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More people than ever are visiting Alberta - but national park attendance has dropped.
According to Travel Alberta鈥檚 annual report, booked room nights in Alberta went from 1.6 million in 2017-18 to 2.3 million in 2018-19.
But compared to 2017-18, national park attendance was down 2.4 per cent and employment in accommodation and food services was down 0.5 per cent.
Royce Chwin, chief executive officer of Travel Alberta, said: 鈥淭his is a province of entrepreneurs and hard working Albertans who deliver outstanding experiences to our visitors from Canada and around the globe.
鈥淲e鈥檙e excited about the opportunities that will shape the future of our industry.鈥�
Travel Alberta markets Alberta to support tourism from other provinces and around the world. It works with tourism providers, operators, hoteliers and restaurateurs to help promote the region to travellers.
In the 2018-19 fiscal year, Travel Alberta received marketing funding from the Government of Alberta totaling $44.1 million which was spent on global marketing, regional industry marketing and corporate operations.
Chwin said: 鈥淭ourism is a lever for broader destination promotion and paves the way for large-scale economic progress.
鈥淓conomists have predicted economic growth for Alberta in the coming years, indicating an opportunity for investment in industries and businesses that fuel this province.鈥�
And the organization is looking to the future.
Travel Alberta is working with the Government of Alberta, industry partners and other community stakeholders to develop a new ten year tourism strategy for sustainable growth.
The goal of the plan is to support the development and sustainability of the province鈥檚 tourism industry while helping achieve the government鈥檚 vision to grow Alberta tourism revenue to $20 billion by 2030.
鈥淗ow we balance these three elements - people, the planet and profit - answer the challenges, and take advantage of the opportunities before us, is what Alberta鈥檚 ten year tourism strategy will aim to solve,鈥� said Chwin.
