Dark Sky Tourism and Rural Development: Lessons From The Jasper Dark Sky Festival

In the face of several ongoing challenges, rural communities are increasingly turning to tourism, including Dark Sky Tourism, as a component of their sustainable economic development strategy. This paper employs a case study approach to analyze critically the experiences of Jasper, a rural community in the west-central region of Alberta, Canada,that has hosted the Jasper Dark Sky Festival since 2011. The goals of this paper are twofold: (1) to critically examine the history of the festival and outline the key factors behind its success as well as its ongoing challenges, and (2) to extract from this analysis broader advicefor other rural communities considering the promotion of dark sky tourism events as part of a larger economic development strategy. Ultimately, we highlight how rural communities can capitalize on a novel form of tourism, integrate dark sky tourism into community endeavours, and targetand deliver related educationalactivities, while supporting a new form of rural economic development.