Looking for mountains without the crowds? Waterton, Alta. is preparing to bounce back this summer

Most people think of Banff when they think about summer in southern Alberta but Waterton, just behind me, is also a major tourist destination here and local businesses haven't had it easy over the last few years from devastating wildfires in 2017 to the pandemic and the closure of the US border right next to the park where a lot of its visitors come from. This year businesses say they're feeling more optimistic than they have in a long time. My name is Mike Christou. I run the Waterton Park Cafe. I've been operating this restaurant for since the beginning of the pandemic so every year it's like opening a new business. We're fortunate that we've got a lot of our key staff that have come back for them since the beginning and so that's very helpful. You don't have to train every year. We're looking forward to a hot summer. We're in the middle of a drought apparently so the heat should be there which is a good thing for us. People like coming here when it's hot. My name is Shamir Suleman. I own the Bayshore Inn Resort and Spa as well as I'm the president of the Waterton Park Chamber of Commerce. Owning a business in Waterton Lakes National Park as a seasonal owner is very challenging. First, staffing has been a challenge year over year over year. Bringing in staff for just a short six-month period. Again, it's like starting a business from scratch every single year. Opening it takes about a month but you know we've got a good crew. We've got a good team and we've been doing this for a long time. I've been here for 35 years and I'm probably one of the newer owners here so it's generational businesses. We know how to work. We know how to manage in this environment but it definitely has its challenges. Last year was a lot of people during COVID got to know Alberta, especially Albertans. I feel like it's definitely a reborn, renewed time in Waterton Lakes National Park. My name is Keith Robinson. I am the president and co-founder of the Dark Sky Guides, a stargazing tour company located here in Waterton Lakes National Park. We offer nightly stargazing tours. Over the last few years since the global pandemic it's been a steady increase. Last year was great because we started to see U.S. travelers returning to the National Park. We started to see international visitors returning to the park as well and for my business I've already started to receive a number of advanced bookings for the summer season. People from all across Canada, people from the United States and international travelers as well so I'm really optimistic that this year is going to take us back to where we were before the pandemic and certainly beyond. So last year in 2023 we welcomed over 500,000 visitors. It was our third busiest year after 2021. My name is Kristigas Davison. I'm the visitor experience manager here in Waterton Lakes National Park. Anecdotally we're busiest on weekends and our sense is that it's our regional visitors so we consider the region to be southern Alberta, coming down either for the day or for an overnight on the weekend. We have also anecdotally observed an increase in cross-border traffic from the United States at Chief Mountain border crossing. Primarily visitors from Glacier National Park but also the rest of Montana. So yes we are continually prepared to welcome a significant number of people and we just encourage people planning to come in that peak period to plan ahead. We have lots of information and resources on our website and to just stay up to date with what's happening in the park so that they can be ready to have the experience that they're looking for here in the park. The beautiful thing about Waterton is there is only 325 rooms in the entire park. The locals and the business owners don't want it to get any bigger. We want it to stay that untouched jewel of the Rockies. So if you get a chance to visit it you won't feel like you're in Banff, you won't feel like you're in those busy places. But, and I'm biased here, but I think the beauty is more. I think the environment, the atmosphere is better and the pristine nature of the park is like no other.