Organizers see major sports tourism potential after Arctic Winter Games

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The local organizers of the Arctic Winter Games hope the event will prove that Fort McMurray is a perfect place for sports tourism and competitions of all sizes.

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For six days, eight teams will compete in 20 different sports, spread over 12 venues. Around 2,000 athletes, trainers, companions and cultural delegates traveled to the region. If the event is a success, there is hope that officials and organizations overseeing these sports will take a greater interest in Fort McMurray.

“Once they’ve been here, I can’t see why they wouldn’t want to come back with the facilities that we have,” said Nicole Clow, An interview with the managing director of the visiting club. “It’s definitely a build for future games that might want to come to the community. There are future provincial competitions, national championships, whatever.”

Teams and delegations have arrived Alaska, Greenland and the Sami areas of Norway, Sweden and Finland. Canada has sent athletes from northern Alberta, the Northwest Territories, Nunavut, Yukon and the Nunavik region, which covers northern Quebec.

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The Games are a sporting and cultural event for the young people of the circumpolar north, so the athletes come from communities living above the 55th parallel. Team Alberta alone has 262 athletes, 55 coaches and chaperones, 14 mission staff and six cultural delegates from 44 communities. Fort McMurray Wood Buffalo has 70 athletes, including five from Fort Chipewyan, two each from Fort McKay and Janvier, and one from Anzac.

Much has changed in local sport since Fort McMurray hosted the Arctic Winter Games in 2004. Most sports facilities were built or modernized in the last 15 years. There is an extensive network of hiking trails that are maintained throughout the year. The airport can handle international flights. Team Greenland arrived on an Air Greenland Airbus A330, the largest passenger aircraft to date to land at Fort McMurray International Airport.

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Smaller gatherings also included the Western Canada Summer Games and the Alberta Winter Games.

The region has hosted other major events such as the Western Canada Summer Games and the Alberta Winter Games since 2004. But these games and their cultural components make the 2023 Arctic Winter Games the largest event to be hosted at Fort McMurray.

“It will show the country and the world that we are the right place to hold these events,” said Mayor Sandy Bowman. “We have the people, we have the facilities and we have the partners ready to support events of this size.”

Fort McMurray Wood Buffalo Economic Development and Tourism (FMWBEDT) President Kevin Weidlich said the region is being promoted at trade shows and conferences for the sports industry.

“This is really a good introduction to Fort McMurray Wood Buffalo as a travel destination and comes at a good time as we emerge from the pandemic,” Kevin Weidlich, president of Fort McMurray Wood Buffalo Economic Development and Tourism (FMWBEDT), said in an interview . “This is the beginning of us entering this market with force.”

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