American Peter Starkel has had Regina on his list of places to visit for nearly three decades. But this past weekend, as he crossed the city off his bucket list, he noticed an unusual reaction from the locals.
“What struck me most [is] when I came into the airport, I went through customs and he said, ‘What’s the nature of your visit?'” Starkel said.
“I said I’m just touring. And the guy laughed at me.”
Starkel said that became a continual theme during his visit and a first in his many years of visiting different countries.
“I’ve never had anybody call me out for coming to a place.”
Starkel’s inclination to visit Saskatchewan’s capital city started back when he lived in Colorado in the 1990s. He would regularly tune into a local cable access channel on which the TV presenter would read out local events, before randomly ending with a promotional video for the City of Regina.
While living in Colorado, Peter Starkel used to see a tourism video for Regina that featured familiar scenes, including Wascana Lake and the RCMP. That video piqued his interest in coming to Regina. (Bryan Eneas/CBC News)
The video, featuring scenes of the RCMP and Wascana Lake, had a kitschy, 1980s feel that caught his and his roommates’ attention.
“This has always stuck with me. It’s in the back of my mind, someday I’ve got to go to Regina,” said Starkel, who now lives in Michigan.
While on a recent work trip to Minneapolis, he happened to see flights to Regina were fairly cheap and decided to make the extra journey.
But when he tried to find out what to do on his visit, he noticed a distinct lack of guidance for visitors.
“It’s almost like there’s a tourism vacuum for Regina — there’s really nothing suggesting what you can do as a tourist,” he said.
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He then turned to Reddit to ask for help.
“The very first response was, ‘Oh, this guy’s just messing with us,'” he said, adding that some Regina residents seem to have a chip on their shoulder about their home.
Eventually, suggestions for local restaurants and breweries came pouring in. Several people suggested Starkel hit up the Roughriders’ home game against the B.C. Lions. A waiter at the Hotel Saskatchewan introduced him to the assistant general manager of the visiting team, who gave him free tickets in exchange for a promise to wear the B.C. Lions’ merch at what Starkel said ended up being the “coldest damn game” he’d ever attended.
Peter Starkel got free tickets to see a football game at Mosaic Stadium, but through an agreement with the B.C. Lions assistant general manager, he had to don the visiting team’s merchandise. (Peter Starkel photo)
He also made a side trip to Saskatoon, which revealed the wonders of the Remai Modern and Wanuskewin, and another quick jaunt to Moose Jaw, a town he said seemed to better promote itself as a tourist destination.
Regina, in contrast, seemed to undersell itself, Starkel said. He’d hoped to bring home coffee mugs or T-shirts for his friends who’s heard him talk about this trip for so long, but those kind of gifts and other advice about the city as a tourist destination were completely lacking, he said.
“I think you’ve got a great story to tell and I just think you guys need to get better at telling it,” he said.
While visiting Saskatchewan, Starkel made a side trip to Saskatoon where he took in the Remai Modern museum as well as Wanuskewin to learn more about Indigenous culture. (Peter Starkel photo)
In response to Starkel’s concerns, the City of Regina says it has two in-person tourism kiosks — including one at the airport — a tourism website and a QR code at the hotel Starkel stayed at that links to the city’s events calendar.
“There is more work to do, no doubt, but we have been working quite hard to develop a presence in the city and market to people outside of Regina,” said Jennifer Johnson, deputy city manager.
Despite finding it a struggle to connect with tourism advice, Starkel said strangers filled the gap and helped him have a memorable experience. He came away thinking Regina was the friendliest city he’d ever visited over his many years of travels.
“My weekend would have been absolutely completely different if it wasn’t for the generosity of people.”