Calgary Set for a Strong Summer Tourism Season
Anticipated record-breaking visitation and events happening around the city through September and amplified by Tourism Calgary takeover of Dundas Station in Toronto.
May 27, 2025 (Calgary, AB) – Tourism Calgary hosted its Annual General Meeting today and shared that they anticipate this to be one of the busiest summers on record for visitation to our city.
Kicking off the summer, June will see two significant international events hosted in our region – the G7 Summit in Kananaskis June 15-17, and Rotary International Convention at the BMO Centre in Calgary June 21-25.
While the Summit itself will be held in Kananaskis, the event is anticipated to generate over 10,000 hotel room night bookings, with thousands of journalists, security personnel, government employees and more than 5,000 people participating in meetings held throughout our region over the three days.
The 2025 Rotary International Convention is expected to see over 15,000 delegates representing more than 120 different countries from around the globe, in our city to explore the best that Calgary has to offer. The economic impact from this event is anticipated to contribute over $81M to our local economy and drive business to hotels, restaurants, transportation companies, local attractions, retail, and hosting venues. Tourism Calgary is encouraging all Calgarians to activate around this event with warm welcomes and friendly support to visitors demonstrating our legendary hosting reputation.
“These large-scale conventions hosted in our region are a sign of things to come,” says Alisha Reynolds, President & CEO of Tourism Calgary. “With the opening of the expanded BMO Convention Centre last year, we now have the ability to host more, and larger, conventions throughout the year providing a significant boost to Calgary’s economy year-round and to the many local businesses who rely on visitors to help them thrive.”
These two events in June, followed closely by the Calgary Stampede July 4-13, various summer music, cultural, and food festivals, and over 100 meetings & conventions and sports & major events from May through September means it will be a very active summer in our city.
“The first part of the year, the tourism industry has seen effects from geopolitical issues putting pressure on domestic and international travel” says Reynolds. “However, while there may still be some volatility ahead, the next few months look strong – with hotel bookings for Stampede pacing ahead of 2024 in most areas of the city. We remain positive that consumer confidence will rebound as we head into the amazingly busy summer months for Calgary.”
Confidence in travel to Calgary is being bolstered by recent data published by a Mastercard Economics Institute report which highlighted travel trends based on cardholder data. Of interest, for U.S.A. customers, their top destinations included Tokyo, San Juan, Hawaii, Paris, Punta Cana, Calgary, Reykjavik, and Orlando. See the report here.
And, to continue to support visitation, Tourism Calgary is increasing investment in inter-provincial marketing initiatives to encourage year-round travel from Canadians. One such initiative is the recent campaign and targeted takeover of Dundas Station in Toronto, Ontario. Offering a contest to win a VIP trip to Calgary (contest closes June 1, 2025), this colourful initiative will increase awareness of the diversity of Calgary’s landscapes, experiences, and people with Torontonians – who based on market data, have lower consideration of a trip to Calgary as part of their travel plans.
“Looking at the travel market in Ontario, we see a significant opportunity to increase intentions to visit Calgary,” says Reynolds. “Our industry has proven to be resilient time and time again and we see this as a chance to work together and encourage exploration of our beautiful country, supporting local businesses in the process.”
Toronto Dundas Takeover | Campaign Images & B-Roll Video
Calgary Colour Campaign Website | https://colour.visitcalgary.com/
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About Tourism Calgary
Tourism Calgary is the destination management organization that enthusiastically shares and promotes the story of our friendly Blue Sky City to those near and far. We think big – like, Canadian Rocky Mountain big – using our sales and marketing expertise to drive an annual visitor spend of over $3B for the local economy and advocating for our growing tourism sector, which includes 84,000 Calgarians employed in the industry. From conventions to leisure travel, sports events to music and arts, Tourism Calgary represents the city’s diverse and unexpected experiences, extending our welcoming hospitality to the over 8 million people who visit Calgary every year. Go to visitcalgary.com for more details.
Media Contact:
Lorèn Lailey-Irvine, Sr. Director Communications & Sustainability
(587) 223-8500 | [email protected]