Attractions, heritage sites and the visitor experience are in focus as part of National Tourism Week, which is being celebrated through Friday.
Erin Crane, CEO of Tourism Lethbridge, said the week is a fantastic opportunity to talk about the impact and importance of tourism on the local economy and beyond.
“Everyone around the world taps into tourism in order to boost their economic development,’ said Crane.
LETHBRIDGE & AREA
Crane cited factors like the nearby UNESCO World Heritage Sites as players in growing the regional tourism sector.
“Here at Tourism Lethbridge, we often talk about our area or Lethbridge as the hub for the UNESCO World Heritage Sites,” she remarked. “There are not that many and especially here in Alberta, there’s only six, and four of them are within just a short drive from Lethbridge, so we’re a great hub for that adventure and that really draws in a lot of those international travellers, which we saw a huge increase in this year.”
Crane said agri-tourism has also helped the local industry step up its game.
“We’ve really dived into this, with all our agri-food tours – we won a national award for that a few years ago. We’ve been working with our regional partners on Savour Alberta’s South, and we’ve been building up the app with Sip, Taste, Explore,” she said.
“We know that visitors are interested in finding out where their food comes from, and that’s a really unique story that Lethbridge can tell.”
Additionally, Crane cited Indigenous partnerships as boosters for the sector.
“We’ve been working with the Blackfoot Confederacy,” she said.
“This is amazing – the opportunities that exist here, and we have that ability to really share those stories and that’s important, again, to those international travellers and even travellers in Canada, where we also saw a big increase this year.”
LOCAL & REGIONAL GROWTH
This week, Tourism Lethbridge is using social media to showcase local and regional attractions and in late March, held the first ‘Southern Alberta Economic & Tourism Summit’. Crane said over 100 participants were on hand to discuss the importance of tourism and its impact on the economy.
The organization also recently released its ‘Power of Tourism Annual Report’, which can be viewed on Tourism Lethbridge.
The report found that there was a shifting but steady visitor economy in the region.
In 2025, total visitor spending saw a small drop of 0.7 per cent year-over-year, while total trips to the region went up by 9.5 per cent.
International visitation went up by 9.4 per cent, which Crane said shows a blossoming interest in visiting the city and nearby communities.
“Where we see the opportunity to get better at what we do is [to] really encourage people to spend more while they’re here and to stay overnight and spend a few extra days and go and visit more,” she said, noting one of the organization’s goals for 2026 is turning shorter day trips into longer stays.
The tourism sector in Lethbridge includes 585 tourism-related businesses.
