A conversation with Tourism Canmore Kananaskis Interim CEO Rachel Ludwig

Rob: I’m speaking with Rachel Ludwig, the Interim CEO for Tourism Canmore Kananaskis. Tell us a little bit about yourself, your experience, and what brought you into this role.

Rachel: I came from Germany about 16 years ago and started as a housekeeper at Moraine Lake Lodge, and I worked my way up from there. I love Canmore and I like to promote it.

Rob: Does that sort of experience, starting in the housekeeping role and moving your way up, give you a holistic approach to the tourism industry?

Rachel: One hundred percent, certainty when you market a tourism product like Canmore and Kananaskis, to know what the consumer and also to operators are looking for in a destination and then customize your product towards it. With my experience in operations it really give me the leg up for sure.

Rob: You’re coming into a major tourism role here in a very challenging time for our tourism industry in general. Overall, what is the effect of COVID been in our local tourism industry?

Rachel: It’s not short of devastating. The shutdown and the lack of international tourism this summer will definitely have an impact on our tourism industry that we will have to work hard on to overcome. We have seen about a 58% decline in visitor spend already; 48% of tourism businesses are at a threat of permanent closure. We, as the Destination Marketing Organization, will work very hard to minimize the impact on our Canmore businesses.

Rob: Is there a bit of optimism now that things are starting to reopen? Or are we still kind of in a dire situation here?

Rachel: There is certainly optimism, but I think we have to wait until the fall and the winter to really see how our businesses will be doing. Typically, tourism business would make more than 60% of their revenue in the summer, then that revenue will sustain them throughout the winter. So the liquidity crisis for businesses is still to come.

To put it in perspective – currently we have mostly Alberta travelers visiting Canmore/Kananaskis because our borders are still closed. An Alberta traveler spends approximately $157 per person when they are traveling within Alberta. Whereas an international visitor would spend $1,180 per person. If you have the day trippers coming from Calgary and Edmonton, that’s awesome. We need them. We need them to explore Canmore, to have a bite to eat in our restaurants, shop our local retail stores, and take in an activity. But our businesses will still be hurting because the international traveler spend won’t be here this summer.

Rob: I know Tourism Canmore Kananaskis spent a very long time doing a lot of focus groups and planning to come out with a very broad and long-term strategic plan. That was all before COVID hit. Has that all gone out the window? Are you totally shifting focus now, or is there still aspects of that that you can implement?

Rachel: Our strategic plan is more relevant than it’s been before COVID. The strategic plan is challenging us to become a leader in sustainable tourism by 2029. With COVID, I think the tourism world has seen that we need to be more sustainable. I think we accept that challenge and we will get there in time.

Rob: What about marketing efforts? Have you shifted focus at all on that front?

Rachel: A hundred percent. We just started a marketing campaign that will be an excess of $100,000 to help our businesses succeed and survive. This summer, we are working in cooperation with Travel Alberta. They developed a campaign called ‘Worth the Wait’. We are hoping to entice Albertans to stay the night and spend money with our local businesses.

Rob: The history of destination marketing in Canmore/Kananaskis says hit a few bumps along the road. Some of it had to do with a lack of sustainable funding. Are you guys in a good place right now?

Rachel: We are. We have received a lot of support from various levels of government, because they recognize that without Destination Marketing Organizations the restart of the tourism industry won’t be happening as smoothly as it has to. The Town of Canmore has given us a $54,000 grand as well which I’m very happy about because I think we are in a very good spot with the Town of Canmore now to collaborate a bit more than we used to.

Rob: I think there might be a sentiment among some people in town that maybe we don’t really need a Destination Marketing Organization. We’re already very full and we’re getting busier every year. How do you respond to that?

Rachel: What we bring to the table as a Destination Marketing Organization, and especially with the sustainable tourism plan in place now, is that we are actually looking at ways to make tourism more sustainable for the whole community, and that means to spread out the tourist season. We need tourism, not just in the summer and have what is perceived as overcrowding, but we want tourists to come here year round. In order to do that we need to spread the word with Albertans and also with international travelers that Canmore/Kananaskis is really here year round for you and there’s something to do year round. If you have a more even distribution during the year, that will help not only our businesses, but it will also help our residents with less crowding in the summer.

Rob: I see your job title is ‘Interim CEO’. So is this a short term position for you or are you hoping to make it a permanent thing?

Rachel: I guess we’ll see. I have two kids at home and I actually try to work a little less. I’m happy to step up. Especially in a difficult time like this, I felt like there needs to be leadership. For me, it’s a great opportunity to try it out and we’ll see where we go from here.