Winter is coming….as is slow season.

Let’s be honest—if you run a business in Bragg Creek, winter can be tough. Tourist traffic decreases, revenue drops, and you may be left wondering how to keep the lights on until spring. But here’s the thing: instead of just trying to survive the slow season, AI could help you to get ahead.

Sound too good to be true? It’s not. 71% of Canadian small businesses are already using AI tools, and they’re seeing real results. The businesses that figure this out now will come out swinging when the tourists return.

Fact: over 75% of small businesses across Canada are either using AI or seriously looking into it. This isn’t some distant future thing—it’s happening right now, and the numbers don’t lie.

Businesses using AI are seeing 20-25% productivity improvements. More importantly for us seasonal folks, 93% of service professionals say AI saves them significant time. That’s time you can spend planning your next move instead of answering the same questions over and over.

Think about this: how often is someone looking at your website at 9 PM on a Tuesday, or sends an email on Sunday when you’re not checking? AI customer service tools work 24/7, capturing those inquiries when you can’t or when you have checked out for the day.

These systems handle the basic stuff— pricing questions, availability, directions to your business—and only bug you when there’s something that actually needs your personal touch. During winter, when people are home planning their spring getaways, this means you’re capturing customers while your competitors are offline.

The best part? These tools can handle multiple languages, which is huge for Alberta tourism. Your AI assistant might be booking a German family for next summer while you’re sleeping.

Winter is when most seasonal community businesses go dark on social media and stop marketing. That’s actually the perfect time to stand out. AI tools can keep your content flowing even when you’re focused on other things.

Imagine having fresh blog posts about winter activities, social media content showcasing snowy landscapes, and email newsletters that keep last summer’s visitors thinking about their next trip, dinner out, or shopping trip. AI can create all of this content for you, keeping your business top-of-mind when everyone else has gone quiet.

When money’s tight, you can’t afford to waste time on repetitive tasks. AI automation handles the boring stuff so you can focus on what actually grows your business.

Learning from Our Neighbors
Tourism Jasper figured this out early. They partnered with the Alberta Machine Intelligence Institute and now use AI to predict everything from visitor patterns to weather impacts.

James Jackson from Tourism Jasper puts it perfectly: “We’ll be able to have a much more accurate understanding of what’s happening within the destination in an almost real-time fashion”(Global News). They’re using winter data to plan better summers.

Banff businesses are using AI for staffing challenges we all face. When you can’t afford full winter staff, AI chatbots handle questions and scheduling systems manage whoever you do have working.

These aren’t huge corporations—they’re mountain tourism businesses just like yours, proving AI works for small Canadian operations.

Your Winter Game Plan
Start simple. Pick your biggest headache— probably customer communication—and tackle that first. Use winter as your testing ground so you’re ready when things get busy again.

Don’t try to revolutionize everything at once. Focus on: