Moose Jaw's downtown ambassadors have helped approximately 1,100 pedestrians find their way around the Friendly City since the Tourism Moose Jaw program began in May.
The ambassador program is a joint-venture project in which the City of Moose Jaw funds up to $15,000 for Tourism Moose Jaw to keep two full-time shifts on the downtown streets throughout the day, cleaning up trash and providing tourism information services.
"It's been a very welcome program," said Tourism Moose Jaw visitor services manager Carol Percy.
She said the annual summer program, which lasts until the end of August, began in 2002 and each year has helped more and more tourists visiting the downtown.
Percy said ambassador employees wear "Surprisingly Unexpected" T-shirts and an apron filled with pamphlets and maps to help people looking for various local attractions.
"The most popular question is 'Where are the tunnels?'" said Percy.
The workers keep track of all the questions they receive while walking up and down Main Street all day, as well as from where tourists have travelled.
Percy said most tourists are Canadian and American, but there are also a large number of German visitors this year, as well as British.
"They think it's wonderful," Percy said about the comments ambassadors receive about the program from visitors.
Several tourists tell Tourism Moose Jaw staff they intend to tell city officials in their own communities about the ambassadors program, in hopes their tourism boards might adopt similar programs.
However, Percy said out-of-towners aren't the only ones who ask questions of ambassadors. Many Moose Javians unsure where to locate certain attractions or businesses also ask the downtown staff for help.
Currently, there are five summer student workers who trade off downtown ambassador shifts with other Tourism Moose Jaw duties. Percy said most summer employees are lifelong Moose Javians, with a knowledge of the area and pride in their community.
"They're excited about the city of Moose Jaw."
Carter Haydu can be reached at 691-1265.
