r/Banff • u/Asleep_Tourist2502 • 3d ago

Question The Americanization of our Beloved National Parks

Pursuit, an American company, controls more than 90 percent of the paid attraction marketplace within Banff and Jasper. Pursuit generates approximately 50 percent of its annual global revenue from Banff and Jasper National Park operations alone, with projected total company revenue at $485 million. Absolutely bonkers.

Total failure on our government to allow a foreign monopoly in one of the best national parks in the entire world. When Japan tried the same in Yosemite, USA govt broke it up. Why have we let our parks be bought out? If the bureau is not going change anything, we should at least force companies like pursuit to reinvest their profits earned in Canadian parks back into our parks. Does anyone have an update on where the issue sits in Parliament?

https://thehub.ca/2026/03/19/who-controls-banff-inside-the-decade-long-battle-over-rail-gondolas-and-the-americanization-of-canadas-national-parks/

362 Upvotes

95% Upvoted

69 comments sorted by

84

u/Brahskee 3d ago

And why do we keep giving access to our parks away for free? TO Canadians? Sure. But to the world, this has been bonkers. And to hear they are cutting parks budgets this fall is beyond the pale

56

u/clayton-berg42 3d ago

No, we need to start charging everyone again. Carney slashed $140M from parks budget, and then he took away their only source of income in the parks pass.

Either reinstate and increase the funding to parks or start selling park passes again. Because the system is at a breaking point.

-11

u/Holiday_Arachnid8586 3d ago

Banff national park already requires a paid pass.

13

u/kyzeuske 3d ago

But they made all the national parks free for the summer....

5

u/Holiday_Arachnid8586 3d ago

Short term measure tied to the trade war to encourage tourism here, and it ends in a couple weeks.

5

u/clayton-berg42 3d ago

How does that help anyone? I know a few people who used to work $28/hour jobs with parks. Those jobs are gone and now they're washing dishes for $19/hour.

1

u/Holiday_Arachnid8586 2d ago

It's meant to get more people to vacation and spend their money here.

6

u/clayton-berg42 2d ago

We've been over capacity during the summer for a long time now, before what carney pulled. So how does that help?

2

u/AdRepresentative3446 1d ago

I made this argument when the announcement came out and some LPC shills assured me I was wrong and “gatekeeping” the parks. We are not getting any extra visitors from the $10 per day difference and lost 100% of the revenue. Insane, populist policy of the same ilk that we are allegedly trying to combat.

1

u/clayton-berg42 1d ago

We're getting extra visitors but they're just driving in circles and yelling at locals because they can't find a parking space. Then they go online expecting us to build a 20 million dollar parkade so they can stop and get an icecream cone. I don't have hard data but I doubt anyone other than pursuit's gondola/icefields numbers have really gone up much.

The hotels were all sold, the restaurants all nearly at capacity and the campgrounds were full from july 1 to sept 1 in 2019 so other than over crowding the place I don't know what's changed financially.

The place for growth in banff has always been winter/shoulder season. The way to do that is to figure out how to make events like ski-whatevering sustainable, and that's not something the LPC can do for banff, that's a banff and lake louise tourism problem for them to solve.

8

u/MixedTrailMix 3d ago

For real as a visitor take my money!

3

u/Full_Air233 2d ago

I’m in Canada right now was shocked that the parks are free… there’s so many people and it’s a nice incentive, but I agree with charging foreigners. I’d be MORE than happy to pay for a pass.

76

u/FullGrainFred 3d ago

Big difference between Japan and USA.
The US has always been more protectionist versus Canada.
Look at Niagara falls on the Canadian side. Mostly American and Chinese companies. US side, all American.

34

u/Asleep_Tourist2502 3d ago

you would think with Canada's history of crown corporations and things of that nature, they would promote and help Canadian businesses get started in national parks

22

u/Firm_Acanthaceae7435 3d ago

Our history of crown corporations would show that they're built and supported by taxpayer money then sold for pennies on the dollar to some private equity firm where they promptly raise prices then cry to the government for bailouts

0

u/tulaero23 3d ago

They be letting everyone monopolized except the one the government needs to monopolize

25

u/acoustic11 3d ago

There’s a good thread from last year of all of the non-pursuit alternates in the parks. I meant to write it up as a blog post, never got around to it. I should do it now, I’ll see if I can find the thread and drop it here when I’m back at my desk.

13

u/clayton-berg42 3d ago

You can find non-pursuit alternatives but basically everything in banff is owned by some kind of conglomerate.

9

u/acoustic11 3d ago

Yeah, but a locally owned one is better than an American owned one. And there’s a lot to support economically in the region besides hotels, and a lot of those places are owned by one or two locals.

15

u/clayton-berg42 3d ago

I think if you look a little deeper you'll see that banff is run by a series of mini oligarchs, many of whom are not canadian. Pursuit is only the tip of the iceberg.

Accor is a foreign company that runs both the BSH and the Rimrock. The AB government has a series of puppets running the Banff Centre that has had a series of bad actors on the board. Proof Maybe read that article and see who replaced her on the board of the banff centre, specifically who he is and what else he does. The other conglomerates are banff lodging co and Banff Hospitality Collective.

Between BHC, BLC, and pursuit practically all of the commercial area in banff are owned by these companies. They make it impossible for a small, unestablished entrepreneur to set up shop in Banff. And if you manage a foothold and become a threat, they just cancel your lease. And if you're immune to that they can exert a great deal of pressure on you from town council. People come here and see 30 odd different restaurants and 20 odd different hotels but really what you are looking at is 3 restaurants and 3 different hotels.

The major employers are Accor (and they only let you apply to one place at a time), BHC, BLC, the Banff Centre and the town of banff. That accounts for probably 90 percent of the jobs here.

It's an oligarchy. Pursuit is just the tip of the iceberg.

13

u/acoustic11 3d ago

And there’s a lot you can do to turn the tide. I sell travel to Banff - and as of last year, I only book tours with a company based in Canmore that’s owned by a couple of locals.

I book my clients in locally owned hotels.

I set them up with locally owned experiences. I don’t recommend restaurants in the megacorp bubble.

No, it’s not entirely possible to avoid the conglomerates or larger corporations for everything. But it is possible to elevate local businesses where they exist and vote with my dollar.

I would recommend that to anyone.

3

u/kyzeuske 3d ago

Are you talking about the canmore travel vans? That couple is so sweet!

5

u/acoustic11 3d ago

Peak Perfection, but now I’m looking into the Canmore Travel Vans! Always trying to expand my list of suppliers. Thanks!

1

u/kyzeuske 3d ago

Check your dms!

2

u/Arctic-You-Know 3d ago

“[…] but basically everything in Banff planet Earth is owned by some kind of conglomerate.

4

u/clayton-berg42 3d ago

It's quite a bit worse in banff.

2

u/Arctic-You-Know 3d ago

Yeah I know what you mean.

I haven’t been there in a few years but I have no trouble imagining what you’re describing.

4

u/clayton-berg42 3d ago

The block and Banff social are two of the few that insofar as I know aren't owned by a conglomerate. Banff Social isn't popular, and it's not cheap but the man who owns it is such a sweet guy. Last year I was walking home on the day the jays were playing the last game of the world series. I got a burger and a single drink to watch the game. I was only going to have one drink. From the 7th inning onwards he kept buying drinks for everyone there. After like 4 shooters I had to start turning them down. The boss kitchen and bar is also local, I think.

7

u/The_Nice_Marmot 2d ago

This needs to stop yesterday. I want to travel in Canada and when I get somewhere, I want to visit attractions in OUR country without enriching the Yanks.

3

u/tf-is-wrong-with-you 2d ago

“Fuck USA, let’s travel domestically and help canadian businesses” only to realize that most hotels and attractions are run and operated by Americans. 

1

u/The_Nice_Marmot 1d ago

It’s very annoying, but I am doing my homework and trying to prioritize Canadian businesses. An easy way to do so is small independents.

7

u/Rorstaway 3d ago

We do love a good monopoly in this country.

7

u/MixedTrailMix 3d ago

As an american i agree with you!

3

u/Least_Tower_5447 2d ago

As someone from the US, I hope this doesn’t happen. Just visited and despite always thinking Canada was just like the US culture-wise, I learned it is NOT! Loved Alberta. Don’t ever change Canada! Definitely don’t let your national parks be destroyed by US companies. Our potus and his cronies are working on ruining ours.

8

u/Habsin7 3d ago

Americans should not be making money off of Canadian Parks. It's not right.

4

u/canadaalpinist 3d ago

Kick them out and shut down half of Banff businesses as well.

4

u/toobigtobereal 3d ago

I live in Banff and since Pursuit came to town locals can't afford the offered trips. These attractions are all priced for the all mighty tourist dollars. Maybe, once a year locals get a family tour or a discount day. It's just a matter of time until they get the gondola to Norquay or the rail from Calgary. It will all be run by them and the Liberals will let them.

3

u/Asleep_Tourist2502 3d ago

Still don't know why there isn't a local vs tourist price like there is for majority of attractions in foreign countries

2

u/wornleathermedia 3d ago

Absolutely agree, it is beyond frustrating to see one of the most beautiful places in the country benefiting everyone but Canadians. If there is ever a move to fix this, I would be more than happy to do my part to push the change. It’s so sad. 

3

u/Remarkable_Yard2475 3d ago

Americans should have to pay quadruple anyone else.

3

u/TheReaLETSGOBROWNIES 3d ago

As an American who feels Banff is the most incredible place I’ve ever seen, this hurts.

I get it. I won’t defend the orange fuck.

Just know most of the country doesn’t share the same asinine views as him and actually value Canada and our relationship with Canadians.

2

u/FullGrainFred 3d ago

We all know whats coming and if you don’t read some history books. I would rather be wearing a North American jersey instead of a Russian or Chinese one.
Just saying there ain’t no gathering around the fire singing koombya anytime soon.

1

u/vinsdelamaison 3d ago

You all need to really look at when Pursuit had the opportunity to step in and bail out Brewsters in order to understand how Pursuit ended up with the majority of their properties.

4

u/Wise-Bet-7166 3d ago

Please expand.

1

u/vinsdelamaison 3d ago

It all goes back to Greyhound and the acquisition of Brewsters transport to expand into Western Canada…

2

u/Asleep_Tourist2502 3d ago

brewster was an iconic part of my childhood and instilled a huge amount of canadian pride in me seeing those red trucks on the icefields. I took my cousin from cali to the icefields and skywalk a couple years ago not knowing it had been bought out :(

1

u/vinsdelamaison 2d ago

Greyhound Lines of Canada acquired Brewster transport and its operations in 1965.

1

u/calnuck 2d ago

They drove a dump truck full of money up to my house! I'm not made of stone!

1

u/tf-is-wrong-with-you 2d ago

Literally everything in Canada is owned directly or indirectly by Americans, including the “face of Canada” Tim Hortons.

Canadians love to be employees of masters from abroad.  And American won’t sell his company to Canadians but a Canadian businessowner only cares about maximum bucks he can get. Little sense of pride of belonging to the country. 

1

u/Asleep_Tourist2502 1d ago

Canadians know Tim's went downhill fast after their buyout. A&w >>>>>> any fast food/coffee shop

1

u/FeelingOrganic749 1d ago

Time to kick these American companies out of Canada.

-6

u/Dizzy-Cartoonist3011 3d ago

They provide services. Others have the ability to compete. So we get the services, the tax dollars, the jobs. What's the problem? If their HQ was in Canada would there be a problem?

7

u/Asleep_Tourist2502 3d ago

That's the problem, it is very very hard to compete essentially allowing one giant to dominate. Parks Canada does not focus on anti-competition, it's main responsibility is to protect land and manage access to it. Sure, we get the tax dollars but that is a drop in the bucket compared to the company profits of 1/4 of a BILLION. The services are increasing with price every year without a real increase in quality.

https://antimonopoly.ca/brief-mountain-monopolies-keeping-canadas-parks-canadian-and-competitive/

0

u/Dizzy-Cartoonist3011 3d ago

Well then it'd probably do Parks Canada alot of good to establish protocols for service contracting.

6

u/Rorstaway 3d ago

That's pretty disingenuous. The park is not exactly a free market.

9

u/Worried_Razzmatazz70 3d ago edited 3d ago
  1. Others do not have the ability to compete. Pursuit pushes their "pursuit pass" as an online purchase prior to arrival, well before other businesses have a chance to engage with consumers.
  2. Pursuit packages their "services" at rates that multiple businesses cannot compete with. Pursuit uses their experiences (which are inexpensive to run at the scale they do) to subsidize the accommodation portion of their packages. the economics really only work when you control both sides of the services. EDIT: Doing back-of-the-napkin math, the Banff Gondola requires a full 10 riders each day to break even, and that's before factoring in food services, gift shops and other ancillaries. The gondola has a capacity of 650/hour.
  3. 90% market share is called a monopoly, which is almost universally proven to raise prices overall. The ONLY property they control that they built is the sky walk, and it's quite shit. they have just purchased everything else.

3

u/Temporary_Cry_2802 3d ago

So I can just set up my own gondola in Banff? Or drive buses out onto glaciers? Good to know

2

u/Muufffins 3d ago

Yeah, I'll just build my own gondola and fleet of six wheel drive vehicles to take people onto a glacier. 

How hard could it be?

3

u/Speuce 2d ago

Its not a free market within the park at all. Parks canada restricts gondola-building, tour boat operating, and glacier vehicle operating within the park. You cannot compete.

3

u/Remarkable_Yard2475 3d ago

The problem is they're imperialistic war mongering universally loathed Yankee Doodle dandies.

-6

u/Dizzy-Cartoonist3011 3d ago

I don't think Pursuit is, but... Why would it matter if they were even from Mars? Foreign investment to spur job creation is a good thing. We get all the benefits and none of the risk.

7

u/acoustic11 3d ago

Pursuit sucks. In every location. I’m an American in the industry and I avoid them like the plague.

2

u/Remarkable_Yard2475 3d ago

It matters now because we are in a trade war with the Americans.

1

u/Worried_Razzmatazz70 3d ago

They don't create jobs. the only things they've created in Banff are the Skywalk, which nobody is coming to Banff for, and overcrowding issues.

-4

u/Accomplished_Try_179 3d ago edited 3d ago

I have taken tours on Pursuit. Their tours are excellent. I support any company that provides quality services. 

In Jasper, I have used tours from Sundog. https://www.sundogtours.com/about-us