YORKTON - When you think about the local economy of Yorkton agriculture is of course the major generator.
The roots of the community go back to being a service hub for the earliest wave of European farmers to arrive, and that remains a primary focus today.
It’s easy to point to farm production processing, canola, oats, flax and soon peas, and see the farm influence on the economy.
But agriculture is not the only economic stimulator.
Tourism plays its role too, as Yorkton Council was reminded at its regular meeting Monday as Tourism Yorkton presented its annual report, working plan, budget and financial statements.
The tourism sector is sometimes harder to recognize. There is no huge plant spewing smoke and steam into the air where dozens are employed at a single facility.
Instead tourism is an interconnected network of events and services which draw people to the city – and when those people are here they spend money which contributes to the local economy.
We don’t automatically think tourism when the local U15 hockey team or high school basketball team hosts a tournament but it is.
It’s not always obvious but musical concerts and dance competitions, and cultural gatherings are also tourism.
Ditto for the summer fair, harvest showdown, the Santa Parade, local golf courses and so many other events large and small which attract people to Yorkton.
That is why events and activities are so important. They not only provide recreation for local residents, but they are a reason people come to Yorkton where they contribute to our collective economy.
Those people require hotel rooms, food, fuel, and may just peruse local stores while here too. Those businesses need staff and those staff are paid money which they in turn funnel into the local economy to buy shoes, and groceries and cars and hair cuts and all the other things of life. That is really the essence of an economy at work.
The result is that many are employed in jobs which are related to tourism. Out of the 71,800 people employed within Saskatchewan, there were 1,718 people employed in the tourism-related industries in Yorkton, noted the report to council.
It works well locally.
The report presented to council suggests travel and tourism generated an estimated $42.2 million in travel receipts in the Yorkton constituency. It is part of far greater whole provincially as travel and tourism generate an estimated $2.24 billion in travel receipts annually in Saskatchewan.
So while agriculture will likely forever be king economically speaking in Yorkton, tourism too plays a role that is important to the vibrancy of our city.
