The small town of Vulcan, Alberta has seen it share of Klingons since the early 90's.  According to a report in The Globe And Mail, Vulcan has seen a significant increase since the release of 'Star Trek'.

Vulcan, which shares its name with the home planet of Mr. Spock from the original space series, months ago had launched a high-profile quest for the Canadian premiere of the latest blockbuster Star Trek movie.

That mission failed. But after Mr. Nimoy, who portrayed the original Spock, called up the media to complain that the community was being “illogically” ignored, Vulcan got a Calgary-based sneak peek – and a whole lot of publicity.

More visitors since the movie's release last month have led to an almost 30 per cent increase in tourist numbers compared to last year at this time, said tourism co-ordinator Dayna Dickens.

“For tourism in small-town Alberta, that's really phenomenal, especially in this year of economic downtime.”

Klingons, Romulans, Starfleet officers and the simply curious poured in for this weekend's Spock Days and VulCON Star Trek convention.

They filled up the community's three hotels – including the one once boarded up. It now boasts four theme rooms, including, yes, one that's crammed with all things Trek.

At the convention kickoff party, Klingons balanced their “batleths” – weapons with sharp half moon blades – as they prepared to lead celebrity guests into a specially built Trek Station that houses most of the community's memorabilia.

Rob Uhrig, who came from Ottawa, said Vulcan is an out-of-this-world experience for a devoted fan.

Mr. Uhrig, a member of the Klingon club KAG Canada, said other conventions are run by corporations out to make money, but Vulcan truly focuses on making a fan's experience the most important.

“Vulcan is great. The people here treat us like we're the celebrities. “ “This place is more like a festival. I don't know how else to describe it. Where else are you going to go through a parade through town? You don't see anything like that at a normal convention.” (source The Globe and Mail)

Read the full article here.