Operators of Mt. Norquay, Sunshine and Lake Louise say Pursuit is squeezing them out of the market
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Canada’s competitors bureau is launching an inquiry into U.S.-based VIAD’s domination of the sightseeing attraction sector in Banff and Jasper nationwide parks.
The transfer follows a greater than three-month investigation into the Arizona-based firm following complaints filed with the Competitors Bureau of Canada (CBC) that its leasing of the Jasper SkyTram tightens the agency’s stranglehold available on the market, and entrenches an unfair, unlawful monopoly.
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Regardless of these considerations, Parks Canada final summer time accepted VIAD’s leasing of the sky tram that rivals say offers the corporate’s Pursuit model greater than 90 per cent of the customer pie.
Operators of Mt. Norquay, Sunshine and Lake Louise, which supply summer time chair raise and gondola experiences, say Pursuit’s use of bundling its merchandise — which gives 40 per cent reductions on them if passes to points of interest are bought — is predatory and squeezing them out of the market.
Together with the Jasper property, Pursuit now operates the Banff Gondola at Sulphur Mountain, Lake Minnewanka Cruise, Columbia Icefield Journey, Jasper’s Maligne Lake Cruise and the Columbia Icefield Skywalk, which comprise the lion’s share of these markets’ paid sightseeing points of interest.
It additionally owns the Brewster Specific bus line and 10 motels all through these parks (two are in Banff), whereas additionally working the enduring Prince of Wales Resort in Waterton Lakes Nationwide Park.
The proprietor of Mt. Norquay famous Pursuit’s CEO Stewart Again had refused — for causes of company confidentiality — to offer Banff Gondola customer numbers since 2019 when requested for them by members of Banff City Council final week.
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“VIAD won’t be able to cover from the competitors bureau, which could have the facility to have VIAD disclose its market energy as a part of the inquiry,” mentioned Adam Waterous, chair of Liricon Capital.
Waterous mentioned he’s hoping an inquiry will result in an finish to Pursuit’s bundling practices and even to it being pressured to divest a few of its properties.
“Current amendments to the Competitors Act deem mergers presumptively anticompetitive in the event that they end in a mixed market share exceeding 30 per cent,” Waterous mentioned in an Oct. 1 letter to Banff Mayor Corrie DiManno, urging the city’s council to push the bureau to crack down on VIAD.
“Consequently, ought to the competitors bureau break up VIAD’s monopoly by decreasing its market share to 30 per cent of Banff and Jasper sightseeing points of interest, VIAD will probably be pressured to divest 5 of its now six points of interest and be left with simply the Sulphur Mountain Gondola.”
VIAD’s critics say its bundling follow has led to worsening site visitors congestion and car emissions on Banff streets.
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In entrance the City of Banff’s governance and finance committee on Oct. 15, Again mentioned car site visitors alongside Mountain Avenue resulting in its Sulphur Mountain Gondola has decreased by 19 per cent since 2019 on account of joint efforts by it, the city and Parks Canada encouraging guests to make use of public transit.
“Fifty per cent of the guests to the Banff Gondola are on mass transportation (in 2024), up from 40 per cent final yr,” mentioned Again.
“Mode shift magic has been occurring and I feel it’s fairly spectacular.”
In his presentation to the committee, Waterous mentioned Again’s numbers have been deceptive, that the vehicular movement had truly elevated “and has successfully lengthened our site visitors congestion season.”
In a Sept. 5 letter to the competitors bureau, Sunshine Village Corp. president Ralph Scurfield argued Pursuit’s dominance and predatory pricing was crowding out competing summer time operations, together with his ski resort’s gondola.
Regardless of document visitation to Banff Nationwide Park and free shuttle service between Sunshine and the Banff townsite, patronage numbers at his attraction have stalled, wrote Scurfield.
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“We consider the only greatest detriment to Sunshine’s summer time visitation has been the anticompetitive value bundling of VIAD-owned points of interest offered to vacationers. Incentive to buy these attraction bundles has elevated in recent times and has had adverse results on rivals, like Sunshine, within the sightseeing market,” he mentioned within the letter.
“When accounting for journey time all through the Rockies, The Pursuit Go bundled providing successfully makes use of up on a regular basis a traveller has on their vacation. There isn’t a time, or alternative, to discover aggressive choices.”
Parks Canada, in the meantime, had rejected Norquay’s software to assemble a gondola working from the Banff townsite to the underside the ski hill, citing “non-conformance with key park coverage and laws.“
Liricon has mentioned a brand new gondola would seize a number of the market from its Sulphur Mountain competitor, thus decreasing vehicular site visitors within the city.
“We took on these tasks to scale back this congestion on account of Parks Canada’s failure to deal with vehicular site visitors. This failure has been detrimental to each the ecological integrity and customer expertise within the park,” Liricon’s Jan Waterous mentioned final March in a written in response to Parks Canada’s determination.
Neither VIAD/Pursuit nor the Competitors Bureau of Canada responded to requests for remark.
Parks Canada has mentioned questions of anticompetitive behaviour are exterior its jurisdiction, however that it could co-operate with any investigation by the federal competitors bureau.
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