The Government of Alberta has identified the growth of tourism as an economic development priority and has set an ambitious target to double tourism revenues by 2030. Achieving this growth will require a coordinated approach in planning and prioritizing initiatives that consider the economic, environmental, and social benefits of tourism (triple-bottom-line). This includes developing new experiences and attractions to create new tourist destinations in targeted regions of the province while growing visitation in the shoulder and winter seasons in existing anchor destinations outside of the mountain parks.
The Government of Alberta would like assistance with developing a framework, described in the following section, to increase sustainable tourism investment opportunities on Alberta Crown Lands (“Framework”). This Framework will inform the 10-Year Tourism Strategy and support the growth of the tourism economy in Alberta.
The objectives of the Investing in Tourism on Alberta Crown Lands project are to:
1. Identify potential new tourism destinations on Alberta Crown Lands and prioritize new potential tourism regions/destinations within Alberta
outside of the Banff/Kananaskis corridor. Specifically:
- Identify current and future potential tourism interest areas on Alberta Crown Lands, outside the Banff/Kananaskis Corridor.
2. Identify areas and/or regions of Alberta Crown Lands best suited to potentially support the development of tourism clusters and corridors
and help inform current and future regional, sub-regional plans and other plans by recommending possible tourism opportunities.
3. Provide an Analysis for Alberta Crown Lands related to tourism project development.
4. Provide a Trend Analysis - Identification of emerging and/or growing tourism trends to consider for Alberta Crown Lands.
5. Provide recommendations for policy/planning/regulatory considerations for Alberta Environment and Parks (“AEP”), and Jobs, Economy
and Innovation (“JEI”), which must include:
- A decision-making framework/process to aid investments in tourism,
- An outline of roles and accountabilities for public sector entities (AEP, JEI, Travel Alberta) concerning enabling tourism investment on
Alberta Crown Lands,
- An identification of policy, planning, and regulatory considerations that could enhance tourism development opportunities and/or process on
Alberta Crown Lands.
