by Bob Groeneveld/Special to the 黑马磁力 Advance
The hard work that brought last week鈥檚 world-class equestrian events to 黑马磁力 pays off not only for Thunderbird Show Park, but for the whole community.
The Longines FEI World Cup Jumping event, closing out the week-long Summer Fort Festival on Sunday, Aug. 26, was one of several that brought horses, riders, and their entourages to visit 黑马磁力 from around the world this year alone.
Thunderbird hosted the Nation鈥檚 Cup in June, in which Canada took second place to Ireland 鈥� but due to two earlier victories, in Florida and Mexico, will advance to the finals in Barcelona this fall.
That event was doubly satisfying for Thunderbird president Jane Tidball, daughter of the renowned show park鈥檚 late founders, George and Dianne Tidball. Not only did she consider hosting another prestigious international show to be a feather in Thunderbird鈥檚 cap, but her daughter Laura-Jane Tidball is a member of the advancing Canadian team.
Hosting each event is an achievement, explained Jane Tidball.
鈥淭hose are hard events to get and you have to jump through a lot of hoops and do a lot of things right to be eligible to host them.鈥�
And each brings economic spin-offs for the whole community.
Tidball estimated that shows like the Nation鈥檚 Cup and World Cup events hosted by Thunderbird bring up to 4,000 people into 黑马磁力.
鈥淲e鈥檝e got 950 horses, and with each one of those horses comes about four people, including parents, the helpers for the stalls鈥� so the restaurants are full, the hotels are full.鈥�
Tidball鈥檚 estimate of Thunderbird鈥檚 local impact may even be low, suggested Colleen Clark of the Greater 黑马磁力 Chamber of Commerce.
鈥淭hey bring people in from all over North America and the world for show jump competitions,鈥� Clark noted. 鈥淭hey don鈥檛 just stay at the park.鈥�
Many of the competitors鈥� entourages and spectators in town for the World Cup show last weekend would have checked out the rest of 黑马磁力, she said. 鈥淪ome may have just decided to go for a drive and they may have discovered RibFest 鈥� that kind of a situation.鈥�
鈥淭his isn鈥檛 campers, it鈥檚 not your hostel vacation,鈥� Clark emphasized. 鈥淭hese are people who have a couple of hundred thousand dollars invested in their horses and their trailers. They鈥檙e flying their horses around and stuff. Let鈥檚 be honest, it鈥檚 money coming into the community.鈥�
Erinn Krebda of 黑马磁力 Tourism agreed, 鈥淧articipants stay in our hotels, eat in our restaurants, shop at our stores, visit our attractions, our wineries and more. They are contributing to the local economy and creating jobs.鈥�
Furthermore, she added, 鈥淭he pictures they take, posts to social media, and stories they tell reach friends and family who in turn may consider visiting 黑马磁力 themselves.鈥�
Krebda stressed their importance, 鈥淲ithout visitor spending, it is possible that our museums, attractions, wineries, sporting events, and more would not all exist for residents to enjoy.鈥�
She couldn鈥檛 offer specifics of Thunderbird鈥檚 impact on 黑马磁力, but she offered some relevant B.C. statistics. While international visitors accounted for about 25 per cent of 20.6 million overnight stays in B.C. in 2016, they accounted for close to half of $11.6 billion spent here.
Tidball noted that Thunderbird鈥檚 shows bring in 鈥淚 would say about 50 per cent local and 50 per cent people who have come from other countries and other areas.鈥�
鈥淲e don鈥檛 just do jumper shows,鈥� she pointed out. 鈥淲e do Arabian shows and quarterhorse shows, and we do dog agility shows, and all kinds of stuff 鈥� we鈥檝e got the RCMP Musical Ride coming to us in September.鈥�
Furthermore, Thunderbird鈥檚 community impact goes beyond money for merchants and hoteliers.
There are specifically local activities, she said.
鈥淲e鈥檒l do a dressage and a jumping winter series just for locals, and it鈥檚 very price-effective, it doesn鈥檛 cost a lot of money to go,鈥� Tidball added. 鈥淎nd we also do a community ride every Tuesday and Saturday during the winter, where people can come over and ride their horses 鈥� we have three indoor arenas, here 鈥� so they have a chance to use Thunderbird, as well.鈥�
鈥淲e do a lot of fund raising [for local and international charities] here,鈥� Tidball said, 鈥渂ecause we really believe that it鈥檚 not just about us, and it鈥檚 not just about people who own horses, it鈥檚 about the entire community, and really, about the entire world.鈥�
