Destination Stewardship Plan FAQ

The Destination Stewardship Plan assesses the current state of our local tourism industry and works in partnership with the community to proactively map the priorities, vision, and collective management of our destination 10 years into the future. The purpose of this plan is to optimize the visitor economy to best steward the collective future of Jasper as a destination and outlines 50+ initiatives that support the products, people, planet, prosperity, and policies that are central to Jasper.

The idea for this plan was conceptualized in the heart of COVID-19, when Jasper residents and businesses were trying to stay afloat as the economic lifeblood of the community was put on pause. In response to COVID-19, the Municipality of Jasper Town Council assembled an economic recovery task force comprised of leaders from community stakeholder organizations (Parks Canada, Tourism Jasper, Chamber of Commerce, Employment & Education Centre, Community Futures, Hotel Association, and an attractions representative). Over the following year, the task force developed a comprehensive list of recommendations, one of which was the development of a guiding visionary style document to connect all the dots in the report, consult partners and stakeholders, and act as an ambitious vision for the future of Jasper's visitor economy. Thus, the concept for the Destination Stewardship Plan was born to make Jasper and Jasper National Park become a vibrant, resilient, and regenerative destination for decades to come in a post COVID-19 era.

At the beginning of this journey, the plan was to create a Tourism Master Plan to outline a vision for tourism in Jasper. However, as engagement was undertaken for this plan, it became evident that work was needed to steward the social, environmental, economic, and governance structures that exist in Jasper to ensure that tourism activities are sustainable for generations to come, and that the benefits of tourism are shared equitably. As such, the ‘Tourism Master Plan’ was reframed as a ‘Destination Stewardship Plan’ to take care of what defines Jasper’s character as a tourism destination and community.

The Destination Stewardship Plan was led by MMGY NextFactor and Tourism Jasper, in collaboration with Parks Canada and the Municipality of Jasper. However, every strategy and initiative in the plan was developed based on input from community members. In 2022, more than 800 locals participated in a diverse range of community engagement formats to ensure that everyone in Jasper had a chance to co-create the future of how people live and work in the park, and how they welcome visitors. The various community groups and engagement formats included the Jasper Destination Stewardship Plan Steering Committee, focus groups with industry and community stakeholders, individual interviews with industry and community stakeholders, a public visioning workshop for residents and stakeholders, a resident sentiment survey, and internal engagement with Tourism Jasper staff.

The concept of a Destination Management Plan was formed near the end of 2021 and MMGY NextFactor was onboarded in early 2022 to begin the initial planning process. From the mid to end of 2022, engagement took place to ensure the plan was informed from community input and priorities. In early 2023, the plan was developed. The rest of 2023 will involve tactical engagement with leadership groups and key partners to assess the current state of initiatives, develop key performance metrics to track progress, and assign roles and responsibilities. A detailed project work plan can be viewed on the DSS Project Timeline page.

As a community-driven process, the Destination Stewardship Strategy will benefit the residents of Jasper, as well as the natural environment. By proactively mapping the future of our destination over the next 10 years, we can protect our quality of life and the integrity of the natural environment, as well as plan for sustainable economic growth.

Tourism Jasper and the Municipality of Jasper have partnered to finance this project.

We are committed to a transparent and inclusive process and look forward to sharing updates and the final results with the public. We will do this by posting information on the project page of our website, as well as through community and media outreach.