Richard Froese
South Peace News
Plans to expand a regional tourism society based in Slave Lake to include the western end of Lesser Slave Lake has drawn interest from the Town of High Prairie.
At its regular meeting Aug. 13, council heard a delegation from Alberta North Central Alliance (ANCA) executive director Jennifer Churchill.
ANCA was created in 2021 to address issues in the High Prairie and Slave Lake regions with representation from municipalities and Indigenous communities and up to Wabasca and Demarais.
Currently, ANCA is working directly with the Slave Lake Regional Tourism Society on a proposed regional expansion initiative modelled after the Mighty Peace Tourism Society and Mackenzie Frontier Tourism Association.
The society would be governed by a board of directors, which would include representatives from member municipalities and Indigenous communities, she says.
“ANCA wants the tourism society to become more regional and include the west end of the lake,” Churchill says.
“We are advocating for regional tourism.”
“We want to highlight this entire region and encourage people to come to the region and tourists to stay longer.”
The society would be governed by a board of directors, which would include representatives from member municipalities and Indigenous communities, she says.
Acting mayor James Waikle supports the proposal.
“I like the idea,” Waikle says.
“I know there has been concern in this (High Prairie) area from previous regional tourism societies based in Slave Lake that we were forgotten. “We weren’t even on the map.”
He says council will consider the proposal.
“It’s something we’ll take under advisement,” Waikle says.
Churchill says the wider region is not effectively being promoted.
She says ANCA region has about 400 tourism operators.
“We’re working with Community Futures Slave Lake, which has the same boundaries as ANCA,” Churchill says.
She suggests the name of the current tourism society be extended to Lesser Slave Lake Regional Tourism Society.
ANCA wants to start the new society rolling out in October.
Tourism was determined as a top priority by ANCA members during an ANCA strategic planning session in November 2022, states a handout on the proposal.
Each eligible voting member had four points to allocate to the 15 identified regional priorities.
Develop tourism and cultural tourism opportunities shared a three-way tie for first place, the document states.
Churchill says the Lesser Slave Lake region has not been promoted in Travel Alberta on its website.
“This was discussed at an ANCA meeting and the board decided through consensus that ANCA should work with the tourism society to advocate for Travel Alberta to properly showcase the north central’s tourism industry, ideally with our own square or be highlighted within the Lakeland square,” the document states.
ANCA’s area covers about 10 per cent of Alberta’s land mass, the document notes.