Investing in Alberta: Where Tourism Growth Meets Long-Term Value
As the global tourism landscape evolves, today’s traveller is increasingly seeking differentiated, authentic, and premium experiences. Alberta is emerging as a compelling destination in Canada with unmatched natural assets and long-term ambition to sustainably grow its tourism economy. While Alberta has led all Canadian destinations in annual visitor spend over the past four years with double-digit annual growth, this roundtable looks beyond the headline numbers to explore the true, untapped potential of Alberta.
In 2025, $15.2B ($CAD) / £8.24 billion GBP was spent by visitors in Alberta. The province has set an aggressive target of further expansion of its tourism economy to realize C$25bn / £13.60 billion British pounds (GBP) by 2035. Alberta offers a combination of natural capital, year-round tourism potential, all-season resort development opportunities, supportive public sector engagement and increasing demand for premium, experience-led travel.
Hosted by fDi Intelligence in partnership with Travel Alberta and the Premier of Alberta, this roundtable will bring together investors, developers, travel trade operators and media to discuss the current state of the UK outbound travel market as well as where the strongest opportunities lie with Alberta’s tourism economy to convert strong traveller interest into future investment.
The discussion will delve into Alberta’s competitive position against other North American destinations, the segments with the greatest white space, the investment case for premium and experiential assets, risk management for investment and operations in the tourism sector, and the role that Travel Alberta’s Investor Services can serve in helping investors navigate the path from first engagement to committed capital.
Key Discussion Points
● When you look at the global market today, how do you feel Canada, and specifically Alberta, are currently perceived by UK travellers?
● How can Alberta better leverage its direct air access, unique scale and open spaces to elevate its brand positioning and tell a stronger story to the UK traveller and/or investor?
● Looking at the evolving demand for unique experiences, whether that’s wellness, luxury guest ranches, northern lights/aurora viewing, indigenous experiences. Where do you see the strongest need and opportunity to fill product gaps in Alberta?
● From your perspective, what are the primary hurdles to deploying UK based capital for tourism investment in a market like Canada or Alberta?
● As we’re currently seeing in the global tourism market today, there are numerous risks either investing or operating a business connected to the tourism sector. What are the main risks that you’re either managing today or anticipating in the future?
● As we look ahead, what gives you the greatest confidence in Alberta’s tourism growth story and where do you see the most immediate opportunity to deepen engagement with UK travellers and investors?
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Christiana Sztadhaus
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