Annually, approximately 100,000 tourists visit the Brooks Newell Region to camp and experience the naturally occurring beauty of the Canadian Badlands.
The City of Brooks is in the heart of the County of Newell where three provincial parks exist. The towns and villages, as well as the city, offer an abundance of shopping and recreational opportunities.
The Brooks Newell Region is capable of hosting a variety of special events with our impressive facilities and availability of professional services. Our facilities have recently hosted large and small conferences, formal events, weddings, graduation ceremonies, receptions, meetings, fundraisers, festivals and retreats. The Region boasts welcoming accommodations, top notch food services, diverse meeting spaces and all the necessary add-on services that make events successful and affordable. Available business services include catering, linens, souvenirs/gifts, equipment rentals, florists, decorating, photography, and audio-visual.
Sports Tourism is expected to be a major driver for the tourism industry as the City and County, along with Visit Newell, work to attract major events. The City is the host of Hockey Canada's 2019 National Junior A Championships, formally the RBC Cup. Historically, the event has generated more than $2 million in local economic impact, with event proceeds being directed to supporting hockey development in the host community. The region has also been host (twice!) to the Southern Alberta Summer Games.
New recreation facilities continue to add to the regional tourism industry. Over $22 million dollars was recently put into renovating and expanding the JBS Canada Centre. The recently constructed Brooks Regional Ball Park, home of the Brooks Bombers, houses quad-ball diamonds. The Centennial Regional Arena (CRA) is a 74,000 square foot facility with a NHL-size ice surface (200 x 85 ft). More importantly, it's home to the Brooks Bandits. The Village of Duchess opened the Duchess Recreation Centre, a 29,000 sq. ft. multi-use facility in 2015, which is the recreation and culture hub for the Village.
The City of Brooks also recently signed a contract with an event promoter to bring in large concert and entertainment events. The first concert hosted through this agreement will be Clay Walker in the Spring of 2019.