While the rest of Canada spent 2025 watching international visitor numbers fall by five per cent, Alberta was apparently too busy counting money to notice.
The province pulled in $15.2 billion in visitor spending last year – a record – and managed five per cent growth in U.S. arrivals while Canada as a whole saw them drop by six per cent.
If you were in Banff or Canmore last summer, wondering why the Icefields Parkway felt busier than usual, this is your answer.
The numbers come from Travel Alberta, which has been following what it calls its “Higher Ground strategy” – a plan to hit $25 billion in tourism revenue by 2035. They're roughly on track, having grown Alberta visitor spending in 2025 by just over five per cent from the previous year's $14.4 billion.
Jon Mamela, the agency's senior vice-president, told the Edmonton Journal they'd hoped to do even better. “Sometimes maybe we're harder on ourselves,” he said, which is the sort of thing people say when they've just set a record but still feel slightly disappointed about it.
Other Provinces Are Now Calling to Ask What We're Doing
According to Tourism Minister Andrew Boitchenko, Alberta's success has prompted phone calls from other provinces wanting to know how it's done. “We have other provinces actually calling us and asking what exactly we're doing to see the growth, because we are outperforming other provinces,” he said.
The strategy apparently involves marketing Alberta as a year-round destination, securing more direct flights, and investing “tens of millions” in tourism infrastructure outside the Rockies – though anyone who's tried to find parking at Lake Louise lately might argue the mountains are still getting plenty of attention.
The U.S. visitor growth is particularly notable. While Canada overall saw American arrivals decline by six per cent, Alberta posted five per cent growth.
For Banff and Canmore, this translates to more Colorado licence plates in the Safeway car park and more questions about whether grizzlies actually wander through town. (They do, occasionally, and yes, you still need to keep 100 metres back.)
Indigenous Tourism Is Growing Faster Than Almost Anything Else
One of the more significant drivers behind the growth is Indigenous tourism. The Alberta government has put $12 million into the sector since 2021, and Chelsey Quirk, CEO of Indigenous Tourism Alberta, says demand is strong both internationally and domestically. “We know at least one in three international travellers are looking for an Indigenous tourism experience,” she told the Journal. “Across Canada, that's even higher.”
Quirk pointed out that Indigenous operators offer something most other attractions can't: experiences rooted in actual culture rather than invented heritage. “These are Indigenous people who are sharing their stories, sharing their stories of the land, sharing the stories of their culture, of their language, of their ancestors,” she said.
Indigenous Tourism Alberta supports operators from the idea phase through to export-ready status, and this month, Edmonton is hosting the International Indigenous Tourism Conference with 1,000 delegates from 14 countries. If you're planning a trip to Banff or Canmore in 2026 and haven't considered an Indigenous-led experience, the numbers suggest you're in the minority.
What This Means If You're Actually Visiting
The practical takeaway: if 2025 was busy, 2026 probably won't be quieter. The tourism industry now accounts for roughly 10 per cent of Alberta's employment – 86,000 jobs – which Boitchenko says was previously “untapped” and under-appreciated. Travel Alberta is aiming for $25 billion by 2035, which means continued growth is the plan, not a happy accident.
For visitors, this means the usual advice applies more than ever: book early, arrive at trailheads before 7 a.m. if you want parking, and consider visiting in shoulder seasons when the numbers thin out slightly. The mountains haven't got any bigger, but the number of people wanting to see them clearly has.
The rest of Canada might be struggling with tourism numbers, but Alberta – and specifically the Banff-Canmore corridor – is doing the opposite. Whether that's good news depends entirely on which side of the hotel desk you're standing.