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Alberta.ca Account
Part of New and proposed legislation

Protecting travellers and supporting tourism

Bill 16 will protect travellers from predatory hotel fees and give local destinations the tools and capacity to drive tourism growth.

Status: Bill 16, the Traveller Protection and Destination Development Act, was introduced on February 25, 2026. 
Ministry responsible: Tourism and Sport

Overview

Bill 16, the Traveller Protection and Destination Development Act, if passed, would protect travellers from hidden or misleading fees and ensure money collected for tourism promotion is used as intended, to support and enhance local destinations across Alberta. These destination marketing fees are voluntary fees that tourism businesses may charge customers with the intent to support local tourism destination marketing and development.

If passed, the act would require all mandatory fees to be clearly disclosed at the time of booking tourism accommodations. It would also set clear roles for how voluntary destination marketing fees are collected, managed, and reinvested to support tourism marketing and development in the communities where they are collected.

Destination marketing fees will continue to be industry-led, with tourism businesses continuing to have the ability to choose whether to charge these fees to their customers.

The proposed Traveller Protection and Destination Development Act is part of the government’s commitment to maintain Alberta’s reputation as a premier travel destination and to grow the tourism economy to $25 billion in annual visitor spending by 2035.

Key changes

If passed, Bill 16 will :

  • create a framework for the voluntary collection, management, and reinvestment of destination marketing fees across the province to ensure fees are used to generate measurable economic impact and end the practice of fees being retained for profit
  • ensure destination marketing fees may only be charged in a geographic area where a designated destination marketing organization exists
  • require third-party management of destination marketing fee funds to ensure transparency and accountability
  • include amendments to the Consumer Protection Act to require that all fees charged to consumers on overnight accommodations or tourism experiences be disclosed at the time of booking to prevent surprise checkout costs

For more information, see the Bill 16, the Traveller Protection and Destination Development Act fact sheet.

Next steps

If passed, Bill 16 will come into force on proclamation.
 
A transition period, ending December 31, 2026, would allow existing organizations and operators time to come into compliance, including applying for designation and preparing necessary documentation. The act would apply in full on January 1, 2027 when the transition period ends.

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