Marquee events forecast to boost tourism in city

High-profile events coming to Calgary are set to bring more tourists to the city in 2019.

According to the Conference Board of Canada’s latest travel market outlook, Calgary’s draw as a tourist destination will help spur a modest increase in overnight stays in the city this year.

Calgary saw more than 4.1 million out-of-towners stay overnight in Calgary last year, and the Conference Board of Canada is forecasting that number to increase to more than 4.25 million for 2019.

The board said a rebounding economy helped increase tourist activity in 2018, while big-ticket events such as the Grey Cup and the Canadian Country Music Awards will keep tourism on an upward trend this year.

“Thanks to solid gains in direct air capacity from the city ’s foreign source markets, overnight visits to Calgary are expected to expand at a solid pace, averaging 2.5 per cent annually over the forecast period,” the report reads.

More direct flights from international markets is expected to help increase Calgary ’s appeal to travellers

from Europe, China, Mexico and the U.S. Calgary is also becoming a destination for the younger crowd, according to the report.

“The city is especially appealing to young travellers, with 46 per cent of overnight visitors younger than 35,” the report reads.

While Calgary is Canada’s thirdlargest metropolitan area in Canada, the city is expected to be the No. 2 destination for overnight stays behind Vancouver.

Business and pleasure travel to Calgary are expected to see steady but modest growth in 2019, with the largest gains made in the tourism sector. Tourist stays from overseas departures are expected to increase by eight per cent, reaching as many as 256,000 overnight stays in 2019 compared to last year’s 237,000 visits.

The report shows Calgary is pulling in many more domestic business travellers than those coming from south of the border.

“Travellers from the U.S. account for less than seven per cent of overnight visits, which is the lowest share among the metropolitan centres in this report,” the report said.

While travel from the U.S. still leaves something to be desired, more than 380,000 Albertans from outside the city came to Calgary for business and stayed overnight in 2018.

The board is predicting an increase in domestic business travel stays of 2.8 per cent.

Another 250,000 Canadian business travellers from other provinces stayed in Calgary last year, while visits from U.S. businesspeople came in at around 85,000.

The report shows slumping oil prices continue to affect overall travel to Calgary.

Discounts on Canadian heavy crude mean there is a certain degree of uncertainty where travel to Calgary is concerned.

The board said low Canadian oil prices “relative to the benchmark West Texas Intermediate price” could bring a degree of “uncertainty to Alberta’s economic outlook.”