Despite the 2024 Jasper wildfire, Pursuit is forecasting a strong recovery of leisure travel in Jasper for 2025.
At its March 11 shareholders meeting, David Barry, President and CEO of Pursuit Attractions and Hospitality, reported strong fourth-quarter earnings in 2024, despite the company losing nearly $15 million (US) because of disruptions due to wildfire.
“This is an exciting time for our company, team members, and shareholders,” Barry said. “We are entering 2025 in a position of strength.”
As part of its Banff-Jasper Collection, Pursuit owns eight hotels (including the Glacier View Lodge at the Columbia Icefields) and two restaurants in Jasper. Pursuit has two hotels in Banff and one in Waterton. Pursuit also operates the Columbia Icefield Adventure and Skywalk, Maligne Lake Cruise, Maligne Canyon Icewalks, and Open Top Touring. In January the company completed its acquisition of the Jasper Skytram, for $23.7 million CAD.
While 2024 revenue from Jasper properties declined from $65.6 million to $42.3 million due to temporary closures and lower visitation, Pursuit’s total annual revenue in 2024 increased by $16.2 million USD (4.6 percent), shareholders learned. Excluding Jasper properties in the third and fourth quarters, Pursuit revenue increased $39.5 million (13.9%) last year.
All of Pursuit’s Jasper hotels were fully open by the end of 2024.
“Pursuit attractions and hospitality soar on impressive Q4 results,” is how analysts at IndexBox put it.
Moreover, as of March 10, Pursuit is showing comparative booking numbers to 2023 and 2024. Lodging booking pace, a leading indicator of destination demand, shows 31 percent of Pursuit’s rooms have already been sold for 2025. On March 10, 2024 that number was 33 percent.
Jasper room revenue from reservations booked as of March 10, 2025 was $21 million CAD compared to $23 million in March 2024.
“With plenty of beautiful scenery in the park to explore and market compression from a reduced hotel bed base, we expect to recover, if not exceed, the $15 million of EBITDA that was lost in 2024 due to the wildfire,” said Pursuit’s CFO, Bo Heitz.
As an American company with a substantial portion of its operations in Canada, the exchange rate between the Canadian Dollar and the U.S. Dollar has a material impact on Pursuit’s earnings. Barry noted the upside of the lower Canadian Dollar.
“During periods of time when the Canadian dollar moves lower, such as 1999-2003, the Canadian tourism economy grows because Canada is on sale to the world,” he said.
Through their advance bookings, Pursuit is seeing strong demand from the UK and Japan into Canada as well as a growing market from India. China is coming back more slowly than other markets, but it is still returning, shareholders learned.
In addition, Pursuit noted that more Canadians are choosing to travel domestically right now. The company noted that the exchange rate should be a potential benefit for US guests who may choose to travel to Canada to take advantage of the cheaper travel experience.
Approximately 400 rooms (in competing hotels) were lost in the fire. A further reduction in overnight visitor capacity can be expected this summer due to the reduced number of available campsites (fire-ravaged Wabasso Campground had 235 sites; Whistlers and Wapiti are at reduced operation).
As Jasper National Park works to get those campgrounds back online, a major renovation of Pursuit’s Forest Park Hotel is underway. The former Sawridge Hotel, now known as Forest Park’s woodland wing, will be elevated to the same standard as the newly-built alpine wing, the company says.
The renovation will include 152 guest rooms, common areas, exterior and landscaping. Pursuit is anticipating a completion date of 2026.
Earlier this spring, alongside tourism leaders Fairmont Jasper Park Lodge, Rocky Mountaineer and Bear Hill (Jasper) Brewing Co., Pursuit pledged $5.5 million for Jasper’s wildfire recovery.
Andrea Ziegler // andrea@ravencommunitymedia.com
