Travel Alberta will receive $10 million to develop tourism opportunities
By Diego Flammini
Staff Writer
Farms.com
The Alberta government is supporting the development of rural tourism opportunities.
The provincial government will provide Travel Alberta with $10 million over two years to establish year-round tourist experiences outside of the province’s most popular destinations, Forestry, Parks and Tourism Minister Todd Loewen announced on Tuesday.
“Alberta’s government is proud to invest in our diverse tourism industry and draw in more visitors from around the world to come experience every corner of our great province,” he said in a statement.
In 2019, Alberta saw a total of $10.1 billion in tourism expenditures.
This funding will help the province achieve its goal of a $20 billion tourism sector.
It’s also part of the province’s Economic Development in Rural Alberta Plan, which aims to support rural and Indigenous tourism opportunities.
“Rural Alberta and Indigenous communities know how to welcome visitors with open arms and create memories to last a lifetime,” said Nate Horner, Alberta’s minister of agriculture and irrigation. “By investing in rural tourism and marketing, our government is helping build more capacity to drive innovation, create jobs and enhance Alberta’s reputation as a bucket-list travel destination.”
It appears tourists enjoyed rural experiences in past years.
Available data from Statistics Canada from 2002 showed that 50 per cent of Canadian tourists, 39 per cent of American tourists and 33 per cent of international visitors enjoyed rural regions in Canada.
And about 60 per cent of Alberta tourists visited rural regions that year.
During those visits that year, visitors from overseas spent an average of $400 in Canada’s rural areas. Adjusted for inflation, that’s about $630 in 2023.
U.S. visitors spent about $250 ($393 in 2023) and Canadian visitors spent an average of $100 in 2022 ($157 in 2023) while enjoying rural sights, sounds and hospitality.