SASKATCHEWAN PROVINCIAL PARKS ON TRACK TO SET NEW ATTENDANCE RECORD FOR 2012

The 2012 park season is expected to be another record year for Saskatchewan provincial parks with an early estimate of 3.56 million visits, a 5.7 per cent increase over the 3.37 million visits recorded across the park system in 2011, and the fall camping season is still underway.

The new online reservation system had a successful year with more than 60,000 reservations, double the amount in 2011. For the first time, visitors were able to check campsite availability, make changes or cancel a reservation by visiting the website. Visitors were also able to see what's going on at the park en-route on their mobile device by using the new mobile website at http://m.saskparks.net.

"It is great to see that we have an increase in visitors to our parks with just the first season of the online reservation system in place," Parks, Culture and Sport Minister Kevin Doherty said. "Our parks are an extraordinary asset to our quality of life and as our province continues to grow and prosper, our government will continue to look for ways to enhance our parks and improve on the experience for our visitors."

The Ministry of Parks, Culture and Sport will be reviewing the camping program and making improvements to the online booking system in response to feedback from customers. Camping reservations for the 2013 camping season will start in the spring. The exact date will be made available on the website at www.saskparks.net early in 2013.

Throughout the summer, park visitors enjoyed a diverse range of park programs including geo-caching, astronomy, canoeing, hiking and performances by Saskatchewan Express. Government will continue to make improvements and enhancements to public programs to ensure parks continue to provide high-quality visitor experiences.

Government has invested $33 million to improve Saskatchewan's provincial parks from 2008 to 2012.

Government is continuing to improve Saskatchewan's provincial parks by investing, over and above base capital funding, an additional $10 million in park upgrades from 2012 to 2016.

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For more information, contact:

Crystal Froese
Parks, Culture and Sport
Regina
Phone: 306-787-7828
Email: crystal.froese@gov.sk.ca
Cell: 306-529-4087