Culture of Alberta - Tourism

Tourism

Main article: Tourism in Alberta See also: Festivals in Alberta

Tourism is also important to Albertans. Millions of visitors come to Alberta each year just for the Stampede and for Edmonton's K-Days (formerly called Klondike Days). Edmonton is also the gateway to the only Canadian route to the Yukon gold fields, and the only route which did not require gold-seekers to travel the exhausting and dangerous Chilkoot Pass.

Visitors throng to Calgary for ten days every July for a taste of "Stampede Fever". As a celebration of Canada's own Wild West and the cattle ranching industry, the Stampede welcomes around 1.2 million people each year. Only an hour's drive from the Rocky Mountains, Calgary also makes a visit to tourist attractions like Banff National Park something which can easily be done in a day. Calgary and Banff together host nearly 5 million tourists yearly.

Edmonton is Alberta's number one tourism destination in several key categories and Alberta's top-ranked metropolitan destination in other categories. Edmonton is the number one destination in overall person-visits to Alberta and the number one destination in person-visits from other provinces. Edmonton is also Alberta’s number one metropolitan destination for U.S. visitations and revenues.