Tourism promotion for Big Lake Country has landed in the hands of George and Kathy Wright. They’re the ones at the visitor information centre out on Hwy. 2 east of town, and they’re the ones who have been boosting the area’s attractions at trade shows around the province this year.
They’re also the ones answering questions that come in daily, by mail, e-mail, phone and in person.
“We get workers coming in for information; local people coming for information,” says Kathy, “and just people driving through.”
“The locals are often looking for information for elsewhere,” says George, the executive director of Big Lake Country Tourism since Mar. 4.
The ‘real’ tourist traffic hasn’t started yet, but people are already making plans, and want information about accommodations, events and things to do. That’s what much of the mail and phone calls are about.
George and Kathy attended shows in Edmonton and in Calgary earlier this year, and found both a good awareness of the charms of the Lesser Slave area among the fishing crowd, and a woeful ignorance of its location, especially in Calgary.
“I’m not driving 14 hours to Slave Lake!” was a remark George said he heard in Calgary.
On the other hand, he has heard from cabin operators on the lake that they have been getting new business from Cowtown anglers.
“They’re starting to notice we exist,” he says. “And we’re not 14 hours away!”

Opportunities
The development of more tourism product is on the minds of the Big Lake Country Tourism managers.
There’s fishing of course, golfing, quadding, kayaking. Hiking, camping, horseback riding. The more activities the better, and also the more they are packaged by the operators, the easier it is to sell them to potential visitors.
“There’s definitely opportunities for people to start businesses in that area,” says George, referring specifically to anything that a tourist might call an ‘adventure.”
“People are looking for things to do,” he says.

Farmers’ markets, art shows
Speaking of things to do, Kathy is planning to establish a farmer’s market at the visitor information centre. She’s in touch with potential vendors – of vegetables, art and other products – and hopes to launch it in late June and continue up into the fall.
“There’s big interest,” she says.
The second annual Art Walk will also be held at the VIC in August (last year’s was actually moved to the Sawridge Mall due to rain).
Also on the list of new activities is a sort of scavenger hunt aimed at promoting local appreciation of local attractions. It’s a contest, Kathy says, called ‘Be a Tourist in Your Own Town.”
Finally, the VIC will sell local art on consignment. It won’t be knick-knacks, Kathy promises.
“We don’t want to compete with the gift shops,” she says. “I want art in here.”

Trail mapping
The Wrights have yet another project in mind that would enhance local tourism, and that is the creation of maps of trails, using global positioning system (GPS) technology. There are plenty of trails, George points out, but very few maps showing them. This may suit local ATV riders, mountain bikers and hikers, but not those who might visit the area for some trail exploring. What they need are maps of designated areas.
“So we started GPS-ing those areas in the winter,” he says.

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