Alberta’s tourism economy combines a large employment base with substantial visitor spending and a long-term growth target. The Alberta tourism strategy records $15.2 billion in visitor spending in 2025 and targets $25 billion in annual visitor expenditures by 2035, while Statistics Canada counted 5.5 million domestic visits to the Alberta Rockies in 2024.
Contents
- Current visitor-economy scale
- The 2035 tourism strategy
- Employment and recovery
- Regional tourism performance in 2021
- Air travel and visitation recovery
- Alberta Rockies visits in 2024
- Travel Alberta finances and priorities
Current visitor-economy scale
The Alberta tourism strategy reports $15.2 billion in visitor spending in 2025. The same strategy says Alberta’s visitor economy grew at double the national average in 2025. For 2024, the strategy’s accomplishments report growth at four times the national average. These are growth comparisons stated by the strategy; the supplied record does not provide the corresponding national dollar totals or growth percentages.
The province’s long-term ambition is considerably larger than the latest recorded annual spending figure. The strategy targets $25 billion in annual visitor expenditures by 2035, described as a 150% increase. That target provides a benchmark for measuring the visitor economy’s intended expansion over the coming decade.
The available figures also show that Alberta’s tourism performance differs by place and by type of travel. In 2024, the Alberta Rockies recorded 5.5 million domestic visits. That total was 11.4% higher year over year, but 3.8% below the region’s 2021 all-time high of 5.7 million visits. A strong annual increase therefore did not yet represent a new record for the region.
The 2035 tourism strategy
The Alberta tourism strategy projects the following cumulative outcomes through 2035:
| Measure | Strategy projection |
|---|---|
| Annual visitor expenditures by 2035 | $25 billion |
| Cumulative visitor expenditures through 2035 | $203 billion |
| Cumulative provincial GDP contribution through 2035 | $159 billion |
| Cumulative tax revenue generation through 2035 | $10 billion |
| Full-time equivalent jobs through 2035 | 190,000 |
The $25 billion figure is an annual target for 2035, while the $203 billion, $159 billion and $10 billion figures are cumulative projections through that year. The jobs figure is expressed as 190,000 full-time equivalent jobs through 2035. These distinctions matter: the projections describe different units and time bases rather than five interchangeable measures of the same annual result.
The strategy’s target is also stated relative to a baseline: annual visitor expenditures are intended to rise by 150%. The supplied strategy figures do not identify the baseline year or provide a separate annual path between the reported $15.2 billion in 2025 and the $25 billion 2035 target. The target should therefore be read as a stated policy objective, not as a year-by-year forecast.
Employment and recovery
Travel Alberta’s 2022-23 annual report says more than 220,000 Albertans were employed in tourism in 2022-23. The report also said Alberta’s tourism sector was on track to recover past pre-pandemic levels by the end of 2023, one full year ahead of schedule. Those statements describe the sector’s employment scale and recovery outlook for that reporting period.
The earlier Travel Alberta 2021-22 annual report shows how incomplete the recovery still was in 2021:
- Tourism-sector employment was more than 20% below 2019 levels.
- Tourism-sector employment grew only 2% in 2021 compared with 2020.
- The labour force participation rate fell from 71% in 2019 to 69% in 2021.
- Accommodation-industry employment was still 42% below 2019 levels.
- Travel-services employment was nearly 50% below pre-pandemic levels.
- Food and beverage services employment remained more than 15% below pre-pandemic levels.
- Transportation employment remained more than 15% below pre-pandemic levels.
- Recreation and entertainment employment was 20% below pre-pandemic levels.
These figures are not all measuring the same population or benchmark. The sector-wide employment result compares 2021 with 2019, while the 2% figure compares 2021 with 2020. The industry breakdowns also use their own pre-pandemic comparisons. Together, they show uneven recovery: employment had begun to improve, but accommodation and travel services remained especially far from earlier levels.
Regional tourism performance in 2021
Travel Alberta’s 2021-22 annual report estimated tourism revenue below 2019 levels in every listed Alberta region. The report’s regional estimates were:
| Alberta region | Estimated tourism revenue versus 2019 in 2021 |
|---|---|
| Canadian Rockies | 50% below |
| Major urban centres | Approximately 40% below |
| Southern Alberta | 11% below |
| Central Alberta | 19% below |
| Northern Alberta | 31% below |
The Canadian Rockies had the largest reported shortfall at 50% below 2019 levels, while Southern Alberta had the smallest at 11% below. Major urban centres were approximately 40% below their 2019 tourism revenue levels. Central Alberta was 19% below and Northern Alberta was 31% below.
The same report recorded a 15% increase in Alberta visitor spending in 2021 versus 2020. It also reported nearly 24 million visits in Alberta in 2021. Those gains occurred alongside regional revenue estimates that remained below 2019, so the measures should not be combined into a claim that the province had fully recovered by that date.
Air travel and visitation recovery
Air-travel data in Travel Alberta’s 2021-22 annual report shows a sharper international disruption than the overall inbound result. Alberta’s total inbound air passengers were down 61% versus 2019 in 2021. That decline was 10 percentage points better than the national average decline of 71%.
International air passengers in Alberta were down 82% versus 2019. Domestic air-travel volumes were still 52% below 2019 levels. These figures distinguish total inbound air passengers, international passengers and domestic air-travel volumes; they should not be treated as a single series.
The contrast between the air-travel measures and the 2021 visitation total is useful for interpreting Alberta tourism statistics. Alberta recorded nearly 24 million visits in 2021, while domestic air-travel volumes remained 52% below 2019 and international air passengers remained 82% below 2019. The figures indicate that the province’s overall visitation measure includes travel patterns beyond international air arrivals, but the supplied sources do not quantify the shares of visitors by transport mode.
Alberta Rockies visits in 2024
Statistics Canada recorded 5.5 million domestic visits to the Alberta Rockies in 2024. The total increased 11.4% year over year and was 3.8% below the region’s 2021 all-time high of 5.7 million visits.
Monthly figures in the Statistics Canada data show a pronounced seasonal pattern:
- August 2024: 793,000 visits.
- July 2024: 566,000 visits.
- March 2024: 516,000 visits.
March was notable for both its year-over-year and longer-term comparisons. The 516,000 visits recorded in March 2024 were up 26.2% from March 2023 and up 98.5% from March 2019. The March figure is a monthly total, whereas the 5.5 million figure is the full-year 2024 total.
The monthly numbers should not be added to the annual total: they are component months within that year. They instead show how the Alberta Rockies’ domestic visitation was distributed across selected periods, with August recording the highest of the three supplied monthly totals.
Travel Alberta finances and priorities
Travel Alberta’s 2022-23 annual report provides financial context for the organization supporting tourism promotion. Its initial operating budget for 2022-23 was $59.9 million, while grant funding received in 2022-23 was $62.9 million. Base funding was projected at $71.9 million for 2023-24, $74.5 million for 2024-25 and $70.3 million for 2025-26.
Total expenses increased to $67.9 million in 2022-23. The report describes the increase as $3.5 million, or 5% year over year. Almost 50% of expenses, or $32.6 million, went to marketing and sales. Travel Alberta reported a $1.7 million operating deficit for the year ended March 31, 2023.
The report also recorded $63,180 thousand in cash contributions received during the year. At March 31, 2023, accounts payable and other accrued liabilities totaled $9,918 thousand, operating leases totaled $4,396 thousand, service contracts totaled $95,030 thousand, and total contractual obligations totaled $99,551 thousand.
These are organizational financial figures, not visitor spending or provincial tourism-revenue totals. The marketing and sales amount indicates the largest described expense area in the report, while the funding projections extend beyond the 2022-23 reporting year. Read together with the visitor, employment and visitation figures, they show the scale of the institution and the broader visitor economy at different points in Alberta’s recovery and growth story.