By Scott Roblin

Stampede tourism growing following successful 2017 event

Jul 31, 2017 | 4:45 PM

MEDICINE HAT, AB – The rides have been taken apart and packed away, livestock have been loaded up, and an empty parking lot remains at the Medicine Hat Stampede Grounds.

Thousands of people passed through the gates last week, including many tourists visiting Medicine Hat and filling up hotel rooms.

Tourism Medicine Hat Executive Director Jace Anderson said with the extra foot traffic, it’s a week they look forward to every July.

“This is the busiest week of the year, of the calendar year, that we see from a visitor interaction and engagement standpoint at our Visitor Centres,” said Anderson. “So, that suggests a significant amount of traffic and attention to the community.”

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The Medicine Hat Accommodations Association has also confirmed that a number of local hotels were sold out over the course of Stampede week.

Temperatures were well above 30 degrees throughout the week, which meant crowds during the daytime were smaller than in past years.

However, Stampede & Exhibition General Manager Jim MacArthur said overall attendance should be in good shape.

“People did stay away understandably,” said MacArthur. “But, it seemed like we kind of made up for it in the evenings it was really, really busy. So, I think all in all, it’s probably going to average out to be a pretty good year.”

Attendance is estimated to be on par with last year, which set records at over 46,000 people through the gates.

Something that Anderson said translates to a significant economic boost to the city.

“With that many people coming through the gate, that many people coming to the community to participate, to engage, and to visit whether it’s the first time or again, they’re all staying somewhere and they’re all eating something,” he said. “Lo and behold, when people travel they love to eat, and we have a lot of food and a lot of coffee for people.”

According to Anderson, a big part of the visitor traffic includes friends and family tagging along with Medicine Hat residents.

MacArthur said the Stampede remains a locally-driven event, but he’s hoping to see their tourism draw improve in the near future.

“It is something that we’re always interested in doing,” he said. “I think that we’ve got an awful lot to offer, and I guess it’s up to us to make sure the rest of the province, western Canada, or even the northern-tier States know about it.”

Organizers said they’re now looking ahead to not only next year but 2019 as well, for ways to draw larger crowds to the Stampede Grounds.