Hosting sporting events in Prince Albert is already big business. In addition to the hundreds of local and regional tournaments held each year in a variety of different sports, the City is also host to major provincial and national and international tournaments.
The new recreation facility will add to our City’s capacity to not only host more events, but also offer modern facilities for all that attend.
Saskatchewan Tourism estimates that on average a provincial sports event can result in approximately $115 spent per visitor, per day. The combined economic impact these types of sporting events is estimated to result in millions in local spending annually when factoring in the spending of athletes and spectators that travel to Prince Albert to participate.
This spending supports new and existing local businesses including restaurants, entertainment facilities, gas stations and hotels. These businesses in turn contribute property taxes which the City uses to support city amenities and services for residents.
The City of Prince Albert is a member of the Sport Tourism Canada and pre-Covid the City actively pursued applications to host major sporting events in Prince Albert. In 2020 Prince Albert was scheduled to host the Esso Cup and the SSFA 55+ Senior Games. Both events have been rescheduled and are expected to occur in 2022. The city also has a pending application and awaits a decision on another major softball event similar to the World Juniors held at Prime Ministers' Park in 2018.
In 2017, a Destination Marketing Fund (DMF) was established to support event attraction and expansion in Prince Albert. Funds are generated through a levy which is applied to all hotels in Prince Albert based on their assessed value and used to support grant applications which increase the number of hotel stays and visitors in Prince Albert. These visits in turn support local businesses which contribute to the local tax base.
