Alberta’s tourism industry hoping to capitalize on tariff wary travellers

Alberta’s tourism industry is aiming to capitalize on the chaos of the new American administration by luring tourists who are shying from visiting the U.S.

“Europeans want to come and visit North America — they potentially just want to come to Canada,” said Tannis Gaffney, chief marketing officer at Travel Alberta, the province’s destination management organization.

“We’re hoping that this is an opportunity for Canada and Alberta, specifically, that we can attract European or Asian travellers.”

U.S. tariffs on imports from across the world has wiped out trillions of dollars from the stock market, triggering shock and condemnation in several countries.

Meanwhile, new immigration rules and a slate of deportations have made tourists feel unwelcome in the U.S., sparking worries about a drop in tourism.

There’s never been a better time to travel to Canada amid U.S. tariffs, say tourism operators

But operators in Alberta are benefiting from a rising patriotism among Canadians and a higher share of the global tourism pie.

Karen Anderson, owner of Alberta Food Tours, which takes tourists around the iconic eateries of several cities across the province, is noticing an uptick in interest.

“A lot of our summer tours are sold out already, so we might add more inventory,” said Anderson.

“There’s never been a better time to travel at home.

“I think that we’re friendly people. I’m not going to not ever be friendly. And I think that that message needs to come through loud and clear — everyone is welcome.”

Anderson has recently signed contracts with two U.S. companies, which will bring American visitors in a series of tours.

Her approach has served her well. She said the company in 2022 grew by 30 per cent after recovering from the pandemic. It has experienced growth every year, and business is set to climb by 15 per cent in 2025.

“Things are up for us,” she said.

Alberta tourism hit $12.7 billion in 2023

Gaffney said international tourism has been climbing across the board.

“We’re looking at room nights, air traffic, skiers and at different revenue streams in a bunch of different areas,” Gaffney said.

Spending by visitors in Alberta reached an all-time high of $12.7 billion in 2023, an increase of 20 per cent from the previous year, according to Alberta Tourism and Sport Minister Joseph Schow.

Roughly 50 per cent of Alberta’s tourists are Albertans, 25 per cent are Canadians from outside the province, and 25 per cent are international travellers, according to David Goldstein, CEO of Travel Alberta and deputy minister of Tourism and Sport.

Most international travellers are from the U.S. followed by the U.K., Germany, France, Japan and South Korea. Gaffney added the bulk of the province’s visitors from the U.S. hail from California, Texas and New York.

While some Canadians vow to abstain from travelling to the U.S., the flow of Americans into Alberta hasn’t stopped.

Pete Woods, CEO of SkiBig3, which operates ski resorts in two mountain towns and Banff National Park, said he has seen “double-digit” growth in the number of reservations by tourists from the U.S. for November next year.

“We’ve had guests calling our reservations teams, and they start very consistently with, ‘I just want to apologize with the way our country is behaving right now, but we’re very excited to come visit. Is there anything we should be aware of?’ ”

However, to help continue the pattern, Canadians also must travel to the U.S.

“It sounds counterintuitive, folks, but we need Canadians flying those flights to make them sustainable, so that there are seats to come back, and what we don’t want to see is a series of cancelled flights,” Goldstein said at a panel at Calgary’s Tourism Week on Monday.

Meanwhile, Travel Alberta has been finding ways to circumvent the problem.

“If we see decreases, then we can easily shift and prioritize other international markets,” Gaffney said.

The organization has launched marketing campaigns in several European and Asian countries, and has been working to have direct flights connecting Calgary to them. A new WestJet flight from Calgary to Mexico City will begin in May.

“We’re pretty excited,” she added. “We are cautiously optimistic that this might be a great time for tourism and travel to Canada, and especially Alberta.”

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