Residents of Cochrane can anticipate exciting developments in tourism over the coming years.

During last week's Town of Cochrane council meeting, Callandra Caufield, the recently appointed Executive Director (ED) of the Cochrane and Area Tourism Association, introduced the organization's fresh approach as the departing ED bid farewell.

Jo-Anne Oucharek has now stepped down from her position after six-and-a-half years on the job. 

Caufield said some of the opportunities they are working with Travel Alberta on over the next few years is to increase the number of visitors that are coming here both from regional and international destinations.

"A key piece in that is that the province has said we recognize that there is an opportunity to bring visitors to the rural areas of Alberta. So it's not just Travel Alberta, that's saying this it's also the province. So there's alignment, which is very exciting."

Caufield is hoping locals will notice some changes in the near future. 

"What I'm hoping they're going to notice in the next couple of years, is that when they have friends and family coming to visit them or when they have a weekend off, that they don't have to leave our community to do something fun or have an adventure or explore."

As part of their updated tourism strategy, Caufield said they have created a vision that is focused on community-centred tourism.

She said residents can look forward to some exciting news in the next few months. 

"There are some other projects in the works that I'm not at liberty to talk about yet, but they're very close to happening. They are going to be a huge benefit for our community and it's going to position us in a really exciting way."

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