George Brookman introduced Royce Chwin of Travel Alberta, the tourism marketing agency of the Government of Alberta. Mr. Chwin provided an overview of the current state of the tourism industry in this province, and of the efforts to promote Alberta as a tourism destination.

 

He began by describing how intensely competitive the global tourism market actually is. In Alberta we tend to assume that the Canadian Rockies will sell themselves without a lot of effort, but this is an incorrect assumption. It may be surprising to realize that global awareness of Alberta as a travel destination is rated at only 0.02 per cent. The stakes are high because tourism accounts for ten per cent of the value of the global economy, and one in ten jobs globally is in the sector. Additionally, visitor experiences can be considered as comprising 7 per cent of the world's export economy, or 30 per cent of the world's service exports.

 

Alberta saw 34.8 million person visits in 2016, the most recent year for which complete data is available, which added $8.5 billion to the provincial economy. The Alberta numbers are astonishing. There are 19,000 active businesses in the sector; and 127,000 jobs are tied to it. The sector is also a major contributor to the tax base, including $1.2 billion in provincial revenues, plus a $496 million contribution to the tax revenues of Calgary and area.

 

Travel Alberta supports this industry by marketing tourism assets, promoting Alberta as a destination, and assisting operators in marketing their products. As is the case in just about every other sector, technology is driving disruptive changes in the approach to marketing Alberta as a destination. Travel Alberta is shifting most of its initiatives into the digital realm. It is now possible to completely plan and book an Alberta vacation exclusively using mobile devices. One benefit of the digital transformation is that social media can accomplish much. For example, it is not strictly necessary to market Moraine Lake as many visitors will post their adventures on one or more social media platforms. This means Travel Alberta's marketing initiatives target avenues where Alberta has been traditionally underrepresented.

 

Following his presentation, David Woodward thanked our speaker on behalf of the club. Mr. Chwin concluded his remarks by observing that people do not take trips, but rather "trips take people".