Tourism Moose Jaw Seeks Additional City Help

Tourism Moose Jaw may once again be on pace for a record setting year but the industry spokesperson organization is looking for a freer ride courtesy the City.

As part of their budget request Tourism Moose Jaw is requesting a change in the agreement when it comes to utilities, housekeeping and maintenance of the facility they occupy at 450 Diefenbaker Drive.

Tourism Moose Jaw is requesting the City pick up the costs of maintenance, custodial and utilities more along the lines they Library and Art Gallery and Cultural Centre enjoy.

At those two facilities the City picks up the entire costs of custodial, maintenance, utilities and repairs and upgrades.

It needs to be noted that both the Library and Art Gallery and Cultural Centre are City owned facilities where the City has the right to appoint the majority of their boards and call the shots if they do desire.

Tourism Moose Jaw has a private industry led board with one Council representative and the City only provides a fee for service.

In their letter to re-negotiate their lease Tourism Moose Jaw’s executive director Jacki L’Hereux-Mason said moving some of the long term commitments to their building would potentially free up funds for marketing.

“Being able to alleviate some of our long-term building commitments will allow us to focus on the critical task of growing our current marketing budget from $10,000 (a stark increase from when I started) to a more appropriate figure of $18-25,000,” L’Hereux-Mason wrote.

Presently Tourism Moose Jaw pays $1 rent annually while the City provides a fee for service.

The documentation provides an outline of potential changes and some of the options.

There are no costs to the City if any of the options or portion of the options are adopted.

There is no option of the City spending its tourism promotional dollars directly through the Economic Development department as is done in many other centres.

Tourism Moose Jaw is an industry run and created service.

The documentation states tourism is the third most economically important industry in Moose Jaw.