Visit Moose Jaw wants to increase awareness of its role in funding events that bring valuable business to the city, such as the Scotties Tournament of Hearts and the recent Snowbirds Golden Anniversary reunion.
“A lot of these events probably go somewhat unnoticed, because they vary in size and, of course, the people going out to attend them are the people interested in that specific category,” said Crystal Froese, Visit Moose Jaw’s marketing manager. “But the economic impact is continual, you know, 20 to 30 of these events each year in our city have an incredibly important economic impact.”
Visit Moose Jaw formed in 2015 as an organization of six hospitality and entertainment businesses: Comfort Inn & Suites Moose Jaw, Grant Hall Hotel, the Moose Jaw Exhibition Company, Moose Jaw Events Centre, Quality Inn & Suites, and Temple Gardens Hotel & Spa.
The group’s funding is based on increasing the number of nights spent in hotels by visitors to Moose Jaw. They actively search out possible events, conferences, and concerts that will raise the city’s profile, as well as encouraging existing event organizers to grow and expand.
“Even just the past couple of years, we’ve sponsored well over 50 events, of all sizes. From some smaller events, all the way up to citywide events like the Scotties,” Froese explained. “One example would the Saskatchewan Barrel Racing Provincials. … Unless you’re a horse person, you might not see that, but it has over 500 participants who come in and stay on the Exhibition Grounds property with their trailers.
“Because of the time of year, many of the people that come in for (the Saskatchewan Barrel Racing Provincials) do all their school shopping while they’re here.”
Curling bonspiels, the River Street Promotions Homestand concerts, Powerlifting Provincial Championships, Moose Jaw Kinsmen Flying Fin swimming tournaments, minor hockey, and the Saskatchewan Festival of Words are all additional examples of events that Visit Moose Jaw has helped to fund.
Froese clarified that Visit Moose Jaw does not help with organization or planning — they are essentially a grant program. Anyone planning an event or considering planning an event should apply for funding to see if they qualify.
“We’ve made our application process as simple as possible,” she added. “It really is just a one-page online application that asks a few specific things … primarily based on encouraging people to stay in our city for more than one night.”
One of the event categories Visit Moose Jaw would like to see more of is professional conferences. Industry conferences in Saskatchewan have ambitions to use different venues each year — however, that often just means alternating between Regina and Saskatoon.
“They like to move around the province,” Froese said, “and if they’re even considering coming to Moose Jaw, we would love to hear from them and get an application before they make the decision, because sometimes these events just go back and forth between Regina and Saskatoon.
“But our city’s a beautiful place to have a conference, and we’d like to throw our hat into the ring, so to speak, and break that cycle.”
Visit Moose Jaw’s funding application is easily accessed through their website at visitmoosejaw.ca/take-action.
