Debate over tourism in Lethbridge heats up

It appears that the Lethbridge Lodging Association may not be a fan of Tourism Lethbridge. During an Economic Standing Policy Committee meeting on Wednesday, officials from the Lodging Association called Tourism Lethbridge an inefficient organization that is not marketing Lethbridge as a premier destination. Bruce Primeau, the past president of the LLA says they want to market Lethbridge under their group’s leadership.

“We have been the ones marketing Lethbridge prior to- Councillor Parker can speak to back in 2012 when I approached as the LLA president, members of City Council to do exactly what the LDMO ended up doing a year and a half or two years later. We had the time back then we wanted to take a formal role in developing marketing strategies and marketing Lethbridge as a hub and spoke philosophy.”

Members of Tourism Lethbridge were also in attendance during the presentation. Erin Crane, the CEO of the organization says they are willing to meet under mediation with the Lethbridge Lodging Association in the future. She also mentioned that Travel Alberta says they will invest a total of just over a billion dollars into the tourism industry over the next 13 years.

“We’ll also be looking at a lot of data intelligence, market intelligence and really pushing how we can compete with those areas like Calgary and Edmonton. Because they have the Rocky Mountains, they’re all full. And how do we attract those visitors down here for the benefit of everyone in the community?”

A resolution was passed that members of the Economic SPC recommend to City Council that city administration offers mediation to the Lethbridge Destination Management Organization and Tourism Lethbridge and the Lethbridge Lodging Association with potential funding of up to $10,000 from the Council Contingency Fund. They will need to report back to the Economic SPC by December 21.