It’s that time of year again, the Calgary Stampede is underway, and with it brings many new faces to the Cochrane area.
It’s not uncommon for tourists visiting the Stampede to take a break from the greatest outdoor show on Earth and pay a visit to surrounding communities.
“We know that there’s a lot of visitors that come to Cochrane during Stampede. We also know there’s a lot of people who come to Stampede and stay in Cochrane and they drive in to the city – we hear that from local hotels, bed and breakfasts, and other people in town,” said Robert Kalinovich, economic development officer for the Town of Cochrane.
Numbers have been up for the Cochrane Visitor Information Centre since it recently moved to its new location on 521 First Street West. Over the first weekend of Stampede staff greeted roughly 65 visitors.
“During Stampede we get all kinds of people - they come to the visitor centre and say ‘We’re here for Stampede and are visiting Cochrane for the day’ or that they’re staying in Cochrane,” Kalinovich explained.
“Our tourism here, because we’re town-run, means we focus on events, attractions, businesses, all things that are in Cochrane and the immediate area,” Kalinovich said.
According to Sandi Horton with Bow Rivers Edge Campground, the campground is on par for last year with the number of tourists booking spots during Stampede. Hotels in the area also attest they are mostly full with bookings thanks to Stampede tourists but still have rooms for rent.
Both Kalinovich and Horton say this year a lot of the tourists in the area are from the United States.
“Tourism Alberta and a couple of the tourism companies I have spoken to earlier in spring are all expecting a boom summer because the American dollar is so much higher than the Canadian dollar – it hasn’t been that way for a few years. With all the crazy things happening all over the world right now, a lot of Americans are seeing Canada as a great place to visit,” Kalinovich explained.
