We love studies and plans in the tourism industry. Unfortunately, we tend to forget about them before we have a chance to implement them. That’s why we’re bringing them all into one place so that we can focus on improving our destination.
There are a few reasons why these studies and plans do not get implemented. In some cases, it’s a matter of silos with too many organizations working on their own. In other cases, it’s because while we have the resources, financial or human, needed to do the study we don’t have enough to facilitate the implementation. In many cases we tackle an ambitious project to solve all of our problems at once, leaving us overwhelmed when it comes time to implement the recommendations.
Interestingly, all of the studies going as far back as the West Central Alberta Tourism Destination Area Study of 1981 have made similar recommendations for developing tourism opportunities around adventure travel. Some of the finer details have changed over time but the general ideas have remained the same. We’ve incorporated many of the recommendations from these studies into our plans for Explore Nordegg & Abraham Lake while focusing on smaller projects that we can accomplish.
Most of the studies and plans addressing tourism in the Nordegg & Abraham Lake region are listed below along with a few updates on how we’re progressing with their implementation.
Upcoming Plans & Studies
These are a few of the plans and studies that are being undertaken.
- North Saskatchewan River Heritage Designation
- Travel Alberta’s Destination Development Plans – Details coming soon
- Review of the Municipal Development Plan and Land Use Bylaws – Clearwater County
- Area Structure Plans for Development Nodes – Clearwater County
Please let us know if there’s anything else that we should add to the list.
A Few Studies & Development Plans…
These are some of the studies and plans that have addressed tourism in the Nordegg & Abraham Lake region over the years:
- West Central Alberta Tourism Destination Area Study – 1981
- David Thompson Corridor Local Integrated Resources Plan – 1992
- David Thompson Corridor Development Nodes – Whitegoat Lakes Development Node – 1995
- Nordegg Development Plan – 2000
- Visitor Services Development Plan for the David Thompson Corridor – 2012
- Central Alberta Destination Management Plan – Full Document – 2015
- Central Alberta Destination Management Plan – Executive Summary – 2015
- Nordegg Trail Plan – 2016
- David Thompson Country Regional Tourism Strategy – 2017
- David Thompson Country Visitor Friendly Assessment – 2017
- Central Alberta Tourism Alliance Accommodation Study – 2018
- Bighorn Country Proposal – 2018
- Clearwater County Economic Development Strategy – 2019
- Our Path Forward: A Strategy to Grow Central Alberta’s Trail-Based Visitor Economy – 2020
- Nordegg Development Plan Update – 2021
- CAEP Tourism Investment Opportunity Assessment – 2022
- Nordegg Development Plan – Ongoing
Finding older studies and destination development plans is not always easy since they have a habit of being forgotten within a few years of being written. If you have any, please share them. We’re especially interested in the community tourism plans that were created for the region in the 90s.
Thoughts & Insights
A few of our thoughts and updates on tourism studies and development plans for the Nordegg & Abraham Lake region.
