Red Deer is aiming for a tourism boost after being featured for the first time in The Amazing Race Canada Season 11 premiere.
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The episode began at Edmonton’s Commonwealth Stadium, with teams heading south to Red Deer after receiving their first clue. Contestants had to estimate the time it took to ride the Canyon Coaster at Canyon Ski Resort and perform a line dance at The Silver Buckle country bar.
“We’re pretty new in the industry, so it was a good way for us to get our name out,” The Silver Buckle owner Mark Linton told CTV News Edmonton last week.
I’m certainly hoping it’s going to pick things up for us and bring even more of the community out because we try to do our best to do things for the community around here.
Tourism Red Deer began discussions with the show’s producers in December and started closely collaborating with the production team in April during the filming of The Amazing Race Canada.
It was pretty surreal watching the episode live on CTV, knowing that we were part of that and part of those conversations, and that we got to showcase our community,
Jesse Smith with Tourism Red Deer said on Monday
Smith mentioned that the Red Deer viewing party for the premiere had a great turnout, and many on the Tourism Red Deer team felt proud of their efforts to promote Alberta’s third-largest city.
Proud to be from Red Deer and (the) region, and really excited about .. being put on the map in the Canadian context, which is what we’re trying to do, This is kind of like a feather in the cap that says we’re definitely on the right track.
he added
Read More: The Amazing Race Canada Premieres in Edmonton, Travels to Red Deer
According to Smith, about 16 million people pass by Red Deer each year on Highway 2, and they hope the show’s spotlight will help draw some of that traffic into the city.
Instead of people taking a quick drive from Edmonton to Calgary, we want them to book a weekend and come and check all the different things that exist in Red Deer.
The final clue of the first episode directed racers to the pit stop at Fort Normandeau, where Red Deer Mayor Ken Johnston welcomed them.
For Red Deer to become part of that first episode, (it was a) tremendous sense of excitement (and) a lot of pride … that we could be on the big screen on such a great show,
Johnston said in an interview on Wednesday
He noted that patriotism is currently at an “all-time high” and expressed hope that the show’s spotlight would create a “wave effect” in boosting local tourism.
Canadians have decided that you don’t need to go across the border to discover something new, unique, (and) historic, All those things in our country … will see an uptick in tourism and that will certainly apply to Alberta and … Red Deer.
Johnston said
Cousins Michele Peter and Aditi Deonarine, from the Greater Toronto Area, were the first team eliminated in this season of The Amazing Race Canada.
“It was crazy in Red Deer. I had to bust out the next hat,” Peter told CTV News Edmonton after last week’s episode, referring to the challenging line dancing task in Red Deer.
Alberta was such a beautiful province and just driving around from hour to hour, from challenge to challenge, from Calgary and Edmonton and Red Deer, it was really serene and peaceful, It was really a wonderful experience for us. Definitely going to go back again and again.
Deonarine added
This season features three teams with Alberta connections, including Blair Gladue — known to local Oilers fans as Superfan Magoo — and his wife Skylene.
The Amazing Race Canada airs Tuesday nights at 9 p.m. local time on CTV.
Source: CTV