| In the confusion and
frustration currently surrounding tourism, especially ecotourism,
here is a story of promise and hope. The Banff Heritage Tourism
Strategy (HTS) a community-based tourism initiative that has
tremendous potential to help overcome the destruction caused
by too many people in a fragile place.
The residents and businesses of Banff are approaching the
sticky and difficult question of preserving a magnificent natural
environment while embracing tourism, allowing tourism-based
businesses to grow while recognizing limits, and allowing visitors
to have an authentic and possibly life-changing experience through
connection with a special place. The issues are large and complex
-- and not a little contentious.
SETTING THE STAGE: TROUBLE IN PARADISE
Banff National Park is the world's third-oldest national park
and a Canadian icon. You may have heard or read about impending
ecological disaster in Banff, and while the press on this topic
has generally been too sensational the basic story is true. The
town of Banff, with a resident population of 7000, is host to
some 4.5 million visitors annually. Tourism directly or indirectly
employs virtually everyone in Banff and has enormous economic
benefits for the province of Alberta and for Canada as a whole.
It's a multi-million-dollar industry that spans the range from
large, prestigious hotels, ski resorts and tour operators to restaurants,
galleries, museums, outfitters, guides and much more.
Of those who visit the park, only a small proportion get off
the streets, out of the shops or off of the ski slopes to actually
experience the wilderness first-hand. For the vast majority
of visitors, Banff is merely a great place to shop, ski or party,
with pretty scenery and the occasional deer that wanders along
the streets. Most visitors are only vaguely aware that they
are in a national park.
Ecological problems are many: The town itself, in addition
to the highway and railway that slice through the park, are
barriers to wildlife movement. For the past fifty years Parks
Canada has had an active fire suppression policy, which has
upset natural plant community succession. Due to habitat destruction,
declining natural food supplies and highway mortality, large
carnivores (bears and wolves) have been almost eradicated from
the Bow Valley (the large river valley where Banff is located);
meanwhile, deer and elk populations increased unchecked. The
whole ecosystem was out of balance and in danger of collapsing
-- yet tourism operators continue to market Banff as "pristine,"
an "ecological paradise," a "wilderness."
THE HERITAGE TOURISM STRATEGY
A number of businesses and concerned citizens in Banff and area
were determined to find a way to preserve and protect this precious
place without slaughtering tourism. These individuals formed a
steering committee in 1997. The Banff HTS is a grassroots, community-based
initiative -- there is no government mandate, no regulatory or
legislative requirement.
The founders of the HTS first struggled with how to define
"heritage" (in the context of Banff National Park) and came
up with these four principles:
1. heritage incorporates magnificent natural landscapes
2. heritage incorporates wildlife and healthy, intact ecosystems
3. heritage incorporates a historical element that has helped
to shape Canada's national identity
4. heritage incorporates a strong connection to PLACE; that
is, people come to this place by choice, they are somehow transformed
by it, and they choose to identify themselves with it even if
they don't live here.
Having defined "heritage" -- i.e. "what we want to protect" --
the next step was to find ways to bring tourists into the equation.
It was obvious from the start that nobody wants to ban tourists
from Banff National Park. The HTS developed these four objectives
as a means of incorporating the notion of preservation with the
reality of tourism:
1. make sure visitors are aware they are in a national
park
2. encourage opportunities, products and services that are consistent
with heritage values.
3. foster environmental stewardship
4. strengthen employee knowledge of heritage values through
training and accreditation. For example, train front-line hotel
and restaurant staff in the natural and human history of the
park -- make them ambassadors, even on a cursory level, for
what's special about the park.
The essence of the HTS lies in education. An increasing segment
of the traveling population is interested (at some level) in learning
about their chosen destination, and committed (at some level)
to low-impact travel. Through various channels the HTS seeks to
provide information to the traveling public so that tourists can
have realistic expectations before coming to Banff and make informed
choices once they are here.
The other main thrust of the HTS lies in convincing travel
service providers within the park that, in the long term, it's
in their own best interests to accept that travel must have
limits. Service providers will be successful by re-thinking
their services, by acting in socially and environmentally responsible
ways and by promoting their actions to an increasingly aware
and demanding public. People will not come to Banff to see a
landscape that is compromised and damaged; protecting the environment
is the key to the continued success of tourism in Banff and
throughout the Canadian Rockies.
The HTS maintains that in the face of current human population
increases and worldwide ecological degradation, intact and healthy
ecosystems are becoming the world's most sought-after tourism
destinations. If we believe that certain special places hold
emotional, aesthetic and spiritual magic now, just think of
the future. These places will be even more revered -- in ways
we cannot currently imagine.
RESULTS SO FAR
Because the HTS is so new it's too soon to tell whether it will
have the long-term effect that its proponents want -- that is,
a total re-thinking of how tourism must be conducted in Banff.
To date, several tourism operators have embraced the fundamentals
of the HTS and are making strides in all four areas -- helping
visitors to understand that they are in a national park, providing
goods and services consistent with park values, environmental
stewardship, and staff training. Exactly how these objectives
are carried out depends on the individual businesses -- hotels
may take a different approach than motorcoach tour companies.
At the same time as the HTS is beginning to take hold within
the tourism industry sector, Parks Canada is redefining its
own role and taking a tougher, more pro-active management stance
in the park. Initiatives include closing several facilities
surrounding Banff town site that were barriers to wildlife movement;
setting controlled fires to bring the essential role of forest
fire back into the park's ecology; using various tactics to
scare deer and elk out of the town (where the herd resided to
escape predation) which has started to restore the natural predator-prey
relationships in the park; and setting limits on how many people
can visit certain "beauty spots" such as Moraine Lake.
Through the HTS we are beginning to find ways to live sustainably,
in concert with wildlife and intact, functioning ecosystems.
More importantly, we are re-connecting with Banff the PLACE,
we are learning to celebrate and hold sacred these healthy,
intact ecosystems.
The Heritage Tourism Strategy is not a panacea for Banff.
The Strategy does not currently have broad acceptance. There
are many obstacles and may dissenting points of view. Compromises
and sacrifices are implicit in the success of the Heritage Tourism
Strategy. However, those involved with the Strategy are making
headway and the ecology of Banff National Park IS IMPROVING
-- in part due to the efforts of dedicated people who believe
passionately that Banff is a special place, worth saving AND
sharing with visitors from all over the world. There needs to
be much more dialogue among the various factions and interests,
and this dialogue is ongoing.
Independent journalist Holly Quan focuses her work on western
Canada, especially Calgary, Banff and the Canadian Rockies.
This essay expands upon the author's essays written for the
2001 Media, Environment
and Tourism Conference. Contact the author via email
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