It’s not a famous mountain town like Jasper and it doesn’t have NHL teams or soaring skylines like Calgary or Edmonton.
But the central Alberta city of Red Deer may suddenly have something much more important: a significant endorsement from one of the most powerful brands in the global travel industry.
On Wednesday, the Alberta city appeared on a list of “The 34 Most Breathtaking Places in North America” released by the travel site Expedia.
Red Deer was ranked 26th on the list.
“One of the best features of Red Deer is that you can just as easily enjoy the lively downtown area as the great outdoors,” Expedia said of the city, nestled halfway between Calgary and Edmonton.
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“It’s the latter category that really makes the town stand out, with Maskepetoon Park as the local favourite.”
The blurb also mentions Bower Ponds, referring to it as “lovely.”
Red Deer, a city known as a distribution hub for Alberta’s oil and agriculture industries, attracted plenty of visitors last year when it hosted the Memorial Cup, Canada’s junior ice hockey championships.
Watch below: On May 19, 2016, Quinn Phillips reported on the Mastercard Memorial Cup returning to Alberta for the first time in 42 years. It was an exciting time for the city of Red Deer.
British Columbia’s Haida Gwaii was ranked first on Expedia’s list.
READ MORE: Banff named one of the world’s top travel destinations for 2017
Aside from Red Deer, Banff and Lake Louise were the only other Alberta destinations mentioned. The mountain resorts were mentioned together in the same blurb and ranked 3rd.
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