Business Plan 2025-27

Propel Calgary’s visitor economy to $6B in visitor spend by 2035 by inviting the world to explore our vibrant Blue Sky City, creating unforgettable experiences that connect people to our city and to each other.

As one of Canada’s fastest growing major cities, surrounded by stunning landscapes, exceptional experiences, and a vast array of growing world-class amenities and investments in infrastructure, Calgary is poised for substantial growth. Combined with a bold new Blue Sky City brand – which celebrates both our Western heritage and hospitality, as well as our continued evolution as Canada’s third-most diverse city – the opportunity to expand Calgary’s story and grow visitation and economic contribution from new audiences and markets has never been greater.

Our strategic vision and direction is one of optimism and unwavering ambition for Calgary’s visitor economy. This promising future is echoed through extensive consultation undertaken with community leaders in tourism, hospitality, city governance, urban planning, arts, culture and social enterprise. Collectively, we believe Calgary is ready to take another big step forward – and that time, is now.

Tourism Calgary has bold plans to double visitor spend in our city to $6B by 2035, through a renewed focus on four key pillars.

Let’s brighten what already shines and be the best city to live, work, and visit – driving national and international visitor demand to our 1,100 plus partners and make tourism an economic force for Calgary.

As a city evolves, so does its brand. Through engagement and research, we found that Calgarians welcomed an updated brand for our city – one that honours our past and celebrates our Western heritage but also embraces the diversity of Calgary today and our aspirations for the future. Our role is to ensure we’re reflecting Calgary authentically as we aim to double our visitor spending, attracting more visitors, conventions, and events to our city. Our aim is to bring the Calgary brand to life with our partners by consistently telling genuine Calgary stories that reflect the city’s diverse culture and heritage.

OBJECTIVE: Create an emotional connection that inspires travellers and locals to choose Calgary and share their experiences.

WHAT DOES SUCCESS LOOK LIKE: 

Visitors from around the world increase their intentions to visit Calgary and Calgarians feel pride in the Blue Sky City story.

EXAMPLES OF KEY ACTIVITIES:  

• Grow interest and awareness for Calgary in new, strategic markets.

• Showcase Blue Sky City in all programs and activities.

• Collaborate with strategic partners to raise brand awareness and alignment.

• Create memorable experiences for visitors that emotionally connect them to the brand, our locals, culture, and stories.

• Build local destination advocates and ambassadors.

Historically, summer is the busiest time of year for visitation in Calgary with over half of all visitors experiencing our city between May and September. With the Calgary Stampede and many large, well-known local festivals and events, there is much to promote and many great experiences to attract visitors to our destination.

To achieve growth in our market, our opportunity is to attract more visitors during our softer seasons -- winter, late fall, and early spring. Our team, along with many other civic partners, will continue to work to enhance the vibrancy of our city year-round, so that visitors and locals alike know there is always something fun and exciting to do in Calgary.

OBJECTIVE: Attract exciting events to Calgary and develop new experiences that position the city as a vibrant, diverse destination with an abundance of things to do year-round.

WHAT DOES SUCCESS LOOK LIKE: Calgary experiences higher visitation rates in off-peak seasons.

EXAMPLES OF KEY ACTIVITIES:

• Assess visitor experiences and key tourism locations in our city to identify areas for improvement.

• Collaborate with partners to amplify and develop authentic Calgary experiences.

• Enhance awareness of events and year-round experiences with key audiences.

One of the biggest opportunities for future growth in the visitor economy in Calgary is meetings and conventions. With the completion of the newly expanded BMO Centre at Stampede Park in 2024, Calgary is now home of the second largest convention facility in Canada. Together with the Calgary TELUS Convention Centre, not only will Calgary be able to host a greater number, larger and more high-profile conventions, but this represents a tangible opportunity to attract large numbers of high-value visitors to Calgary that would not have visited otherwise. This translates to a captive audience to further promote Calgary and all we have to offer, extending delegates’ stay and desire to return.

OBJECTIVE: Showcase Calgary as a world-class convention destination where event planners want to do business and delegates and guests want to visit – and stay longer to explore.

WHAT DOES SUCCESS LOOK LIKE: Calgary is considered one of the best destinations in North America for meetings and conventions, increasing the number of high-value visitors.

EXAMPLES OF KEY ACTIVITIES:

• Enhance marketing and programming for convention visitors and delegates to come early and stay later in our city.

• Collaborate with key partners to maximize opportunities and economic impact of the new BMO Centre at Stampede Park + Culture & Entertainment District.

• Advocate for critical elements that support our development as a leading convention destination.

• Grow awareness and consideration as a Tier 1 Convention city.

• Expand the Champions program, working with Calgarians within local business and post-secondary institutions to attract more conventions across a variety of sectors.

As a destination, we know we are limitless, together. In an era marked by rapid change, emerging technologies, and economic challenges, building relationships within our communities, industry, and with our civic partners is paramount to our success as an organization and a destination.

We aim to foster increased collaboration and alignment among our diverse stakeholders – such as government, local communities, civic partners, and private businesses – to deliver more value and leverage our strengths as a destination.

OBJECTIVE: Lead Calgary’s visitor economy by bringing together industry partners and the broader community to address key challenges and advance key initiatives that will raise Calgary’s profile as a destination of choice.

WHAT DOES SUCCESS LOOK LIKE: Tourism Calgary is considered a leader, uniting partners to increase opportunities in one of Calgary’s biggest industries.

EXAMPLES OF KEY ACTIVITIES:

• Convene key partners and community around initiatives that will support tourism and grow visitor economy.

• Be a convener of partners and a strong voice for industry on key issues impacting tourism.

#limitlesstogether

While our plan is clear, we must be bold, together. Success and growth in Calgary’s visitor economy will require industry, civic partners, communities, and well ... you ... leaning in and coming together to show the world what our city, our home, and our people have to offer.