Mobile Menu

  • Destinations
    • Canada
      • British Columbia
        • Vancouver Island, B.C.
        • Okanagan
        • Lower Mainland, B.C.
        • Northern B.C.
        • Interior B.C.
        • Kootenays/Rockies
      • Alberta
      • Yukon
      • Northwest Territories
    • U.S.A.
      • Alaska
      • Washington
      • Oregon
      • California
    • West Coast Galleries
  • Experiences
    • Things To Do
    • Staycation Secrets
      • Canada
      • U.S.A.
    • Adventure
      • Adrenaline
      • Beaches
      • Biking
      • Camping
      • Fishing
      • Hiking
      • Hunting and Fishing
      • Rafting
      • Skiing
    • Sip & Savour
    • Family Activities
    • Indigenous Tourism
    • Accessible Travel
    • Travel Tips & Advisories
  • West Coast Galleries
    • Nature Photography
    • Wildlife Photography
    • Cityscapes
  • Contests
    • Hotel Zed Contest
    • It’s A Shore Thing Summer Getaway
    • Camel’s Hump Guest Ranch Getaway
    • Raft. Relax. Recharge
  • About
    • The Armchair Traveller Newsletter
    • Explore our travel guides
    • Impressive West Coast
    • West Coast Partners
    • West Coast Traveller Directory
    • Join Our Team
    • Contact Us
    • Explore West Coast Traveller on TikTok
  • Search
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
  • TikTok Icon
  • Flickr Icon
  • Menu
  • Skip to left header navigation
  • Skip to right header navigation
  • Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to secondary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Before Header

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
  • TikTok Icon
  • Flickr Icon

West Coast Traveller

  • Destinations
    • Canada
      • British Columbia
        • Vancouver Island, B.C.
        • Okanagan
        • Lower Mainland, B.C.
        • Northern B.C.
        • Interior B.C.
        • Kootenays/Rockies
      • Alberta
      • Yukon
      • Northwest Territories
    • U.S.A.
      • Alaska
      • Washington
      • Oregon
      • California
    • West Coast Galleries
  • Experiences
    • Things To Do
    • Staycation Secrets
      • Canada
      • U.S.A.
    • Adventure
      • Adrenaline
      • Beaches
      • Biking
      • Camping
      • Fishing
      • Hiking
      • Hunting and Fishing
      • Rafting
      • Skiing
    • Sip & Savour
    • Family Activities
    • Indigenous Tourism
    • Accessible Travel
    • Travel Tips & Advisories
  • West Coast Galleries
    • Nature Photography
    • Wildlife Photography
    • Cityscapes
  • Contests
    • Hotel Zed Contest
    • It’s A Shore Thing Summer Getaway
    • Camel’s Hump Guest Ranch Getaway
    • Raft. Relax. Recharge
  • About
    • The Armchair Traveller Newsletter
    • Explore our travel guides
    • Impressive West Coast
    • West Coast Partners
    • West Coast Traveller Directory
    • Join Our Team
    • Contact Us
    • Explore West Coast Traveller on TikTok
  • Search
You are here: Home / news / Preservation vs. Playground: What Banff has learned from a century of tourism

Pedestrian-friendly Banff Avenue has maintained its beauty while welcoming millions of visitors each year. Amy Attas/West Coast Traveller photo

Preservation vs. Playground: What Banff has learned from a century of tourism

March 7, 2023 //  by Amy Attas

Share this:

In February 2022 I travelled to Powell River, a small B.C. town transitioning from resource extraction to a visitor economy. Through conversations with restaurant owners, hiking guides, film festival directors and other tourism operators, I learned that the question on everyone’s minds was how to become a strong travel destination without spoiling the natural and cultural wonders that make the place so special.

A year later I visited Banff, Alberta, which has been a tourist attraction and conservation leader for more than a century. It’s home to Canada’s first national park, established in 1885, and has been a visitor hotspot since the grand railway Banff Springs Hotel opened in 1888. Everywhere I walk, every tourism operator I talk to, it’s clear that Banff isn’t in transition — it’s a world leader in sustainable tourism.

The contrast between the two towns, Banff and Powell River, makes it easier to see how important tourism management is to any destination. It’s not enough to create an attractive location that people want to visit — as crowds grow, you also have to guide travellers so those attractions are preserved for future generations.

Banff’s pedestrian bridges, Roam Transit and other services make it easy for tourists to explore the area without a car. Amy Attas/West Coast Traveller photo

What is sustainable tourism?

Sustainable tourism isn’t simply putting the environment first. It’s an attempt to balance the needs of visitors, host communities, industry and the environment, acknowledging the positive and negative impacts tourism can have.

Visitors come from all around the world to see the pristine natural wonders in Banff. If they were allowed to wander without restriction, those pristine landscapes would soon be destroyed by vehicle tracks, litter, noise pollution and more. Even if every visitor behaved responsibly, the sheer volume of traffic would strain local resources and wildlife.

Sustainable tourism in Banff isn’t easy. From the outset, when ‘The Father of Canada’s National Parks’ James Harkin locked horns with ‘Mr. Banff’ Norman Luxton, it’s been a constant push and pull between various interest groups. Do you stop development to preserve forests and streams, or do you allow new apartments for front-line workers and new hotels for increased tax revenue? Banff doesn’t have all the answers, but after more than a century of trying, they have a greater understanding than most.

READ MORE: Report highlights fiscal burden of visitation on Banff, Canmore & Jasper

Preservation vs. playground: 7 ways Banff is working toward balance

  1. Need to reside: The lack of affordable housing is affecting many west coast communities, and it’s adding extra stress to the tourism industry — businesses may be able to find staff, but that staff can’t find a place to live. In Banff, accommodation is expensive and difficult to find, plus the entire town is within a National Park where development is severely restricted. The town’s “need to reside” policy addresses this: basically, you need to work here in order to live here. That’s an extra layer of bureaucracy that impedes development and the real estate economy, but it also means that the town can stay small, with enough accommodation for its workforce.
  2. Going car-free: Earlier this year, Parks Canada announced that it will be restricting personal vehicle traffic to Moraine Lake, one of the park’s most popular tourist destinations. That certainly makes travel more difficult for some, but Banff also offers an incredibly convenient, affordable public transit system that makes it easy to explore the sites car-free. Roam Transit connects downtown Banff with popular attractions including the Banff Gondola, Banff Hotsprings, Lake Minnewanka, Moraine Lake and even Lake Louise. Local routes are free for Banff residents and just $2 for visitors.

    A Roam Transit bus delivers passengers to the Banff Gondola at the base of Sulphur Mountain. Amy Attas/West Coast Traveller photo.

  3. Wildlife crossings: To reduce wildlife collisions, Parks Canada erected a 180-kilometre-long fence along both sides of the main highway through Banff National Park. They also built wildlife overpasses and underpasses, so animals could safely migrate from one side of the highway to the other. The overpasses are visually stunning — imagine a bridge of concrete draped in grasses, shrubs and trees — and despite some early skepticism, animals actually use them.
  4. Sound and light restrictions: When Banff Gondola, Moment Factory and the Stoney Nakoda Nation wanted to create a nighttime attraction at the top of Sulphur Mountain, they had to give special consideration to the migratory patterns of birds. That’s because Parks Canada has strict sound and light restrictions within the park to preserve the tranquility of night for both wildlife and visitors. It takes extra effort for the entertainment industry to reduce decibel levels and shade light shows so birds can still find their way by starlight, but Banff is trying to strike the right balance.
  5. Smoking and vaping: Here’s a new one. Starting Feb. 1, 2023, smoking and vaping is largely banned in the downtown core of Banff. Parks, trails, bus stops and sidewalks are now smoke-free, leaving only private property, parking lots and alleyways for those who want to puff. For a town known for fresh mountain air and active lifestyles, eliminating second-hand smoke makes a lot of sense, and it’s hoped the bylaw will also reduce litter and human-lit wildfires. But will it douse spirits, as well as cigarettes? It will be interesting to see how tourists react to the rule during summer’s high season.

    Signage in Banff helps tourists act responsibly. Left, the smoking bylaw takes effect; right, water conservation at the Banff Gondola. Amy Attas/West Coast Traveller photo.

  6. Waste management: Tourists create a lot of garbage — from snacking and drinking water to maintaining hygiene. Waste management isn’t sexy, but it’s an excellent marker of sustainable tourism management. If you want people to behave a certain way, signs, fences and other infrastructure are key. Walk around Banff village and you’ll notice wildlife-proof bins for garbage, compost and recycling, plus six water bottle filling stations. When you make waste management easy, more people will comply.
  7. Cross-cultural partnerships: The creation of Banff National Park initially restricted the Stoney Nakoda’s access to their traditional territory, hunting and gathering grounds, but a new relationship began just a few years later. The first annual Banff Indian Days (ca. 1899-1970) was far from a fair partnership, but the annual tourist event did solidify the Stoney Nakoda’s place in local tourism. More recently, partnerships like Nightrise and Indigenous tour operators like Buffalo Stone Woman offer more authentic and equitable Indigenous tourism. Banff also has a long history as an international mosaic, from the Italian and Chinese immigrants who helped build the railway, to European mountaineers who conducted early surveys and guiding trips, to today’s working travellers from Australia, Czechia and other corners of the world. ‘Authentic’ Banff culture continues to evolve, but tourism has been at its heart for a long time.

Plan your adventures throughout the West Coast at westcoasttraveller.com and follow us on Facebook and Instagram @thewestcoasttraveller. And for the top West Coast Travel stories of the week delivered right to your inbox, sign up for our weekly Armchair Traveller newsletter!

Share this:

Category: news, TravelTag: Banff, Canada, Places to Visit in Alberta, sustainable tourism, Travel, WCT Intro, Wildlife

Related Posts

You may be interested in these posts from the same category.

Life-sized sculptures bring ‘the wild’ to downtown Victoria

Things will get wild on the streets of Victoria this month with life-sized driftwood animal…

Life-sized sculptures bring ‘the wild’ to downtown VictoriaRead More

Travel on the Fly: Snowbirds, beautiful blooms + other spring delights

Spring’s arrival brings more than longer, sunnier days coaxing leaves from the trees. It’s the…

Travel on the Fly: Snowbirds, beautiful blooms + other spring delightsRead More

Where is California’s ‘hardest to book’ campground? Not in a famous park

California has one campground among the nation’s 10 most difficult to book, according to a…

Where is California’s ‘hardest to book’ campground? Not in a famous parkRead More

Washington’s Mount Rainier National Park to go cashless on entry fees and camping

By Jared Gendron, The News Tribune Beginning May 26, Mount Rainier National Park will only…

Washington’s Mount Rainier National Park to go cashless on entry fees and campingRead More

What to bring on a hike: WCT Travel Guide

Knowing what to bring on a hike can make all the difference between a wonderful…

What to bring on a hike: WCT Travel GuideRead More

You could spend a lifetime paddling here! Endless kayaking adventures await on southern Vancouver Island

Southern Vancouver Island is a world-class kayaking destination, with options along its endless, meandering coastline…

You could spend a lifetime paddling here! Endless kayaking adventures await on southern Vancouver IslandRead More

Travel on the Fly: A slushy good time spring skiing; Mountain-top beer festivities+ more!

From a Kootenay Beer Festival to a slushy end to a long, snowy spring ski…

Travel on the Fly: A slushy good time spring skiing; Mountain-top beer festivities+ more!Read More

Golden’s boy Boo boogies out of bed

The first day of spring isn’t officially until March 20, but for residents of Golden,…

Golden’s boy Boo boogies out of bedRead More

Take an Alberta roadtrip in the footsteps of ‘The Last of Us’

The HBO TV series The Last of Us has not only made many Albertans proud…

Take an Alberta roadtrip in the footsteps of ‘The Last of Us’Read More

Previous Post: « Going deep: exploring the waters off Vancouver Island with winter diving
Next Post: Ride the rails on the Amtrak Cascades for a rumbling adventure »

Primary Sidebar

Things To Do

Life-sized sculptures bring ‘the wild’ to downtown Victoria

March 22, 2023

Travel on the Fly: Snowbirds, beautiful blooms + other spring delights

March 21, 2023

Where is California’s ‘hardest to book’ campground? Not in a famous park

March 21, 2023

Washington’s Mount Rainier National Park to go cashless on entry fees and camping

March 21, 2023

Recent Posts

Life-sized sculptures bring ‘the wild’ to downtown Victoria

March 22, 2023

Travel on the Fly: Snowbirds, beautiful blooms + other spring delights

March 21, 2023

Where is California’s ‘hardest to book’ campground? Not in a famous park

March 21, 2023

Washington’s Mount Rainier National Park to go cashless on entry fees and camping

March 21, 2023

Footer

The West Coast Traveller has an immense social media footprint, with eight social media sites and and 125,000+ social followers.

Join us on social media and Join Our Community by sharing your stuff!

Get Inspired

News Media Groups

Black Press Media
Sound Publishing
Oahu Media Group
Alaska
Boulevard Magazines
Used.ca

Let’s Get Social

West Coast Traveller
I Love British Columbia
I Love Alberta
I Love Yukon
I Love Northwest Territories
I Love Washington
I Love California
I Love Oregon
I Love Alaska

Visit Our Companion Sites

I Love Saskatchewan
I Love Manitoba
I Love Nunavut
I Love Ontario
I Love Quebec
I Love Newfoundland and Labrador
I Love Nova Scotia
I Love New Brunswick
I Love Prince Edward Island

Site Footer

  • Facebook
  • Flickr
  • Instagram
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
  • TikTok Icon

Copyright © 2023 West Coast Traveller and · All Rights Reserved