calgary business leaders look toward making stampede a year-round economic driver
more hotel space will be needed to fully facilitate the potential of the bmo centre when it's completed, according to calgary stampede's president and ceo
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canadian impressions store owner amin pabani organizes cowboy hats as customers try on hats outside his business on stephen avenue mall in calgary on july 6.
gavin young/postmedia
the calgary stampede is back, bringing with it hundreds of millions of dollars in local benefit. the big winner of the 10-day celebration of western culture every year is the local business community, and 2023 is forecasted to yield its biggest payout yet, challenging the record set in 2019.
“if we look at our ticket sales this year and the general excitement that we have out in the community, and it looks like a favourable (weather) forecast to start off with . . . we’re sure hoping to get back to those levels,” said joel cowley, president and ceo of the stampede.
a conference board of canada economic impact study in 2019 found that for 12 months the stampede generated $540 million for alberta, $282 million of that over the week-and-a-half of the festival.
stampede was hit hard by the pandemic, but in 2022 with a smaller scale event, it still attracted 1,216,000 people through the turnstiles — not far off the numbers in the last full year before covid-19.
one key is the return of international guests, who were largely unable to come last year due to pandemic restrictions. americans alone usually account for between 10 to 13 per cent of attendees.
the effect is already being felt in hotels, many of which are at 90 to 100 per cent capacity throughout the city. restaurants will also reap the benefits of an influx of visitors and even calgarians choosing to dine out while making the trip to the stampede grounds. meanwhile, small, independent retailers in the downtown are hoping to cash in on touristy items such as calgary-branded merchandise and cowboy hats.
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federal minister of tourism randy boissonnault, premier danielle smith and mayor jyoti gondek flip the flapjacks in the first flip pancake breakfast on stephen avenue mall.
gavin young/postmedia
mark garner, executive director of the calgary downtown association, said the association needs to find a way to break the feast-or-famine cycle in the core for these businesses who rely on stampede to pay rent for much of the rest of the year.
on an average day, there is roughly a 50-per-cent bump in foot traffic on stephen avenue during stampede, but it falls off farther from 8th avenue for local businesses.
“it’s part of the conundrum we have,” said garner, adding it needs to focus on growing folk fest and other events to bring people downtown. “the importance of chinook blast and other festival events that we need to have in the off-season are even more integral. but stampede is probably the largest economic driver of money into this community and really showcasing calgary during july.”
evolving into a fully fledged 12-month entity is the priority for the stampede, which will be aided by the bmo expansion upon its completion. thirty-six events are already booked for what will be the largest conference centre in western canada. cowley said 20 of them would not have considered the city without the $500-million project.
but more hotel space is needed to fully facilitate the potential of the bmo centre. a new hotel is being constructed next to cowboys casino, but at 300 rooms it will only fill a fraction of what is required.
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“realistically, long term we need probably 2,000 rooms within 1,000 feet walking distance of bmo,” said cowley.
stampede has also seen a return of sponsorship dollars after a dip in 2020 and 2021 due to the pandemic. cowley said the recovery also showed up in tarp sales for chuckwagons in april and a near sellout of its clubs and suites, where many business deals get done during stampede.
brad parry, president and ceo of calgary economic development, said it is one of the busiest two weeks on his calendar, showcasing the city and all it has to offer to potential investors and ceos.
he said they have executives coming from l.a. looking for places to shoot films, while agriculture companies and site selectors, among many others, are planning to spend at least a few days to check out the city.
“people always think that it’s just a drinking fest from 5 a.m. to 4 a.m., it’s not,” he said. “there’s actually lots of deals that are getting done, lots of conversations, and it’s done in a way that maybe it’s not as formal and so we can actually sit down and talk about what the reality is here.”
twitter: @joshaldrich03
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