Tourism remains strong despite financial trends, Travel Alberta says

EDMONTON – The head of Travel Alberta says the province’s tourism sector is performing well relative to the rest of the country despite a number of challenges, including a high Canadian dollar, the struggling global economy and cutbacks to the federal government’s marketing agency.

“We’ve actually been leading the country,” Bruce Okabe said. “We have a healthy economy here and with that, everything from agriculture to culture to tourism, they all slipstream behind.”

New government statistics estimate Alberta took in $5.67 billion in total tourism spending in 2011. The figure, which includes airfare, hotels, rental cars, event tickets, restaurant tabs and taxi fares, is slightly down from the province’s goal of $5.9 billion, though still ahead of 2010.

Okabe cautioned such estimates can change significantly once final results are in. He said a rosier picture was offered by the Conference Board of Canada, whose latest Travel Markets Outlook projected that visitor spending in Alberta increased 6.8 per cent last year, substantially higher than the national average.

The growth was largely buoyed by Albertans themselves taking “staycations” within their own province, along with an increase in spending from residents of other provinces. Government estimates suggest Alberta residents accounted for about $3 billion of the total tourism expenditures, while other Canadians spent about $1.4 billion.

“In Alberta, there are just so many things for us to see and do, that people have figured out, ‘Why would I spend $1,000 to travel to Europe when I have the Rocky Mountains next door, or the great cultural experiences in Edmonton, just to name a couple?’ ” Okabe said. “We have great festivals here, so why travel all the way to Paris to get that?”

As for tourist traffic from international locales, Okabe acknowledged the trends are less positive.

He said visits from U.S.-based travellers to Canada has been declining for the last several years, though Alberta has been less affected than other provinces.

“Over the last 10 years, every other province in Canada has lost market share of American visitors. Alberta is the only one that has held its head above water.”

Of greater concern is the number of tourists coming from other international markets, such as Europe. He said Canada now has a record $16-billion travel trade deficit, a figure that represents the difference in value between those who come to Canada to visit, and Canadians who leave the country to travel elsewhere.

Addressing this trend is one of the priorities for Tourism, Parks and Recreation Minister Christine Cusanelli when she makes a five-day visit to the London Olympics next week. Cusanelli’s schedule is filled by meetings with travel magazine officials, airline leaders, resort developers and tourism operators.

“We want to be able to expand our market access and we think the Olympics is the place we need to be,” she said.

Okabe said the high Canadian dollar discourages visitors to Canada and encourages Canadians to take trips abroad rather than vacations at home.

“The struggles of the European economy have also hurt, while recent cuts to the Canadian Tourism Commission by the federal government means Canada is signifcantly reducing its promotional efforts in major markets around the world.”
“There is not a strong Canada brand because of a lack of sustainable funding, so the challenge for us as an Alberta marketing organization is that much more acute,” Okabe said.

He said he is encouraged by the response to Travel Alberta’s new “Remember to Breathe” brand. A video touting the brand has received more than 1.3 million views on YouTube since it was launched last October.