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With cancellation after cancellation, things are looking bleak for summer tourism in Saskatoon.
Last week the Saskatoon Fringe Festival and the Saskatchewan Jazz Fest announced outright cancellation or postponement. On Monday, Ribfest joined the growing list of cancellations as public health orders continue to restrict gatherings and all but nullify the tourism industry and the visitor economy.
Tourism Saskatoon president and CEO Todd Brandt says with such slim revenue margins each year, some Saskatoon summer festivals and events could be forced to shut down for more than a year.
“It’s extremely difficult, because it’s not just losing the festival for a year,” Brandt said. “Most of them rely on that funding and net revenues generated to have staff available, especially the larger festivals.
“When you don’t have those dollars and you can’t keep staff around, it’s really hard to maintain any momentum or actually ramp up to deliver a 2021 campaign.”
Brandt said he is cautiously optimistic about how last week’s announcement from the federal government earmarking $500 million for sports, culture and entertainment could impact the tourism industry. No details on how the money will be doled out have been released.
No matter the scenario, Brandt said support for large and small events will need to be massive for events to succeed moving forward, adding that Tourism Saskatoon’s marketing budget to promote events has been gutted.
“It certainly does pose risk,” Brandt said of events not being able to bounce back in 2021. “It’s important that we find a way to increase support for them and have people step to the forefront and try to help these festivals and events survive a year.”
The industry as a whole is beginning to take a deeper look at itself during the COVID-19 pandemic. Brandt says a positive sign in Saskatchewan is the low COVID-19 case numbers, with recoveries often outpacing presumptive or confirmed cases.
That leads him to believe that the province will be in a greater position to lift certain public health orders, and when it does, he thinks people will be inclined to travel within the provincial borders.
“There’s going to be a willingness and an interest for people to travel quicker in Saskatchewan or within Saskatchewan than within many other provinces, or certainly interprovincially,” Brandt said. “So we need to be ready to roll as soon as the health authorities give us the thumbs up.”
Visitors to Saskatoon spend roughly $560 million each year, with between 2.8 million and 2.9 million visitors stopping in the city each year.
July and August are the biggest months for generating money. The two summer months make up for half of the year’s event-driven tourism into Saskatoon, according to Brandt. He cited a recent year where the Jazz Fest reportedly generated nearly $8 million in economic impact.
Roughly 16,000 people are employed in tourism in Saskatoon. While many festivals or events aren’t able to wait and see what will happen with public health orders, Brandt is encouraging any organizers with that luxury to do so.
As for the general public, he’s hoping people support their favourite event or festival as if they’ve been cooped up inside for a month.
“We need that kind of support coming in to Saskatoon’s tourism community,” he said.
