Calgary Zoo, Heritage Park suffering in economic downturn

The economic downturn has dealt a heavy blow to museums and tourist attractions run by Calgary's civic partners.

Revenues are down for organizations including Heritage Park, the Calgary Zoo and the Calgary Telus Convention Centre, representatives told a city council committee Friday.

High unemployment in Calgary has driven locals to cut their spending, translating to fewer visits and bookings at city-owned venues, they said.

Attendance was down 11 per cent in 2015 at Heritage Park, which is trying to compensate by freezing wages and cutting spending.

Layoffs will follow if things don't turn around, said society chair Gord Case, who said the situation was "not sustainable."

Coun. Diane Colley-Urquhart, chair of the committee, said the city may need to alter its rules to provide some breathing room for its partners. 

City council agreed to give its civic partners more than $78 million this year, up a couple of million from 2015.

Attracting neighbouring provinces

Business tourism in particular took a strong hit in 2015, said Cindy Ady, CEO of Tourism Calgary.

That industry makes up one quarter of overall tourism in Calgary, which is more than double what it is in most other cities, Ady said.

Hotels, restaurants, event planners and attractions that depend on corporate sponsorship will have suffered the heaviest losses, she said. 

"I don't suspect that we will see much of a turnaround, even as we proceed through 2016."

Ady said 48 per cent of Albertans have planned to shorten their vacation time, with 22 per cent saying they'll take none at all. 

"Our concern is that the consumer confidence is following the unemployment rate."

Ady said Tourism Calgary will focus on attracting travellers from neighbouring regions where consumer confidence may be higher, for example B.C., Saskatchewan, and the United States.

"We do think that the attractions are going to be okay this summer."