Tourism Alberta announced more than $8 million for projects across the province to bolster the provincial industry for National Tourism Week, after experiencing a record-breaking year.
At the Wilder Institute/Calgary Zoo on Monday, Travel Alberta president and CEO David Goldstein said the time between April 20 and 24 traditionally marks the start of Alberta’s tourism season.
The funding announced Monday will develop new key tourism experiences across the province, including the new Sichuan takin habitat at the zoo, and the Blackfoot Historical Park on Siksika nation.
It will also support Canadian Rivers Wild in West Country, Jasper Gateway Glamping in Hinton, Bukwildz Distillery in Trochu, and Lakeview Lodge in Barrhead.
“Our theme this week is ‘authentic Alberta, authentic experiences,’ and authenticity is an important part and central to what we’re doing,” including in rural Alberta and Indigenous tourism, Goldstein said.
“We are, in fact, the largest provincial investor in Indigenous tourism in the country right now. We know that that’s not only an important piece of our road to reconciliation, but it is something of high demand for our international travellers.”
Alberta is the first jurisdiction in Canada to surpass pre-COVID tourism goals.
“We’ve had significant growth in every year since,” Goldstein said. “The year before was four times the national average. Last year was almost three times the national average, and we just got the numbers in for the first quarter of this year — we are up eight per cent when the rest of the country was up two per cent, and that was largely based on international travel.”
Alberta tourism revenue in the billions from more than 10 million visitors
Last year, Alberta saw $15.2 billion of annual visiting spending, said Tourism and Sport Minister Andrew Boitchenko.
“Our goal is to reach our tourism visitor spending to $25 billion by 2035, and we’re above $15 billion right now,” he said.
The province is also targeting year-round tourism.
“We have actually developed 10 new tourist development zones in the province,” Boitchenko said. “We’re still seeing the tourism sector growing, tourists coming to the province, and we’re continuing to do what we can to make sure that we’re still growing (the) tourism sector in the province.”
Last year, Calgary welcomed more than 10.5 million visitors, generating over $3 billion in visitor spending and supporting nearly 100,000 jobs, said Mayor Jeromy Farkas.
Calgary Mayor Jeromy Farkas, speaks during a tourism funding announcement at the Calgary Zoo on Monday, April 20, 2026.
If Calgary decides to pursue a bid for the 2038 Winter Olympics, it would be a boost for the aging facilities that supported the Olympics nearly five decades ago.
“If we are going to invest in things that we need anyway — like an LRT connection to the airport, a new McMahon Stadium — it makes sense for us to at least be having a conversation around a future Olympic bid,” Farkas said.
“When I look at the ideal timing, it may make sense for it to be a 50th anniversary bid.”
Although the city has several infrastructure needs that need to be addressed, Farkas said the city should be ambitious.
“If the community were to support a bid through a plebiscite and do the heavy lifting, I think that you would have the politicians on board,” he said.
“But this can’t be a legacy project for politicians. It needs to be about the benefit that we get here and now.”
In 2018, 56.4 per cent of Calgarians voted against hosting the 2026 Winter Olympics.
Farkas believes that any decision on an Olympic bid needs public support.
“It’s incredibly important for Calgarians to have their say, especially if there may be certain trade-offs in terms of the money being spent on this (that) could potentially tie up money from being spent on other priorities,” Farkas said.
“But I really do believe that a strong business case could show Calgarians that an Olympic bid is how we address the infrastructure needs here locally.”