Local tourism aligns with record numbers reported by province

By BRENDAN MILLER on April 16, 2025.

bmiller@medicinehatnews.com

Alberta’s tourism industry is booming, according to recent figures released by Statistic Canada. And while Medicine Hat may not be located in the “Heart of the Rockies,” local tourism is showing consistent growth and aligning with provincial trends.

The province began seeing more visitors in 2023 during the tail end of the pandemic and has been breaking revenue records since by almost 20 per cent, it announced last week.

The most recent reports show the province brought in $11.5 billion from January to September 2024, a 10 per cent increase for the same period in 2023 when the province began seeing more visitors.

That means more people, especially from neighbours to the south, travelling through the Hat on their way to places like Banff, Jasper and Alaska.

Jace Anderson, executive director with Tourism Medicine Hat, says 2024 data collected locally aligns with provincial numbers released by the Ministry of Tourism last Tuesday.

“When we see the press release that talks about the successes of 2024, I see our community in that data, and so that’s really encouraging, because that means we’re not falling behind,” Anderson told the News.

In 2024, Medicine Hat’s Visitor Information Centre welcomed guests from more than 30 countries. Additionally, U.S. citizens from 44 of 50 states visited the Hat while travelling north.

“What’s really exciting is the lion’s share of that is driving traffic.”

Anderson says many long-haul drivers from the south often travel with an open schedule.

“They check in with us and they have an open sort of itinerary, which means that if we’re able to entice them, they see our historic downtown, they eat at some of our restaurants and then they’re more likely to stay an extra night or couple nights.”

These travellers are often looking for what Anderson describes as “authentic local experiences.”

“Which is right in the wheelhouse of what we’re doing,” Anderson says, citing increased ridership on the Medicine Hat Sunshine Trolley’s personal guided tours.

“We did upwards of 260 trolley trips in 2024 and our ridership is 95 per cent. That is exciting because that means that we’re seeing locals who are seeing their community through the eyes of a traveler and we’re seeing locals who bring their friends and family to the trolley to then go see the community in a really curated, tour-guided, sort of way.”

Anderson says that data builds on the “significant increases” of curated experiences as well as guided and self-guided tours Medicine Hat Tourism promotes, including a new Indigenous-led tour of Saratoga Park that launched this past weekend with local Métis community members leading the tour.

Provincially, Tourism and Sport Minister Joseph Schow says the tourism economy does not appear to be slowing down anytime soon, and Anderson expects Medicine Hat will continue to welcome more visitors in 2025, despite ongoing political tensions between Canada and the U.S.

“The Americans that want to see the Rockies again, they’re going to go anyway. That’s like a bucket-list trip for them. They’re going to do it regardless of what the economy says or regardless of what our political leaders are saying in any of the markets,” Anderson said.

Additionally, Anderson says trends are indicating more Canadians are planning to travel locally instead of visiting the U.S. while tensions remain ongoing.

“While a significant number of Canadians appear to have rethought their summer travel plans, it’s a small percentage of Americans who are rethinking their travel plans where it would impact us.”

According to the province, long-term provincial tourism strategy charts suggest Alberta could rake in more than $25 billion in annual visitor expenditures by 2035.

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