Alberta has been a tourist destination since the early days of the 20th Century[attribution needed], with attractions including national parks, National Historic Sites of Canada, urban arts and cultural facilities, outdoor locales for skiing, hiking and camping, shopping locales such as West Edmonton Mall, outdoor festivals, professional athletic events, international sporting competitions such as the Commonwealth Games and Olympic Winter Games, as well as more eclectic attractions.
Overviewedit
Calgary and Edmonton, and larger regions Canadian Rockies (Banff National Park and Jasper National Park) are the most popular destinations for visitors. West Edmonton Mall in Edmonton is the most visited attraction in the province. Around one million visitors each year attend Calgary's Stampede, a celebration of Canada's own Wild West and the cattle ranching industry. Edmonton, known as Canada's Festival City, boasts a summer calendar of non-stop festivals, including the Edmonton International Fringe Theatre Festival and the Edmonton Folk Music Festival.
Alberta tourism is split into four large regions by the government.[1] As of 2014; Alberta North which saw 1.81 million visits,[2] Alberta Central in saw 8.45 million[3] and Alberta South with 4.29 million[4] and the Canadian Rockies with 4.35 million.[5] As well, Calgary & Area and Edmonton & Areas encompass the two largest cities, Edmonton and Calgary and areas around them.[1] As of 2014; Calgary & Area saw 8.27 million visits,[6] while Edmonton & Area had 8.43 million.[7]
Tourist attractionsedit
Mountainsedit
The Canadian Rockies in Alberta's southwest are a major attraction for climbing and hiking, with an extensive park system and mountain peaks reaching over 3000 m. The Kananaskis Country park system has numerous trails for hiking and horseback riding, and rafting is done on some of the rivers.
Hunters and fishermen from around the world are able to take home impressive trophies and tall tales from their experiences in Alberta's wilderness. The Bow River is famous for fly fishing and its trout population. Many of Alberta's lakes contain amenities for fishing, such as campgrounds and boat launches.
The Heritage Park Historical Village is a historical park located in Calgary. The park is located on 66 acres (267,000 m2) of parkland on the banks of the Glenmore Reservoir, along the city's southwestern edge. It is one of the city's most visited tourist attractions.
Five national parks are located in the province of Alberta, with Banff, Jasper, Waterton Lakes and Elk Island National Park being the most popular tourist destinations. 69 provincial parks, 33 wildland provincial parks, 248 provincial recreation areas, 16 ecological reserves, 3 wilderness areas, 149 natural areas and a heritage rangeland are also protected on a provincial level.
Located in East-Central Alberta is Alberta Prairie Railway Excursions, a popular tourist attraction operated out of Stettler that draws visitors from around the world. It boasts one of the few operable steam trains in the world, offering trips through the rolling prairie scenery.
1959: Sulphur MountainGondola opens - the first bi-cable gondola in North America and first ever gondola in Canada; First heritage trails (walking trails with posted historical information) open in Banff, including Hoodoos and Bow Summit trails
1962: Klondike Days begin in Edmonton, as extension of the Edmonton Exhibition, itself dating back to 1879.
1967: St. Paul opens a UFO landing pad to celebrate the Centennial of Confederation
1967: The Provincial Museum of Alberta/Edmonton opens December 6 as Alberta's project for Canada's centennial (now known as the Royal Alberta Museum).
1975: Fish Creek Park established in Calgary; Ukrainian Easter Egg "Pysanka" [10-metre-high (33 ft) statue] erected in Vegreville, commemorating the settlement of Ukrainian immigrants east of Edmonton
1997: Canadian Petroleum Interpretive Centre opens, honouring the occasion of the Leduc No. 1 oil well going into production on February 3, 1947; First leg of Trans-Canada Trail, the Bow Corridor Link Trail, opened on October 18; Town of Legal unveils first of 28 murals
2000: Dino 2000 opens in Drumheller as a Millennium project in August. The 8 story T-Rex sculpture incorporates a viewing platform in the head; Shaw Millennium Skate Park opens in Calgary, the world's largest public outdoor skate park.
^ ab"Tourism Region Statistics - 2014". Culture Alberta. Government of Alberta. Retrieved 4 September 2016.
^"Tourism in Alberta North Tourism Region" (PDF). Culture Alberta. Government of Alberta. Retrieved 4 September 2016.
^"Tourism in Alberta Central Tourism Region" (PDF). Culture Alberta. Government of Alberta. Retrieved 4 September 2016.
^"Tourism in Alberta South Tourism Region" (PDF). Culture Alberta. Government of Alberta. Retrieved 4 September 2016.
^"Tourism in Canadian Rockies Tourism Region" (PDF). Culture Alberta. Government of Alberta. Retrieved 4 September 2016.
^"Tourism in Calgary and Area Tourism Region" (PDF). Culture Alberta. Government of Alberta. Retrieved 4 September 2016.
^"Tourism in Edmonton and Area Tourism Region" (PDF). Culture Alberta. Government of Alberta. Retrieved 4 September 2016.
^"Alberta museum earns 5 Guinness World Records with dinosaur skeleton collection - CBC News". CBC. 2021-11-05. Archived from the original on 2021-11-10. Retrieved 2021-11-11.
^Atwal, Sanj (2021-10-13). "Five record-breaking fossils you can find at the Royal Tyrrell Museum". Guinness World Records. Archived from the original on 2021-11-11. Retrieved 2021-11-11.
^Century of Tourism, article by Anika van Wyk in The Calgary Sun, 1 Sep 2005
^Canada Parks Archived 2006-07-18 at the Wayback Machine - Banff National Park