Communities along southern Alberta’s Highway 3 are working together to advance the next phase of a regional tourism initiative designed to create a more connected visitor journey, strengthen local visitor economies, and prepare the region for future tourism development and investment.
Building on earlier work with Destination Canada, Travel Alberta and Destination British Columbia, this next phase focuses on helping communities define their ambitions for their visitor economies and identify the experiences, infrastructure, and investment needed to achieve them.
Program Lead Amy Allred said the initiative reflects the strength of the regional partnership and allows stakeholders to continue building the capacity of the communities, while creating a more connected visitor experience across southern Alberta.
Participating communities will complete updated tourism investment readiness assessments and take part in collaborative workshops to identify priority tourism opportunities, infrastructure and service gaps, and the practical steps needed to move projects from concept to implementation.
By the end of the project, communities will have clearer priorities for tourism development, a stronger understanding of investment opportunities, and practical action plans to advance new visitor experiences, accommodations, attractions, and supporting infrastructure.
The work will also identify opportunities to better connect experiences across the corridor, creating more seamless itineraries and encouraging visitors to spend more time exploring southern Alberta.
Ultimately, the project will leave participating communities with investment-ready opportunities that can be ready to advance, stronger connections between visitor experiences across the corridor, and a shared roadmap for growing tourism in a coordinated and sustainable way.
The initiative will also utilize Tourismo, an agentic destination management platform that provides unprecedented destination intelligence to participating communities with shared visitor insights.
By better understanding how travellers move throughout the corridor, partners will be able to make more informed decisions about destination development, regional marketing, and future tourism investments.
As part of its Tourism Corridor Strategy Program, Destination Canada is a contributing funding partner in this phase, alongside previous investments from the Northern and Regional Economic Development program and participating corridor communities.
Together, these contributions represent a total investment of $165,000. Travel Alberta contributed tourism development expertise, analysis, and advisory support throughout the project.
