A tourism initiative planned to boost visitors to local businesses and attractions along the Cowboy Trail is on track to launch next year.
Eight municipalities involved in the unique marketing partnership Cool Little Towns are reaching the final stages in a plan to bolster tourism next season. In September, they will launch a revamped website and reveal five new day trip themes designed to draw tourists to their respective communities.
“Working with local businesses in each community, several tour concepts were developed and using the money from Travel Alberta a blogger campaign was undertaken to support the launch of a redevelopment of the website over the summer,” said Monique LeBlanc, Turner Valley community services and business development manager. “They created more targeted marketing to draw motorcyclists, families, foodies, art lovers and outdoor recreation enthusiasts.”
Last year, Cool Little Towns received a $70,000 grant from Travel Culture and Tourism to conduct a driving study of the region, create marketing campaigns and revamp the Cool Little Towns website, said LeBlanc.
Cool Little Towns was established in 2009 to increase visitation, promote businesses and share resources between participating communities, which include Turner Valley, Black Diamond, Okotoks, Nanton, High River, Bragg Creek, Longview and the MD of Foothills.
Each municipality contributes staff to guide the planning and operations of the initiative, with some able to dedicate more time than others, said LeBlanc.
“Cool Little Towns will banner the tourism marketing initiatives of each member community,” she said. “When we advertise an event, we will include the Cool Little Towns logo to create awareness and recognition and drive them to the Cool Little Towns event page. That way we increase awareness by working together.”
Alexandra Ross, Okotoks economic development specialist, expects the launch of the revamped website will attract even more visitors – both online and in the partner communities.
“I’m certain that it will increase the traffic as soon as we have the website up and running,” she said. “I think people are actually waiting for it.”
With the end of the tourism season nearing, she said they are preparing for next year with the driving tours.
The tours were developed by consultants who held workshops in the communities last fall to gather input from residents and create tours that incorporate each community’s uniqueness, said Ross.
“It points out events and features what each of the towns have to offer and gives people an idea where to stay, where to eat,” she said.
Ross said Cool Little Towns has really started to take off since 2013.
“We started with the Facebook page and got more active on social media,” she said. “With the new grant we received last year there were a lot more opportunities for us to develop Cool Little Towns to what we really want it to be. It’s the whole region promoting the entire region. It’s putting us on the map.”
The Village of Longview joined Cool Little Towns this year with hopes it will help boost tourism in the community of more than 300 people, said Vicky McGonigle, Longview chief administrative officer.
“It takes advantage of the economy with people having more staycations than vacations,” she said. “We are quite small to have a tourism budget, but we think Longview has a lot to offer people wanting to do a day trip or stay overnight.”
The Village implemented an economic development committee this year that is working with the Cool Little Towns partnership, said McGonigle.
“We are delighted to be part of Cool Little Towns,” she said. “The expectation is our businesses will benefit and it will help our businesses to grow and stay vital. It will help to attract new and unique businesses that are looking for a place to be that is also a good place to live.”
For more information about Cool Little Towns go to coollittletowns.com or search for the initiative on Facebook.
