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Alberta tourism strategy – Key pillars

Five key pillars guide Higher Ground – A Tourism Sector Strategy, taking a holistic and sustainable approach to diversified economic growth.

5 key pillars

Alberta has set an ambitious target of growing our visitor economy to $25 billion in annual visitor spending by 2035. Higher Ground – A Tourism Sector Strategy will guide our actions to unleash this growth through 5 key pillars to:

  • align leadership to drive coordinated growth across government, Travel Alberta and industry
  • attract investment into the development of unique products, experiences and destinations that enable our province to shine
  • address workforce needs to build operational capacity
  • expand access to and within the province
  • uphold commitments to partner with Indigenous tourism operators to expand their offerings

Read the strategy

Pillar 1: Leadership and alignment

Objective: Drive growth of the visitor economy through coordinated government action and an industry-leading, commercially focused Travel Alberta by doing the following:

  • Improving cross-ministry coordination and collaboration

    • Establish a tourism senior leadership cross-ministry committee to provide direction and approval for key tourism projects as well as priorities.
    • Establish a cross-ministry implementation working group to ensure implementation of the strategy moving forward.

  • Fostering an industry-leading, commercially focused Travel Alberta

    This industry-leading, commercially focused Travel Alberta, would be capable of:

    • competitive marketing to grow US and international opportunities
    • developing and enhancing rural tourism marketing and development initiatives
    • expanding air access into and connectivity throughout the province
    • investing in Indigenous tourism and Indigenous-owned product development

  • Enhancing consumer protection regarding destination fee governance

    • Develop a best practice governance approach to ensure predictable and stable funding for the visitor economy.
    • Ensure consumers are protected and destination organizations are supported through the transparent collection of local destination marketing fees.

Pillar 2: Competitive product

Objective: Drive increased private capital for world-class, year-round nature-based tourism experiences, creating sustainable economic opportunities as well as increasing tourism revenues across the province by doing the following:

  • Creating an all-season, year-round resort development policy

    Establish all-season resort development zones and expand current seasonal recreational areas to all-season resorts.

  • Instituting clear and commercially viable land use policies

    Create and implement supportive policies, processes and timelines for tourism.

  • Developing new products and experiences

    Invest in high-demand products throughout the province, using market-based intelligence.

  • Increasing private sector investment

    Work collaboratively with partners and the private sector to improve access to capital.

Pillar 3: People and careers

Objective: Develop and implement policies that address short- and long-term labour challenges for employers, enabling communities to retain and attract residents by doing the following:

  • Addressing immediate workforce and labour challenges

    • Develop a Tourism and Hospitality Stream as part of the Alberta Advantage Immigration Program.
    • Work with private sector partners and industry associations to addresses immediate needs, including skills and training, immigration, workforce housing as well as transportation.

  • Building long-term training and career development

    Work with industry to design training and apprenticeship programs to develop skills, knowledge and competencies for careers in tourism and hospitality.

Pillar 4: Expand access

Objective: Ensure visitors have safe, affordable and convenient access to and throughout Alberta, in all seasons by doing the following:

  • Supporting commercial aviation connectivity

    • Build flight capacity and frequency from target international markets to Alberta through strategic air access investments.
    • Increase air access to smaller community airports across the province.
    • Address federal aviation policies impacting access and affordability.

  • Improving safe access to destinations across the province

    Introduce high-priority tourism infrastructure and destination needs into provincial road network and capital planning processes.

Pillar 5: Indigenous tourism

Objective: Support Indigenous communities and entrepreneurs to deliver authentic experiences and share stories of their lands, cultures and peoples by doing the following:

  • Investing in Indigenous entrepreneurs and operators

    • Support Indigenous Tourism Alberta’s strategic framework.
    • Foster Indigenous-led partnerships for product and experience development.
    • Collaborate with Indigenous focused economic development organizations to include tourism in future investments.