Are they having fun yet? Leisure management within amenity migration

Abstract

ABSTRACTFor decades urbanites have flocked to rural, mountain and beach communities as full- or part-time residents in pursuit of a leisure lifestyle they could not find in the city. This phenomenon is known as amenity migration and it is understood to transform pastoral communities into amenity migration or lifestyle destinations. Among the many unique natural and cultural amenities that draw lifestyle residents to these destinations lies public recreation. Public recreation plays an important role in shaping the character and direction of such communities. This paper explores the role of leisure management within amenity migration in Canmore Alberta Canada. Canmore is a typical mountain resort community catering to lifestyle residents more so than tourists. The paper chronicles the role and impact of leisure management over a 12-year period from 2004 to 2016. Drawing upon the Towns’ 2004 Recreation Master Plan, a 2008–2010 leisure negotiation study and the 2016 Recreation Master Plan, the paper presents a key role for leisure management in the unique setting of amenity migration. Public recreation is revealed as an important driver of change in the community toward a normalizing or urbanizing direction. The paper offers implications and insights for leisure planning within amenity migration throughout North America.