Tourism: it generates roughly $3 billion in travel spending per year and is a major source of employment, resulting in 62,000 full and part-time positions provincewide. That’s why May 26-30 has been declared Saskatchewan Tourism Week by the Government of Saskatchewan to acknowledge those who work in the sector and their efforts to create a vibrant visitor economy.
Donna Fritzke is the director of Tourism Moose Jaw, and she is excited to shine a spotlight on Moose Jaw’s tourism industry, and she’s looking forward to another busy season.
“(During Saskatchewan Tourism Week) is all about celebrating our people, the places, our attractions, and the experiences that we have in Moose Jaw. We're super excited for this next season that's coming up. It's always our busiest season in the summer and from what we've been hearing it's going to be an incredible one with more people staying close to home,” said Fritzke.
“So, we’re encouraging our local people be a tourist. Shop in your own community, get to know what tourism is all about. We're very excited about that and we just want this week to bring awareness of what Moose Jaw has to offer.”
It’s not just the civic pride a healthy tourism industry creates that is worth celebrating; visitors to the city fuel development and job creation all while injecting over $90 million into our local economy each year.
“Eighty-five per cent of the tourism industry is made up of small businesses,” said Fritzke.
“It just shows the entrepreneurial spirit of prairie people, to create these experiences and invite the world to come and explore Moose Jaw.”
While an increasing number of Canadians are opting to stay in-country for their travels, Fritzke noted that our neighbours to the south continue to choose Moose Jaw as one of their destinations of choice year over year, bringing in approximately $18 million
“We've already experienced—just visiting with people that have stopped in at the visitor centre—we've had a lot of Americans here, and the one lady said to me, ‘I can't believe the cost of coffee here, it is so much cheaper!’. I thought that was really interesting that obviously, they're recognizing that they get more bang for their buck being in Canada.”