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$730 Million

Total expenditure in Alberta (2022)

161 Million

Number of passport holders (2023)

34.8 Million

Potential visitors to Alberta (2022)

3 days

Average length of stay in Alberta (2023)

Overview

Outbound travel from United States continues to recover – however, the country is facing economic headwinds as high inflation erodes savings built up earlier in the pandemic, placing pressure on household incomes and constraining the pace of recovery. Oxford Economics forecasts outbound travel to be 107% of 2019 levels in 2023 and to peak in 2023.

On this page:

Competitor Comparison
Air Travel
Economic Indicators
Traveller Characteristics

Guided hike at Castle Falls in Castle Provincial Park with Uplift Adventures.

Competitor Comparison

2022

Indicator Quebec Ontario Alberta BC Canada
Visitation 1.6 Million 7 Million 552 Thousand 4.2 Million 14.6 Million
Share of total national visitation 11% 48% 4% 29% -
Expenditure $1.9 Billion $4.2 Billion $730 Million $3.1 Billion $7.4 Billion
Share of total national expenditure 25% 56% 10% 41% -
Average spend $1,196 $596 $1,323 $729 $507

Pre-pandemic (2019)

Indicator Quebec Ontario Alberta BC Canada
Visitation 3.2 Million 12.9 Million 1.3 Million 6.4 Million 26.9 Million
Share of total national visitation 12% 48% 5% 24% -
Expenditure  $1.9 Billion $4.2 Billion $995 Million $3.1 Billion $11.4 Billion
Share of total national expenditure 17% 37% 9% 27% -
Average spend $587 $323 $828 $474 $422

Air Travel

Economic Indicators

Indicator 2022 2023 2024 Forecast
GDP - per capita (US$) $79,195 $77,294 $81,530
GDP - YoY Growth Rate  10.5% 8.7% 2.4%
Exchange Rate (CAD/USD) (annual average) $1.30 $1.35 N/A
Unemployment Rate (annual average) 3.7% 3.6% 3.7%
Inflation Rate (annual average) 4.7% 4.2% 4.2%

Quarterly traveller spend

Traveller Characteristics

Breakdown of traveller spending

Top barriers to travel
Travel is too expensive 37%
Personal finance reasons 34%
Gasoline was too expensive 28%
Airfare was too expensive 25%
I'm too busy at work 20%
Not enough PTO/vacation time 14%
Top 5 trip anchors
Northern lights 33%
Natural attractions like mountains or waterfalls 32%
Nature parks 25%
Hiking or walking in nature 23%
Viewing wildlife or marine life 23%
Preferred marketing channel
Email 35%
Websites found via a search engine 34%
Facebook 30%
Online content (articles and blogs) 24%
Instagram 20%
Streaming video services (YouTube, Hulu, etc.) 16%
Purpose of visit