Tourism Saskatchewan Fact Sheet The current Tourism Saskatchewan structure operates as a membership organization.

on. Tourism Saskatchewan receives $50,000 from memberships while the Government provides over $12 million in annual funding which is being maintained. In addition, to the $12 million provided for Tourism Saskatchewan, the government provides funding for major events (see examples below). 2012 Brier 2012 Canadian Country Music Awards 2013 JUNO Awards 2013 Memorial Cup Saskatoon Saskatoon Regina Saskatoon $500,000 $375,000 $1.5 Million $250,000 capital + $3 Million profit guarantee $3.5 Million

2014 North American Indigenous Games

Regina

The government also directly funds one of Saskatchewans greatest tourist attractions - our parks with over $30 Million in total support in the most recent budget. As a publicly funded agency, Tourism Saskatchewan should aim to serve the entire industry, not just member groups. Under the new model (a Treasury Board Crown) members will still be able to access Tourism Saskatchewan programming but this change will allow the rest of the industry to access this programming as well. This change will focus the allocation of Tourism spending and programming to the benefit of the tourism industry as a whole. Every other jurisdiction in Canada has their tourism functions in either an agency of the Crown or delivers tourism directly through a Ministry.

The tourism industry was consulted in an extensive review of the provinces tourism system in late 2009. The review and its accompanying consultation summary were presented in December, 2009. Some of the results of the consultation summary: Government needs to decide if it is in tourism or not (pg 7) Single access point to government for tourism would be desirable (pg 7) Government and public policy need to address the goal of growth for the sector. (Page 7) Tourism, Parks, Culture and Sport needs to be able to Measure tourism, estimate impact, position industry for success (pg 12) No consistent brand and no brand cohesiveness across regions is a marketing concern. (pg 15)

Members of Saskatchewans tourism industry have voiced their support for this change: This is a very positive move for Saskatchewan and its been a long time coming. - Chris Brewer, President/CEO Saskatchewan Snowmobile Association. I would like to pledge my support to the government of Saskatchewan for the bold step they have taken and to help make tourism in Saskatchewan what it should be: a leader in economic growth -Greg Dionne, Chair, Northern Saskatchewan Tourism