Annual tourism guide provides all visitors and locals need to know about Medicine Hat. Courtesy/City of Medicine Hat

By Jayk Sterkenburg

TOURISM

New annual tourism guide conveys emerging sense of culture in Medicine Hat

May 13, 2025 | 3:49 PM

The new 2025 issue of Experience Medicine Hat provides a guide of all tourists and locals need to know about the city year round, showcasing a growing cultural identity for the city.

The annual magazine from Tourism Medicine Hat releasing this week includes information ranging from the city’s parks and trails to the murals decorating its historic downtown.

Indigenous spaces, events and festivals, and food and beverage are a few other subjects it covers to keep everyone informed of not just what to do in the city, but the stories behind the land.

Jace Anderson, executive director of Tourism Medicine Hat, said the magazine is focused on being a flagship brand product for the city throughout the course of the year.

“We make sure that we have the imagery and the narrative and the some of the written content that focuses throughout two brand pillars for us as a community,” he said Tuesday.

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Anderson said one pillar is outdoor experience, and the other is the emerging sense of culture and creativity that he said presents itself in a number of impactful ways throughout the magazine.

Anderson said the guide includes narrative focusing on brand pillars of the community. Bob Schneider/CHAT News

Anderson said one of the approaches Tourism has been intentional with is that a lot of time isn’t spent with advertisements in the magazine.

He said the guide should be “cinematic in nature” in how it presents the city.

“That can be reflected both in Medalta [Potteries] and the Historic Clay District,” he said.

“It can be reflected with our Indigenous partners, and the history and the rooted stories — a narrative about why this location is important for travellers.”

Diverse table of contents in the Experience Medicine Hat 2025 guide. Courtesy/Tourism Medicine Hat

Anderson said the guide features over 100 pages of “full colour lure” for the city.

It gives Medicine Hat the opportunity to centralize a lot of photography and visual appeal that can be seen throughout the community.

He said distribution will be into British Columbia, and as far east as Winnipeg, Man. It’ll go throughout Alberta, as well as into a number of U.S. states.

He said that’s important for the city as a destination that’s along the highway, because not everybody on a leisure trip is destined to spend the majority of their time in Medicine Hat.

“We like this magazine to be in that traveler’s hands well ahead of the trip,” he said.

“So that they can get a sense of the benefits and the reasons to lure for them to linger when they roll in, as opposed to just fueling up and pressing on.”

Anderson said the digital issue of the guide is currently available, with the printed magazine being distributed in the next few days.