Competitors cry monopoly as American company buys more Banff, Jasper attractions

An American company that owns the majority of Banff and Jasper’s most popular tourist attractions is under fire from its Canadian competitors.

Arizona-based VIAD Corp. acquired the Jasper SkyTram earlier this summer. The purchase brought its share of the area’s so-called “prime paid” tourist attractions to six of nine.

Local businesses peg that as a 92 per cent market share of the national parks’ main tourism activities.

They’re accusing VIAD of “monopolistic practices.”

“A monopoly chokes off competition, reduces alternatives and forces the visitor — the consumer — to have only choices that they are offering,” Norquay Ski and Sightseeing Resort’s Adam Waterous said. “That’s the problem.”

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Waterous claims the lack of oversight by Parks Canada has led to skyrocketing prices and congestion in the towns’ centres.

“That’s what monopolistic power does,” he told CTV News. “And the reason it matters is if you’re coming to Banff, you’re going to pay a lot more money to see these attractions, and you’re not going to have any alternatives because they have choked off all the competition.”

'A vertical garden wall'

Along with the SkyTram, the firm’s subsidiary Pursuit operates the Banff Gondola at Sulphur Mountain, the Columbia Icefield Skywalk, the Columbia Icefield Adventure, the Lake Minnewanka Cruise and Jasper’s Maligne Lake Cruise.

It also owns the bus line Brewster Express, which transports thousands of tourists every day throughout the two national parks and their main sights.

VIAD also owns 10 local hotels, including Banff’s Mount Royal and Elk and Avenue.

And the VIAD experiences are often linked as a package deal.

“They have a vertical garden wall,” Waterous said. “They’ll pick up visitors at the airport, drive them to their hotels, drive them to their attractions and not provide any opportunity for those visitors to be able to experience other sightseeing attractions in Banff and Jasper.”

Waterous acknowledges what VIAD has done is perfectly fair in a capitalist society: his problem lies with the fact Parks Canada allowed it to happen. He believes the feds should have shut things down years ago.

“They really do have essentially monopoly power within the region — especially in the summer destination and attraction — which makes it hard to compete,” Banff Sunshine Village’s Kendra Scurfield added.

The locals say their operations are harmed by a decrease in potential traffic, which has made expansion difficult.

Scurfield calls it especially tough news, considering VIAD’s roots.

“It is my belief that we travel places because we want a local feel, a local flavour, a local flare,” she said, “and that is best brought to life by a local operator.”

“It is frustrating to see the Government of Canada allow this monopoly power to foreign ownership.”

Competition Bureau complaint

Last month, operators at Norquay, Lake Louise and Banff Sunshine filed a complaint with Canada’s Competition Bureau.

They believe VIAD should be forced to sell off assets; Waterous’s opinion is it shouldn’t be allowed to have more than 30 per cent of the area’s paid tourist traffic.

“We are fine competing head-to-head, one-on-one, with VIAD’s Sulphur Mountain Gondola,” he said. “What we think is unfair is competing against five other attractions as a result of bundling.”

The Competition Bureau did not respond to questions asked by CTV News.

Unanswered VIAD questions

VIAD Corp. and Pursuit representatives turned down an interview request.

In a statement, the company says its latest Jasper acquisition will benefit the national park.

“We work diligently to ensure thoughtful and sustainable growth within the tourism communities in which we live, work and play and continue to be committed to supporting the communities we live in,” the statement reads.

Parks Canada has yet to comment.