Unit 4

Recreational Attractions

Alberta Education Outcome

Lesson 14: Visitor Trends

"Of all the books in the world, the best stories are found between the pages of a passport." ~ Brendan Burns


According to the Alberta Government's Treasury Board and Finance, the tourism sector remained robust during the downturn as people from outside Alberta continued to visit the province and Alberta.

The uplift in oil prices since the early 2016 lows and the economic recovery have helped tourism-related industries across most of Alberta. In Calgary, occupancy rates were down modestly from January to September, despite the 2017 Calgary Stampede bringing in 1.2 million visitors, a multi-year high that was up 10% over 2016. 

Tourism and Canada 150

International visitation to Alberta's resort areas - Jasper, Banff, Lake Louise, Kananaskis, and Canmore - has been buoyed by increased levels of international travellers. This has been stimulated by free national park access to celebrate Canada's 150th anniversary in 2017. These celebrations also attracted more interest in the province's national parks from Albertans and other Canadians. Some of the strongest gains were in the lower profile parks of Elk Island and Waterton Lakes. Despite the closure of Waterton Lakes due to wildfires in September, Parks attendance benefited from the free passes and Albertans' preference for staying closer to home. Visitations at Alberta's historic sites were up 5.4% YTD through September. ~ In Focus, Alberta Government, Economics and Revenue Forecasting, November 2017.





Staycation

The depreciation of the Loonie reduced Albertans' spending power abroad. This, coupled with employment uncertainty and lower incomes in 2015 and 2016, led Albertans to favour staycations, 
staying within Alberta instead of travelling to the US and paying huge exchange losses. 

Total spending by Alberta residents abroad in 2016 fell 6.6% from 2014, while the number of Albertans returning from abroad fell 16% between July 2014 and July 2016. Vacationing close to home became more appealing during the downturn as visitors became more thrifty. Visits to provincial historic sites and museums in 2015 increased by 10%, although, visitations dropped in 2016, this was mostly due to the closure of the Royal Alberta Museum at the end of 2015 for a two-year move. Excluding the Royal Alberta Museum, visits to historic sites and museums rose 1.4% in 2016.



Brand Recognition & Awards

Brand partnerships are fast becoming a popular and cost-effective way of growing reach and exposure. Travel Alberta entered into a two-year partnership with online travel agency Expedia during the 2016-2017 fiscal year. Now, anyone visiting Expedia website for winter bookings is exposed to Alberta-only images as Expedia's exclusive winter travel destinations.


Banff was tapped by National Geographic Traveler for their 2017 Best of the World List


Moraine Lake was the most-liked Instagram photo of 2016 of National Geographic, with 1.4M Likes.


Three Alberta Resorts (Chateau Lake Louise, Fairmont Jasper Park Lodge, Fairmont Banff Springs) placed on Conde Nast Traveler's Top 10 Resorts in Canada for the 2016 Readers' Choice Awards.



Decrease in Business Travel

Travel for business suffered during the recession in 2015 and 2016. In 2015 alone, domestic person visits to Alberta primarily for business fell by 3%, with corresponding expenditures decreasing 9%. Fewer workers in the energy sector travelling back and forth from home to job sites meant less money flowing into rural Alberta. Job losses and falling disposable income weighed on food and drinking places. Although sales growth at these establishments continued during the downturn, the pace of growth slowed nearly five percentage points in 2015 and fell to a seven-year low of 1.0% in 2016.