Alberta looks for economic boost as Calgary hosts major tourism conference

It’s hoped a Canadian tourism conference being held in Calgary this week will help stimulate the economy by enticing tourists from around the world to visit Alberta.

Rendez-vous Canada (RVC) is taking place at the BMO Centre from May 9 to 12.

During the event, more than 1,700 delegates representing 29 countries will visit Calgary, attending over 24,000 business appointments with Canadian tourism operators.

So far the response has been positive.

“There’s a lot of things here that we don’t have back home, like mountains, some wildlife, space – we’re a very congested country. And there’s always new product, ideas, new destinations, new developments, hotels to bring home to present to our clients and hopefully they will book it,” said Peter Van Veenendall, a travel agent from the Netherlands.

“Going to the tower in the evening and looking at the city all around – it’s beautiful. You have very clear air, you can smell oxygen here,” said Guldeep Sahni, a travel rep from India.

Travel Alberta CEO Royce Chwin says the event is Canada’s “largest marketplace for international buyers of tourism product, and Canadian and Alberta sellers of tourism product.”

“So they’re coming to learn, or re-establish relationships.” Chwin said.

“When they get here they can’t believe the diversity of experiences, and how welcoming, friendly and local the culture is.”

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Chwin said tourism is a central player in Alberta’s economy, employing 127,000 people across the province.

“Currently, our visitor economy in Alberta is worth about $8 billion annually and growing, and primarily from leisure, so this conference is a real opportunity to continue to harness that momentum.”

“With the economic impact of the conference here, about $4 million in direct impact, we have the opportunity to continue to grow our visitor economy for Alberta and Canada for years to come.”

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Tourism Calgary CEO Cindy Ady said the event is a great way to showcase Calgary to travel agents from around the world.

“To be able to actually have this conference in our province and in our city is a fantastic opportunity,” she said. “They’re here for the whole week and we’re going to show them a great time.”

Chwin said Travel Alberta is taking many of the conference attendees on so-called “familiarization tours” to help them get to know the province.

In Calgary, Ady said similar tours have been launched to show off the city itself.

“We’re sending them on beer tours, they’re going into neighbourhoods and doing culinary tours, they’re going to the attractions, they’re going shopping, and they’re doing cultural things that we have to do in the city.”

To learn more about RVC, you can visit rendezvouscanada.travel.