re capitalizing on that with our airline partners to get more flights,” he said.
“Not just Regina to Calgary, Toronto and Vancouver but other cities abroad, including the US.”
The importance of air travel and connectivity is something Boissonnault said he was acutely aware of and while the announcement today didn’t specifically impact airports or travel, the federal government has it high on their list of priorities.
“Air access is critical, not just for tourism, but for economic development, for the extraction of critical minerals, for everything we want to do,” he said.
“Was that the Diamond?” a woman asked after the sound of a ship’s horn reverberated around the Port of Yokohama. Local resident Masako Yoneyama,
Some 200 protesters gathered beneath Rio de Janeiro's world-famous Sugarloaf Mountain to protest the ongoing construction of ziplines aimed at boosting tourism,
Greek Deputy Tourism Minister Sofia Zacharaki in an interview with Athens-Macedonian News Agency referred to the strong dynamic which started the
Cruise ships began to return to Aotearoa last year as the pandemic eased. (File photo) Photo: AFP The head of the New Zealand Cruise Association wi
Comments
Postmedia is committed to maintaining a lively but civil forum for discussion and encourage all readers to share their views on our articles. Comments may take up to an hour for moderation before appearing on the site. We ask you to keep your comments relevant and respectful. We have enabled email notifications—you will now receive an email if you receive a reply to your comment, there is an update to a comment thread you follow or if a user you follow comments. Visit our Community Guidelines for more information and details on how to adjust your email settings.
Join the Conversation