Jasper preps for slower summer tourism, as it continues recovery from 2024 wildfire

Every summer for 61 years, tourists have piled onto Jasper's SkyTram to see the boomerang-shaped town nestled inside the sprawling Rocky Mountains. It'll happen again this summer, but the view will be different.

The red cable cars will skim over thousands of trees poking up from the ground like charred matchsticks. From the top, a third of the town's structures have vanished from sight.

It doesn't change that Jasper is still open for business, and that's what matters as the town prepares for its first summer since a runaway wildfire ripped through it last July.

"There are certainly positive signs, but we won't be back to 100 per cent — that is clear," said Jasper Mayor Richard Ireland.

The winter has been sleepier than normal, and the tourist-reliant town needs visitors this summer. Fewer restaurants have been open, though many more will restart as the snow melts, said one business owner.

Between campsite closures and several hotels that were destroyed in the fire, less space for tourists will likely result in a 20 per cent decline in business revenue, the Jasper Chamber of Commerce recently told town council.

The community is nevertheless inviting tourists to visit.

Whether to hone that message was a sensitive debate last fall, as grieving locals worried tourists would come to gawk at the damage.

"There's less and less of a balance required," said Ireland, the only mayor Jasper has known since it became a municipality in 2001. "People have now had eight months to come to terms with their individual losses."

Some business owners expect revenues to drop in line with fewer visitors.

"Jasper needs tourists more than ever," said Stavro Korogonas, owner of Jasper Pizza Place.

Korogonas lost his home in the fire and has been living in Kelowna, B.C., since last August, visiting Jasper about twice a month for his business. He and his wife plan to move back when an interim housing unit becomes available for them.

The past few months have been challenging for locals, he said. The initial excitement of returning has worn off, and the emotional toll of the destruction has cast a pall over the town. Many said they avoid travelling into the destroyed Cabin Creek neighbourhood.

"No one I've talked to has a success story," Korogonas said. "We have so many people just in my close friend group who we know have spent their last day living in Jasper."