14 Southwest Progress Report 2012


Piecing Together the Social Fabric The Cypress Hills BY ELIZABETH HEATCOAT


to become members of the Cypress Hills Destination Area (CHDA) Coalition, it was a no-brainer. T e 108-year-old destination ranch is tucked away in a


W


scenic valley on the north slope of the Cypress Hills. It isn’t a location tourists may just happen upon — rather their visitors have typically made reservations to stay at the bed and breakfast or booked a family gathering into the recently- renovated century-old barn accommodations. “It puts us on a level playing fi eld with the big guns,” said


T eresa. “We knew the day that Tourism Saskatchewan decided to make Cypress Hills one of the destination areas, that we hit the jackpot,” she added. T e coalition is comprised of T.Rex Discovery Centre,


the Town of Maple Creek, Historic Reesor Ranch, Cypress Hills Vineyard and Winery, Old Man on his Back Prairie and Heritage Conservation Area, Cypress Park Resort Inn, Elkwater Lake Lodge, Cypress Hills Interprovincial Park Saskatchewan, Cypress Hills Interprovincial Park Alberta, Fort Walsh National Historic Site, Hidden Valley Ski Resort, and Cypress Hills Eco-Adventures. T e wheels were put into motion for the CHDA in 2007


at the Premier’s Summit on Tourism that was organized to develop a new vision for Saskatchewan’s tourism industry. At the time of the summit, statistics determined tourism was


hen Scott and T eresa Reesor, owners of the Historic Reesor Ranch, were presented with the opportunity


Saskatchewan’s fourth-largest export industry, with export revenue exceeding $560 million annually. At the summit, there was discussion of fl agships and “the


idea that in order for Saskatchewan to be competitive on the international marketplace they needed to focus on specifi c brand leaders and fl agship areas within the province to develop fi rst and then promote,” explained Royce Pettyjohn, Main Street Program Coordinator for the Town of Maple Creek, member of the CHDA Coalition. T ree areas in the province were identifi ed as having the


greatest potential to be those fl agships areas as the result so “careful planning and development and activity,” added Pettyjohn. T ey were:


Prince Albert National Park —


now branded as the Waskesiu Wilderness Region — Lake Diefenbaker and the Cypress Hills. “Here in the Cypress Hills, we are just in the early stages


of creating the Destination Marketing Organization, DMO,” said Pettyjohn. “Up until now, most of the development plan, creation and most of the marketing activities have been led by a group known as the CHDA coalition. “T ose operators have banded together to move the


planning of the Cypress Hills Destination Area forward and do some of the early marketing.” T e next step of the plan is to


formalize the DMO as a non-profi t organization whose primary purpose


is to implement the CHDA development plan and lead regional marketing initiatives. “Right now is the opportune time for us to organize regionally,” said Pettyjohn. “Because


by working


collaboratively as a region we have much greater buying power for advertising, and we have much better opportunity to penetrate into some of these more diffi cult markets, particularly in Alberta,” he added. Currently an estimated $25-million is spent annually by tourists in the CHDA. “At the end of the day, tourism is certainly about


receiving guests and ensuring that they have a great time in your location, it is also about ensuring that those guests spend money at your business or in your community,” said Pettyjohn. T e need for streetscape beautifi cation was one of the


priorities revealed in the CHDA work to date. As the result of that recommendation, the Town of Maple Creek applied for and was chosen as one of four communities for the Main Street Saskatchewan Demonstration Program.


Continued on Page 15


Photos by Elizabeth Heatcoat


The Historic Reesor Ranch is a popular destination large in part due to its natural beauty and picturesque setting which has been preserved by owners Scott and Theresa Reesor.


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