Calgary Heading into A Vibrant “Cool-Cation” Tourism Season
Tourism growth is projected to continue with exciting sporting, cultural events and conventions booked through 2026
December 2, 2025 (Calgary, AB) – Powering through the consumer uncertainty experienced at the beginning of the year, Calgary’s tourism industry has seen growth across all major metrics and is anticipating a strong start to 2026 with several major sporting events and city-wide conventions hosted in the city this winter.
Data from January 1, 2025, to September 30, 2025, indicates tourism in Calgary had a record-breaking lead up to the summer season, and has achieved the following performance year-to-date:
Visitor spending is up 4.0% over 2024.
Visitor spending is a key indicator of visitation and economic contribution from tourism to the city. The largest monthly increases were realized in May (+8.8%), June (+22.9%), July (+2.1%) and August (+1.7%) and are attributed to the hosting of significant events like the G7 Summit, the annual Calgary Stampede, and the Rotary International Convention which saw more than 16,000 delegates from over 140 countries in Calgary.
In May and June, hotel occupancy saw big growth over 2024.
Calgary saw a 2.5% increase in total room nights booked, with the largest gains in hotel occupancy occurring in the months of May (+7.6%) and June (+13.4%). July and August hotel occupancy saw a slight gain (1.0%) compared to 2024 performance.
Calgary started the year strong with incoming international flights up 11.1% and domestic flights up 9.2%.
With the addition of new direct flights into Calgary International Airport, international travel from the U.S.A. (Calgary’s largest international market) strengthened Calgary's visitation in the first half of the year. Similarly, projected growth in interprovincial travel from B.C. and Ontario, which are Calgary’s largest air-travelled provinces, and Manitoba and Quebec, are all up year-to-date and expected to anchor the second half of the year.
The Conference Board of Canada has forecasted Calgary to welcome 8.7 million visitors in 2025, an anticipated 3.6% increase over 2024, and Tourism Calgary is anticipating exceeding this estimate.
“This year every quadrant of our city has been alive with activity and these results prove that Calgary is benefiting from the investments made into convention space and place-making projects in our city, as well as from the work our team is doing to promote leisure travel and attract major events and conferences,” says Alisha Reynolds, President and CEO Tourism Calgary. “Alberta and Calgary are getting noticed, and with increased attention for Alberta from international markets – like the recent ‘Most Desirable Region Worldwide’ award from Wanderlust Reader Travel Awards – our team is confident that growth of tourism in Calgary will continue through 2026.”
Tourism Calgary represents over 1,200+ local businesses including restaurants, attractions, and tour operators, who are also feeling the positive impacts from this year.
“During this summer our restaurant achieved three consecutive weeks of record sales,” says Shawn Hill, Managing Partner at Ten Foot Henry. “Tourism Calgary does an amazing job of attracting visitors and business to our city, and we are excited to see even more major conventions and events as they have a significant, positive impact on our success.”
2026 is shaping up to be a very vibrant year with a sport or cultural event almost every week in the first quarter, as well as an unprecedented 12 city-wide conventions (a city-wide is 600+ contracted hotel room nights on peak and Calgary hosted 9 in 2025). From January through March, some highlights include:
The return of our signature Chinook Blast festival (January 30-February 16: Website)
Sports & Major Events for all ages:
February 13-15: The Good Games (See Globe & Mail Article )
February 28-March 7: 2026 FIS Park & Pipe Junior World Championships (Website )
March 6-8: USports Men’s Basketball (Website )
March 14-22: Women’s World Curling Championship (Website )
March 19-22: Men’s Gymnastics (Website )
Meetings & Conventions delegates from across Canada and the world:
Jan 29-31: Conservative Party of Canada National Convention (city-wide)
Feb 1-5: Benevity Homecoming
Feb 10-11: Assembly of First National Natural Resource Forum
Mar 3-5: International Pressure Equipment Integrity Association Conference & Exhibition
“Calgary is building momentum as an all-season destination for a diverse range of sports and major events,” says Carson Ackroyd, Senior Vice President, Sales at Tourism Calgary. “Our success as a vibrant and welcoming winter sport and event destination is generating new hosting opportunities and we’re seeing the results to the tune of $61M in projected economic impact for the market, for the first three months of 2026.”
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.
Interview Opportunity:
December 3, 10:00 am – 11:30 am
Alisha Reynolds, President & CEO, Tourism Calgary
Media Contact:
Valerie Ball, Sr. Manager Communications
403-614-2032
[email protected]