Calgary Zoo, Heritage Park suffering in economic downturn

The economic downturn has dealt a heavy blow to museums and tourist attractions run by Calgary's civic partners.

Revenues are down for organizations includingHeritage Park, the Calgary Zoo and the Calgary Telus Convention Centre, representatives told a city council committee Friday.

High unemployment in Calgary has drivenlocals to cut their spending, translatingto fewer visits and bookings atcity-owned venues, they said.

Attendance was down 11 per cent in 2015 atHeritage Park, which is trying to compensate by freezing wages and cutting spending.

Layoffs will followif things don't turn around, said society chair Gord Case, who said the situation was "not sustainable."

Coun.Diane Colley-Urquhart, chair of the committee, said the city may need toalterits rules to provide some breathing room for its partners.

City council agreed to give its civic partners more than $78 millionthis year, up acouple of million from 2015.

Attracting neighbouring provinces

Business tourism in particular took a strong hit in 2015, saidCindy Ady, CEOof Tourism Calgary.

Thatindustry makes up one quarter of overall tourism in Calgary, which is more than double what it is in most other cities, Ady said.

Hotels, restaurants, event planners and attractionsthat depend on corporate sponsorship will have suffered the heaviest losses, she said.

"I don't suspect that we will see much of a turnaround, even as we proceed through 2016."

Ady said 48 per cent of Albertanshave planned to shorten their vacation time, with 22 per cent saying they'll take none at all.

"Our concern is that the consumer confidence is following the unemployment rate."

Ady said Tourism Calgary will focus onattracting travellers from neighbouring regions where consumer confidence may be higher, for exampleB.C.,Saskatchewan, and the United States.

"We do think that the attractions are going to be okay this summer."