The Atlas Coal Mine had their best weekend ever and with 1,950 individual visits, up 37 per cent.
Records were falling all over the valley during the long weekend indicating that the lull in tourism, following the flooding events in June, may have come to an end.
The August long weekend saw records shattered from one end of the valley to the other.
Marketing coordinator for the Royal Tyrrell Museum Leanna Mohan has seen numbers return to normal following the events this spring, and over the August Long Weekend visitorship was up 17 per cent over last year.
She said typical numbers for this time are in the 5,200 range. Saturday they were up to 6,000, Sunday 6,500 and holiday Monday they saw 5,300 come through the door.
The Atlas Coal Mine had their best weekend ever and with 1,950 individual visits, up 37 per cent.
Linda Digby, executive director for the Atlas Coal Mine, said they were anticipating a busy weekend and were prepared. However they were pushing capacity for parking and for tour spaces.
“That’s a new chapter for us. It is something we have been anticipating as we’ve been growing,” said Digby. “It is a good problem.”
The valley as a whole was busy with Chuckwagon races and Motocross. One other factor of course was Drumheller’s appearance on The Amazing Race Canada.
“Maybe there was pent up demand with the wet spring we had,” said Jay Russell of the Atlas Coal Mine. “But having a national television show showcasing the valley was definitely beneficial to everybody.”
Debbie Schinnour of the Tourist Information Centre at the World’s Largest Dinosaur says the television coverage was a benefit judging by the requests from visitors to see Horse Thief Canyon as well as the Atlas as Coal Mine.
“We had a great weekend,” said Schinnour. “I think everybody wanted to get out again.”