Despite broader trends in the tourism industry across the nation, Calgary’s interest to American visitors remains strong showing an increase in the spend by tourists from that nation.
Figures released by Tourism Calgary during the city’s audit committee on June 5, showed that quarter one of this year showed that U.S. visitor spending was up 4.5 per cent year-over-year.
That figure said Alisha Reynolds, CEO of Tourism Calgary, reflected the hard work that the organization has been putting into attract visitors from the U.S. to Calgary.
“It’s notable that Q1 is typically one of the slower visitation periods and times of year, so to see the U.S. believing in us and hearing our message, it was a really good feeling,” Reynolds said.
The United States has remained one of the 10 key countries that Tourism Calgary has focused on said Reynolds in her presentation.
“There’s lots going on globally right now that could make you question where that spend is coming from and where our investment should be. We’re really focused on continuing to share our message around the world,” Reynolds said.
“We’re still seeing huge success, including from the US market, who’s seeing Calgary as a place of opportunity.”
She said that those campaigns are hitting the sweet spot currently for tourists within key markets that have direct air access into the Calgary International Airport.
Some 72 per cent of visitors to Calgary come via air, with U.S. travellers spending on average over $1,050 per visit in Q1 each year.
Figures released by Statistics Canada showed that in 2025, the number of tourists spending at least one overnight visit in Calgary has increased between 5.9 per cent and 28 per cent, with the largest increase occurring in April, which saw an additional 5,603 tourists coming by air over the same month in 2024.
That went against the general trend nationally, where there was a decrease in overnight travel that saw land arrivals to Canada decreased by 10.7 per cent year-over-year in April, and air travel fell by 5.5 per cent according to the Conference Board of Canada.
Air traveller statistics from Statistics Canada showed that YYC was the only Canadian airport with over 5,000 tourists monthly arriving from the U.S., to see an increase.
