Calgary Tourism Thread

[Surrealplaces]

I figured we might as well have a thread to discuss Calgary Tourism.

Lots of stuff happening around tourism, with a record year of 8.7 Million tourists visiting Calgary and 4 new downtown hotels coming our way.

 

[Surrealplaces]

Five Alberta spots named among the best to visit in Canada | News

If you’re looking for some of the best destinations to travel to in Canada, you have plenty of options right here in Alberta.

dailyhive.com

Banff took #1 overall, Jasper #10, Calgary comes in at #12, and Edmonton makes it in at #20

 

[Albertasaurus]

Interesting list, with a good mix of big and mid size cities and natural areas. Although, with regard to Toronto, anyone claiming "the sidewalks are clean" obviously hasn't been there in a while...

 

[Surrealplaces]

I think this was posted already, but I'll post it in case.

Calgary tourism breaks records in 2025, even bigger year expected ahead

Tourism in Calgary has reached new heights, with more than 8.7 million visitors flocking to the city this year. Tourism Calgary says 2026 is shaping up to be even busier, thanks to a surge in conventions, conferences, and international travel. Visitors like Ian Bowler, attending the 4H National...

calgary.citynews.ca

 

[zzkwilliamcanada]

New trade relationship with China ‘significant’ for province: Invest Alberta

Invest Alberta CEO Rick Christiaanse joins Alberta Primetime host Michael Higgins to discuss his part in a recent delegation to China, and the impact of the developing trade relationship on Alberta.

www.ctvnews.ca

Then in rapid succession we have some petrochemical companies coming into town, we have some agricultural companies coming and we also have some people that are really intrigued by the All-Seasons Resort Act the government passed late last year. It allows for additional development in provincial parks, hotels, destination resorts. The Chinese are really good at developing those kind of resorts all over the world, so there’s a high level of interest in that. Those four sections are probably where we’re going to continue to focus on, and we have been focused on them for a number of years.

 

[Beltline_B]

I have some general thoughts on tourism for Calgary and area and the way it's heading. International tourists (overseas, and American) spent $3.5billion in Alberta in 2025, with $3Billion of that being spent in Calgary and Banff. With global travelling rapidly increasing, and WS concurrently increasing international destinations, I foresee a huge amount of tourism coming our way in the future. Here are some things we need to do IMO.

- Get rail service to Banff, starting with conventional speed, and building up the system, and then later upgrading to high speed.
- Further develop the area along hwy 40 to handle some of the extra tourism. Maybe some more hotels around the Kananaskis area?
- Continue to develop our river pathway. As much as I like the natural feel of the pathway, I feel some sections, particularly between 14th street W and East Village, could be better developed with retail and restaurant options.

Any other thoughts of what we could do to help foster the tourism boom?

 

[Dkeirle]

All of those ideas are good @Beltline_B. Here in the city our river pathway is something that stands out to tourists, I hear it time after time. It's too bad there's that stretch of houses in Inglewood that front the river. It would be so great to have a well developed stretch of river pathway from 10th street NW to Harvey Passage. The stretch could be its own tourist attraction.
I know there's a development plan for the area between 10th street and 14th street, but not sure where it's at. We really need some sort of place for rafters to gather, and if it's near River Hall, what a great combo that would be!

Regarding rail to Banff, I agree 100% get some kind of service in place and build on it. Once it's a regular, well used service, we can look at getting it upgraded to higher speed rail.

 

[CalgaryTiger]

I know there's a development plan for the area between 10th street and 14th street, but not sure where it's at.

No update on the city website, just says they're working with the winning proposal on a more refined design. It could be difficult to get funding for such a project in our infrastructure priority phase but I do think it is important.

Also with that area, I've heard the city is abandoning their idea to occupy the old Greyhound Station. The building is likely too far gone at this point. Between that and the empty dealership, this area is going to be more desolate.