We believe that by working together we can grow our destination and help our guests discover the culture, people and natural beauty of our region.
Explore Nordegg & Abraham Lake is a federally registered not-for-profit corporation set up by Nordegg Adventures. It is a social enterprise that provides a platform for partnerships with like-minded tourism industry operators as we work toward the responsible promotion and development of our region as a tourism destination.
Our Purpose and Objectives
Our purpose at Nordegg Adventures is to inspire our guests to play outside and help them experience their adventure so that they can discover the culture, people and natural beauty of the Nordegg & Abraham Lake region.
We can’t do this alone. That’s why we created the Explore Nordegg & Abraham Lake Corporation to facilitate partnerships and destination-wide initiatives to grow our destination in a responsible manner.
Our vision is to see the Nordegg & Abraham Lake grow as a Rockies adventure destination where tourism makes a positive contribution to our local communities.
To achieve this, our focus is on:
- Providing opportunities for collaboration between industry partners and stakeholders;
- Increasing the local contributions of visitors through marketing, sales and improvements to the visitor experience.
Our Guiding Principles
Get lost in the moment: Fun, shared experiences combined with breathtaking landscapes and amazing people create moments that naturally immerse us, making it easy to forget about daily life.
Simple is better: Life isn’t that complicated. Celebrate the simple pleasures, the raw beauty of nature and the connections with people you meet along the way.
Embrace the unexpected: Going on an adventure off the beaten path means that things are less structured. The best moments happen when you leave the checklist behind to create your own path.
Do the right thing: Caring for the environment and each other is not a trend, it’s part of living. Leave nothing but footprints, take nothing but pictures. Collect memories, not things.
Focus on the long term: Build relationships and memories that last. Taking the time to enjoy the journey will transform you.
Working with Partners
Partnerships are not easy but we know they are well worth the effort. We’re looking for experience providers who believe in collaboration and who share our passion for crafting adventures for curious adventurers who love the culture, people and natural beauty of our region.
Here are a few things that guide how we work together.
Collaborate and participate: First things first, partnerships are personal and we must be willing to work with each other. This also means making the commitment to check in and communicate with each other on a regular basis.
Shared purpose: We celebrate the fact that we each bring different perspectives to the region but focus on our shared goal of growing our destination.
Focus on what we can control: Trailhead, signs and many other issues our guests encounter are out of our control. We focus on the things we can do to improve the experience and work with others to find more permanent solutions, understanding that these will often take longer than we think they should.
Continuous improvement: None of us are perfect but we’re all committed to learning from our actions, searching for new ideas to improve our operations and always making the experience better for our guests.
A shared ideal guest: We’re looking for guests who take the time to explore the region, enjoy the adventures we have to offer as a collective and benefit our local communities. Our region attracts a broader market but by keeping a narrower focus we can get a better return on our efforts.
Safe adventures: As a minimum, we all need to meet industry standards, from insurance to permits and regulations.
Our goal isn’t for collaboration to replace what each of us is doing individually but rather to enhance it. This means that not every project between partners needs to happen under the Explore Nordegg & Abraham Lake brand and that for some of us, only a few of the products we offer may be a fit.
Participation in partnership opportunities is currently by invitation. There is a $40 annual membership fee to take part in most activities and participation in certain projects, including packages and events requires additional contributions from individual partners.
The Destination Team
Growing the destination is a team effort. The chart below highlights some of the stakeholders involved in creating experiences for our visitors, organized around the six functional areas we find have the most influence throughout the guest journey.
At the moment, Nordegg Adventures and Explore Nordegg & Abraham Lake partners fulfill most of the roles in the inner circle with Modernspeak providing support on marketing initiatives. Over the next year our goal is to start refining individual roles internally.
Current Partners
These are the operators and organizations who have participated in Explore Nordegg & Abraham Lake projects over the past year.
Beehive Artisans Market
Stix Cabin
The Crossing Resort
David Thompson Resort
The Visitor Economy
Our industry continues to grow with more operators contributing to the visitor experience each year. The chart below shares most of the operators, companies and organizations that are directly involved in tourism or that rely on visitor spending for a significant portion of their revenues. This list only includes operators based in the region or directly involved within the community. There are other operators offering tours in the region from Banff, Canmore, Jasper, Central Alberta, Calgary and Edmonton not included here.
